Regretting You by Colleen Hoover
Publisher: Montlake
Publication Date: December 10, 2019
Date Read: December 6, 2019
Length: 365 pages
Source: NetGalley
★★★★★
Morgan Grant and her sixteen-year-old daughter, Clara, would like nothing more than to be nothing alike.
Morgan is determined to prevent her daughter from making the same mistakes she did. By getting pregnant and married way too young, Morgan put her own dreams on hold. Clara doesn’t want to follow in her mother’s footsteps. Her predictable mother doesn’t have a spontaneous bone in her body.
With warring personalities and conflicting goals, Morgan and Clara find it increasingly difficult to coexist. The only person who can bring peace to the household is Chris—Morgan’s husband, Clara’s father, and the family anchor. But that peace is shattered when Chris is involved in a tragic and questionable accident. The heartbreaking and long-lasting consequences will reach far beyond just Morgan and Clara.While struggling to rebuild everything that crashed around them, Morgan finds comfort in the last person she expects to, and Clara turns to the one boy she’s been forbidden to see. With each passing day, new secrets, resentment, and misunderstandings make mother and daughter fall further apart. So far apart, it might be impossible for them to ever fall back together.
Believe it or not, this is the first book written by Colleen Hoover that I have read. I have no idea why I haven’t picked her books up before now. I have read many glowing reviews of her work over the years and her books always sounded like something I would like. I already own several of her books and my own daughter has told me that I really need to read her work. But I never did until this book. Now I understand why everyone raves about her books because I loved this book! This was one heck of a story and I had a fabulous time with it from beginning to end.
The book opens with Morgan, Chris, Jenny, and Jonah as teenagers. Morgan is Jenny’s older sister and Chris’s girlfriend. Jenny and Jonah are dating and Jonah and Chris are best friends. They are a tight group that likes to have fun. Morgan realizes that her life may be about to change forever and she doesn’t know what to think. Then the story jumps ahead 17 years and we meet Clara, Morgan and Chris’s teenage daughter. Jenny and Jonah are around as well and now share a child. It looks like a pretty good life.
This book was pretty emotional at times. My heart broke for this group of characters one minute and I was angry for what they were going through the next. The relationships in this book all felt so real to me and I liked that we got to see so many different types of connections. Through Clara’s point of view, we were able to see her relationship with her parents and watch as she navigated a new relationship. From Morgan’s point of view, we saw a mother who wanted the best for her daughter even if they weren’t always on the same page. Morgan had a lot of things to work out and I thought that the emotions that she went through all felt very real.
I would highly recommend this book to others. This was a wonderful story that tackled a mother-daughter relationship, a teenage romance, and things that are out of our control. I will definitely be reading more from Colleen Hoover very soon.
I received a digital review copy of this book from Montlake Romance via NetGalley.
About the AuthorColleen Hoover is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of several novels, including the bestselling women’s fiction novel It Ends with Us and the bestselling psychological thriller Verity. She has won the Goodreads Choice Award for Best Romance three years in a row—for Confess (2015), It Ends with Us (2016), and Without Merit (2017). Confess was adapted into a seven-episode online series. In 2015, Hoover and her family founded the Bookworm Box, a bookstore and monthly subscription service that offers signed novels donated by authors. All profits go to various charities each month to help those in need. Hoover lives in Texas with her husband and their three boys.
I'm so excited to see this one get 5 stars from you, Carole! Regretting You has been one of my most anticipated reads of the year. I admit, I barely skimmed your review because I prefer to go into Colleen's books knowing as little as possible (often I don't even read the synopsis). So I'll have to come back after I read the book. 🙂 So glad you loved it, though!
Tanya @ Girl Plus Books
This book WAS such an emotional roller coaster. It gutted me at times. Glad to see you enjoyed it, too.
Great review!
Yes, Colleen Hoover is an emotional fire hose. I've loved every book of hers I have read but prepare to have your heart ripped out and thrown around. Excellent review!
Anne – Books of My Heart
i haven't read this one but a long time ago i won one of her books and she sent me two. i loved them. she is such a great writer, she's even gotten me to love romance. lol
sherry @ fundinmental
Love Colleen's books. I can't wait to read it.
I've been too chicken to read one of hers b/c I've seen the reviews on how emotional her stuff can get. But all the five stars including yours tell me that I need to buck up at some point. 🙂
You are one before me then since I have not read anything by her
Everyone is giving this one 5-stars, and with grief and loss being my catnip, I am sure this will rate high with me as well.
Everyone seems to be loving this book and it makes me think I need to read a Colleen Hoover book at long last! Grief is actually one of my favourite things to read about, as ironic as it sounds. And it sounds so emotional but well handled too.
Yay for your first CoHo experience!! She has mad writing skillz! LOL! I'm really hoping to read this next week for the Oh What Fun Readathon. Fingers crossed that I get to it!
I lot of people seem to be loving this book. I'll have to try her again. I didn't like November 9 I think it was? But this sounds worth a read.
I can't remember ever having read a Colleen Hoover novel either, but your high rating here is making me think I should give her a try
I've read a few CoHo books but this might be my favorite to date. I was so angry for Morgan, and I'm so thrilled she got the HEA she truly deserved. Glad to see you loved this story, too, Carole! 🙂