The Overdue Life of Amy Byler by Kelly Harms ~ a Review

by Susan Roberts

There are a lot of people you don't expect to run into in small town Pennsylvania.  And a few you do.  I run into my best friend, Lena, almost every day - she teaches in the same school that I do, so when we don't go out of our way to see each other, we're seeing each other anyway, in the halls, the teachers' lounge, the parking lot, scraping frost off our windshields as late as April.

Then there are the people you don't expect to see.  Jamie from Outlander. Despite looking, and hard, I see him exactly never.

Or my husband.  Except there he is.  My husband of eighteen years.  Last seen three years ago, when my daughter was 12 and my son eight and he packed up one roll-aboard carry-on-size suitcase with shirts I'd ironed and ties I'd picked out and a change of suits and some running clothes and his shaving kit and his six different kinds of anti-anxiety medication and went on a business trip to Hong Kong.  And never came back. (p4)


Amazon affiliate links are used on this site. A free book was provided for an honest review.

May 2019; Lake Union Publishing; 978-1542042963
audio, ebook, print (332 pages); women's fiction

Three years ago, Amy's husband left her and their two kids. He left her with a big house, a large mortgage and no money coming in. She got a job and re-negotiated the mortgage but most important she created a strong family structure for her and her two children - teenager Cori and nerdy son Joe.
Oh sure, she got some sarcastic remarks from her daughter but she was a teenager so Amy handled it as needed. Then out of the blue, with no warning, her ex-husband shows up. He is full of guilt and realizes that he handled things wrong and he wants to spend time with his kids and develop a relationship with them. After lots of NOs, Amy breaks down and decides that she needs a vacation from being a full-time mom. She goes to NYC and starts to create her life as a single woman with no children. She gets herself into some hilarious situations when she starts to date again and even when she is depressed, she is still funny. A huge tragedy sends her back home again and she has to decide which life she wants to choose -- or is there a way that she can have the best of both lives?

Amy spends her days like a lot of mothers - especially single mothers - taking care of everyone else and not worrying about themselves. When she has the opportunity to spend the summer by herself, she immediately says no because being a mom how she identifies herself. Once she saw what life was like in NYC, she decided that it was time to take care of herself. I sure can't blame her - we've all had those days that getting away from our current lives and disappearing into a new life would be a fantastic change.

The novel deals with marriage, children, including teenagers, friends, regret, and the road to possible redemption. It's a charming book with laugh out loud moments. You'll find yourself rooting for Amy throughout the book.

Buy The Overdue Life of Amy Byler at Amazon


Kelly Harms is the author of The Good Luck Girls of Shipwreck Lane and The Matchmakers of Minnow Bay. She has also worked with New York Times and USA Today bestselling authors, Edgar, RITA, and Agatha award winners, and Indie Next List Picks in her time as an editor at a division of HarperCollins and later as an agent at the Jane Rotrosen Agency. She lives in Madison, Wisconsin with her son Griffin and puppy Scout.

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Susan Roberts lives in North Carolina when she isn't traveling. She and her husband enjoy traveling, gardening and spending time with their family and friends. She reads almost anything (and the piles of books in her house prove that) but her favorite genres are Southern fiction, women's fiction, and thrillers. Susan is a top 1% Goodreads Reviewer. You can connect with Susan on Facebook, Goodreads, or Twitter.

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