What would you do if you woke up one day and your life was completely different? This is the question that C.J Connolly explores in her novel, The Love of My Other Life. The story follows Josie, who wakes up on her 36th birthday in the hospital to a strange man claiming to be her husband. In her new life, she has everything she thinks she wants, but there are some drastic changes in people that she’s missing. Meanwhile, there is also a Josie that wakes up in the first world we read about. The story explores what it would be like if you woke up one day and your life was completely different. 

Summary of the plot

In The Love of My Other Life, C.J Connolly explores the question of what would happen if you woke up one day to discover that your life was completely different.

Josie wakes up on her 36th birthday in a hospital to find that she is now married to a man named Rob that she has never met before and that they now live in Manhattan in a swanky place.

She has no recollection of how she got there or what happened to her old life. While doing her best to adapt, Josie must decide whether to stay in this new life or go back to Brooklyn.

While she is trying to figure out what to do, someone else is also trying to figure out how to get her life back – the Josie whose life “our” Josie usurped.

Genre

Contemporary, Romantic Novel

The Characters

• Josie Cavendish: The protagonist of the story. A real estate podcaster based in Brooklyn who after an unfortunate accident wakes up in a parallel word that is nothing like her old one.
• Rob: Josie’s husband in her new life. A successful real estate developer who is completely devoted to his wife.
• Peter: Josie’s initial love interest and friend from choir
• Susie: Josie’s best friends in both words (*I have to apologise if the name ain’t right… for the life of me I cannot remember the name of the friend)

Comments & Review of The Love of My Other Life by C.J Connolly

Connolly does an excellent job of world-building, creating two distinct and believable worlds for Josie to inhabit. I found myself equally invested in both plotlines and was eager to see how they would be resolved. Similarly to the author, I also have this fascination with parallel universes and being able to see how a different choice could have changed an entire life path. However, I am sure that so are many of you are fascinated by this unrealizable concept as well which is one of the reasons why I knew that I had to feature the book on this blog.

The idea that we are all living parallel lives is a fascinating one, and Connolly does a great job of exploring the concept. The characters are well-developed and relatable, and the story is engaging and fast-paced. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a good read.

The pacing is a bit quirky at times, but you get used to it. It is not something that bothered me, but it is something I picked up on.

I loved the way this book explored not just the idea of parallel universes, but also the idea of what it means to be happy. Josie is faced with a choice: stay in her new life, where she has everything she ever wanted (with the exception of a loved one), or go back to her old life and the people she loves (with the exception of a new loved one). Neither choice is easy as either way Josie loses someone she cares about, but Connolly does a great job of exploring both options.

Despite the initial shock of finding themselves in a different world, a word foreign from their own, both Josies find something worth staying for in the lives they ended up with, so to speak. This makes going back to their old world not as easy as it should have been.

I also loved the way this book explored the idea of soulmates. In Josie’s new life, she is married to a man she has never met before. In her old life, she is seemingly in love with a man she has known for many years but could not get with until the moment she is transported into this whole new world. Both relationships are equally valid (they are despite some of the complications) and Connolly does a great job of exploring the different dynamics at play. However, the idea that no matter what life we are living, or what choices we make that change our path, we can still end up with the one we were always meant to be is a comforting one even if to the logical mind it sounds a bit unrealistic.

Do I recommend this book?

Yes. The Love of My Other Life is a captivating novel that will leave you wondering what could have been. Connolly does an excellent job of world-building and creating relatable characters that will pull you into the story from the very first page. If you’re looking for a book that will transport you to another world, I highly recommend The Love of My Other Life by C.J Connolly.

Book Ratings

Spiciness Level: 2

• Level 2: The steamy scenes are more frequent and graphic but still vanilla. The books are still pretty tame overall, and the focus continues to be the plot.

Overall book rating: 4

• Level 4: Books at this level are great. They have a few flaws, but they are so well-written and engaging that you forgive them. They are the books you recommend to everyone.

Where can you get The Love of My Other Life from?

The book is available via Kindle Unlimited. If you are not familiar with Kindle Unlimited you read all about it here or sign up here directly.

However, the book is also available for purchase in print and ebook format.

• Amazon US
• Amazon UK 

Have you read The Love of My Other Life by C.J Connolly? What did you think of the book?

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