After I do A novel

It all started out so well for Lauren Spencer and Ryan Cooper an all-consuming college romance, a perfectly imperfect proposal, a lovely wedding, and a rustic honeymoon. Now, almost 10 years later, Lauren and Ryan find themselves rehashing the same arguments with increasing vehemence. In a last-ditch effort to save their marriage, Lauren and Ryan decide to take a yearlong break from each other, abstain from all communication, and figure out how they'd like to move forward. Once Ryan moves out, Lauren spends the next year learning more about herself, her marriage, and the foundations of good relationships than she ever imagined. Reid's second novel (after Forever, Interrupted, 2013) contrasts the heady bliss of courtship with the smothering familiarity of a long-term partnership. Written in a breezy, humorous style familiar to fans of Jane Green and Elin Hilderbrand, After I Do focuses on Lauren's journey of self-discovery. The novel's pacing is a bit slow at times, but the intriguing premise and well-drawn supporting characters contribute to an emotionally uplifting and inspiring story.--Turza, Stephanie Copyright 2014 Booklist

An unhappily married couple spends a year apart in Reid's (Forever, Interrupted, 2013) novel about second chances.When we meet Lauren, she and her husband, Ryan, are having a meltdown trying to find their car in the parking lot at Dodger Stadium after a game. Through a series of flashbacks, Lauren reveals how the two of them went from being inseparable to being insufferable in each other's eyesand in desperate need of a break. Both their courtship and their fights seem so ordinarythey met in college; he doesn't like Greek foodthat the most heartbreaking part of their pending separation is deciding who will get custody of their good-natured dog. It's not until Ryan moves out that the juicy details emerge. Lauren surreptitiously logs into his email one day, in a fit of missing him, and discovers a bunch of emails to her that he had saved but not sent. Liberated by Ryan's candor, Lauren saves her replies for him to find, and the two of them read each other's unfiltered thoughts as they go about their separate lives. Neither character holds anything back, which makes the healing process more complex, and more compelling, than simply getting revenge or getting one's groove back. Meanwhile, as Lauren spends more time with her family and friends, she explores the example set for her by her parents and learns that there are many ways to be happy. It's never clear until the final pages whether living alone will bring Lauren and Ryan back together or force them apart forever. But when the year is up, the resolution is neither sappy nor cynical; it's arrived at after an honest assessment of what each partner can't live with and can't live without.Reid's tome on married life is as uplifting as it is brutally honesta must-read for anyone who is in (or hopes to be in) a committed relationship. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

After I Do We are in the parking lot of Dodger Stadium, and once again, Ryan has forgotten where we left the car. I keep telling him that it's in Lot C, but he doesn't believe me. "No," he says, for the tenth time. "I specifically remember turning right when we got here, not left." It's incredibly dark, the path in front of us lit only by lampposts featuring oversized baseballs. I looked at the sign when we parked. "You remember wrong," I say, my tone clipped and pissed-off. We've already been here too long, and I hate the chaos of Dodger Stadium. It's a warm summer night, so I have that to be thankful for, but it's ten P.M., and the rest of the fans are pouring out of the stands, the two of us fighting through a sea of blue and white jerseys. We've been at this for about twenty minutes. "I don't remember wrong," he says, walking ahead and not even bothering to look back at me as he speaks. "You're the one with the bad memory." "Oh, I see," I say, mocking him. "Just because I lost my keys this morning, suddenly, I'm an idiot?" He turns and looks at me; I use the moment to try to catch up to him. The parking lot is hilly and steep. I'm slow. "Yeah, Lauren, that's exactly what I said. I said you were an idiot." "I mean, you basically did. You said that you know what you're talking about, like I don't." "Just help me find the goddamn car so we can go home." I don't respond. I simply follow him as he moves farther and farther away from Lot C. Why he wants to go home is a mystery to me. None of this will be any better at home. It hasn't been for months. He walks around in a long, wide circle, going up and down the hills of the Dodger Stadium parking lot. I follow close behind, waiting with him at the crosswalks, crossing at his pace. We don't say anything. I think of how much I want to scream at him. I think of how I wanted to scream at him last night, too. I think of how much I'll probably want to scream at him tomorrow. I can only imagine he's thinking much of the same. And yet the air between us is perfectly still, uninterrupted by any of our thoughts. So often lately, our nights and weekends are full of tension, a tension that is only relieved by saying good-bye or good night. After the initial rush of people leaving the parking lot, it becomes a lot easier to see where we are and where we parked. "There it is," Ryan says, not bothering to point for further edification. I turn my head to follow his gaze. There it is. Our small black Honda. Right in Lot C. I smile at him. It's not a kind smile. He smiles back. His isn't kind, either. Excerpted from After I Do: A Novel by Taylor Jenkins Reid All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.