The Five Stages of Falling in Love
Author: Rachel Higginson
Narrator: Christine Marshall
Publication Date: October 11, 2016
Publisher: Audible Studios
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Synopsis:
The Five Stages of Falling in Love is a Contemporary Romance.
Elizabeth Carlson is living in the pits of hell- also known as grief.
Her husband of eight years, the father of her four children and the love of her life, died from cancer. Grady’s prognosis was grim, even from the start, but Liz never gave up hope he would survive. How could she, when he was everything to her?
Six months later, she is trying to pick up the pieces of her shattered life and get the kids to school on time. Both seem impossible. Everything seems impossible these days.
When Ben Tyler moves in next door, she is drowning in sorrow and pain, her children are acting out, and the house is falling apart. She has no time for curious new friends or unwanted help, but Ben gives her both. And he doesn’t just want to help her with yard work or cleaning the gutters. Ben wants more from Liz. More than she’s capable of ever giving again.
As Liz mourns her dead husband and works her way through the five stages of grief, she finds there’s more of her heart to give than she thought possible. And as new love takes hold, she peels away the guilt and heartache, and discovers there’s more to life than death.
The Five Stages of Love has been on my TBR since it was released. I’m not sure why it’s taken me so long to get to it. I’m seriously regretting that now. This book was heartbreakingly good.
Liz is has lost her husband and the father of her four young children. She’s simply trying to make it through the day when Ben moves in next door. As Liz moves through the stages of grief of Grady, she begins to develop a friendship with Ben. As their friendship morphs into more, Liz has to navigate her feelings over losing Grady and what it means to fall for Ben.
Like I said before, this book was heartbreakingly good. Liz’s grief was overwhelming at times, as it should have been. Listening to her navigate her understandable feelings was hard, but it was also rewarding. The way she worked through things and picked up the pieces of her life was inspiring. It might have taken time, but also felt natural. I loved how her feelings grew organically for Ben. I adored how Ben accepted Liz for who she was at any given moment, and also how he bonded with her children. The only thing I could have wanted from this book that wasn’t included was Ben’s point of view. I don’t blame Higginson for not including it, though. It might have distracted from the growth of Liz’s character.
The Five Stages of Falling in Love was a very beautiful story of grief and love. It broke my heart several times, but also put it back together. It touched me in ways I wasn’t expecting. I would highly recommend it. It is now my favorite Higginson book.
OMG OMG OMG – I LOVE this book so much!!!! So glad you loved it too 😀
~ Corina | TheBrownEyedBookworm.com
It had been sitting on my Kindle for so long. When I went to look it up on GR, I saw your review and thought I needed to just stop procrastinating and read it!
So happy you picked it up 😊 sometimes it’s all about the right moment in time
I’ve had this one on my TBR for so long. I’ve probably put it off because I imagine it will break my heart but it still sounds like such a beautiful love story.
It was so good. It was emotional, but most at the beginning. I downloaded it from KU and it has the free listening option with audible, so I did that. I would highly recommend it.
I got all verklempt reading that synopsis. I have to keep this in mind, because I love grief books
You would love this one then. It’s very well done. I would highly recommend it.
This sounds really good, if a little too sad. I can’t decide if I like or hate the cover. Great review!
It was sad, but also hopeful? You might like it if you didn’t mind the grief. Thanks!
This book genuinely sounds heartbreaking and hopeful at the same have!
It really was both. I loved it.
Aww man! This sounds super heartbreaking but sometimes I like to read angsty books like that. I’ve been meaning to read something from Rachel Higginson since she gets a lot of hype on romance twitter. I’ll add this to the list for Twitter Made Me Read It! 😉
Yes, this is probably my favorite of hers Read this one! YAY!
Such a stunning review! I’ve read other books from this author, but this one didn’t show up on my radar… until now. Thanks for the rec!! ❤️
Thank you! Yes, I had read her series about chefs. I hadn’t heard of it until last year or so I thought it was a newer release than it is. Very good, though!
This does sound like it will break your heart! I think that the inspirational aspect of this story is so uplifting, though. I will have to give this one a try! Lovely review! 🙂
Definitely do. It’s so very good! Thank you!