Skipping a Beat by Sarah Pekkanen (And a Giveaway)

Title: Skipping a Beat 
Author: Sarah Pekkanen
Paperback: 327 pages
Publisher: Washington Square Press (S&S)
Year Published: 2011
Rating: ++++

Summary from goodreads:

Julia and Michael meet in high school in their small, poverty-stricken West Virginia hometown. Both products of difficult childhoods — Julia’s father is a compulsive gambler and Michael’s mother abandoned his family when he was a young boy – they find a sense of safety and mutual understanding in each other. Shortly after graduation they flee West Virginia to start afresh. Now thirty-somethings, they are living a rarified life in their multi-million-dollar,Washington D.C. home. From the outside it all looks perfect – Julia has become a highly sought-after party planner, while Michael has launched a wildly successful flavored water company that he sold for $70 million.
But one day Michael stands up at the head of the table in his company’s boardroom — then silently crashes to the floor. More than four minutes later, a portable defibrillator manages to jump-start his heart. Yet what happened to Michael during those lost minutes forever changes him. Money is meaningless to him now – and he wants to give it all away to charity. A prenuptial agreement that Julia insisted upon back when Michael’s company was still struggling means she has no claim to his fortune, and now she must decide: should she walk away from the man she once adored, but who truthfully became a stranger to her long before his near-death experience – or should she give in to her husband’s pleas for a second chance and a promise of a poorer but happier life?

Review:

I wasn’t completely sure about this book. It is women’s fiction and the cover is pink. But what got me excited was the life-changing moment that Michael experienced and its effect on everyone around him. Most people dream of hitting it big one day…but what if by being a success you lose everything that is important and has meaning?

And this book delivers on those themes and gives a whole lot more. Julia is a character that I just connected with. I could see things from her perspective and understand it. On the surface, thinking of leaving your husband because he gives everything away sounds horrible. But as I read about their marriage that has been falling apart for a decade and the compromises she has made…I understand it completely. I not only see her perspective, but I understand it and may have done the same.

Pekkanen has written a beautiful and touching story. I loved the style of this book. It was so much better than I expected.

Don’t read it though if you don’t like sad stories. I started crying at the end of the book. I don’t want to spoil the end, but there is a lot of sadness, mixed with a lot of happiness.

It is a great book that I will recommend to just about anyone…and I am giving away my copy!

Rules:

US and Canada only.

Ends 8/10.

One entry per email address, an extra entry for tweeting (put the URL in the comment please!)

You don’t have to follow or anything!

I cannot wait to hear what everyone else thinks about this book!