Review: Do Over by Mari Carr

Oh my, oh my, get out your hankies on this one! This is a very emotional novel that will warm your heart, stroke your libido, and keep you enthralled. Now I have to own up to being a confirmed Mari Carr fan and have read and reviewed a number of her books, so I was delighted to have the opportunity to read this one. I had read the publisher's blurb so was somewhat prepared for the gist of the story. I was not prepared for how much it would affect me or how much I would relate to this beautiful story.

Consider a couple now having been married for 25 years, their children now both in college, and they have made a good life together. They have raised their kids, they are financially settled and are facing their coming years together. Only the scenario has changed. They are very used to one another and while they are still in love and are still lovers, they have settled into a predictable pattern in their relationship. They know each other very well.

Now they are coming up that Silver Anniversary celebration and they are not exactly floating in cash--two children in college is definitely a drain on the family resources. But surprise, surprise--this husband has some creativity in his bones and he has chosen to demonstrate it on this occasion. Together with an album filled with pictures that chronicle their romantic history--from their first date to the present--they re-visit their old haunts and relive each occasion that was important in their courtship and marriage. There are some surprises along the way and those surprises introduce them to some previously undiscovered depths to their passion and their love for one another.

This book is filled with memories, joy and remembrance, celebrating the past and the present, loving and passion, discoveries that tap into long hidden urges that give their relationship new life and meaning. It is the kind of story that taps into our own romantic memories, but reminds the reader that a trip down memory lane doesn't necessarily mean the same ole, same old. It can be the start of something that is new and delightful in a relationship that has been built successfully on authentic regard, friendship and love, but which needs to expand and branch out into new ways of expressing that love.

I would further comment that this is not just what some would call "chick-lit." It is a look at a man who has been hard-working all his life, a man's man in the truest sense, who loves his wife and kids, who seeks to the best he can be at his craft, but who has not usually taken the time and made the effort to express his deepest thoughts. In the letters Troy has written to Faith (that accompany each picture in their memory album) he has expressed his feelings in a way that would make any man proud and any woman delighted to receive. Together this couple could be a model for those who are in a relationship that is truly loving and enduring but needs to be jump-started into new vistas of romantic discovery.

So get out your book-buying budget and tweak those numbers so you can buy this book. I don't think you will be disappointed. (You might want to buy an extra box of tissues as well.) I give this book a rating of 5 out of 5.

This book was released 4 October 2010/