Throwback Thursday is a weekly meme hosted by Renee at It’s Book Talk. Throwback Thursday was designed as an opportunity to share old favorites as well as older books in our TBR. As I started reviewing on Goodreads long before I started my blog, it seemed a great way of sharing my earlier reviews (which I hope have improved since the early days).

So this week I’m revisiting  The Life Intended by Kristin Harmel – first reviewed in February 2015.

After her husband’s sudden death over ten years ago, Kate Westhoven never expected to be lucky enough to find another love of her life. But now she’s planning her second walk down the aisle to a perfectly nice man. So why isn’t she more excited?

At first, Kate blames her pre-wedding jitters on stress. But when she starts seeing Patrick, her late husband, in her dreams, she begins to wonder if she’s really ready to move on. Is Patrick trying to tell her something about his death and is there a chance his nighttime visits could be more than just wishful thinking?

My Review

Having been widowed for over 10 years, Kath becomes engaged to Dan only to start having serious doubts about their compatibility. Family and friends assume this is due nerves because they are not initially aware of Kate’s dreams about Patrick (her dead husband), dreams that she sees as a warning that things are not as they should be.

This book has an intriguing plot that draws you in and has you believing the unbelievable as Kate’s dreams suggest she has a parallel life that is being lived on some other plane. It was well written and the characters so well drawn that if I’m honest I wanted it to be true. She was clearly so in love with Patrick that it would be difficult for anyone to compete so Dan really would have had his work cut out, whether suitable or not.

The dreams make Kate think about a lot of things, and the book is really about coping with grief, the nature of love and learning to accept what life throws up. Moving forward does not mean forgetting the past, but accepting that experiences make us what we are and making the most of our opportunities. It is not a live life to the max philosophy but a live life to achieve your potential. It is book about fulfillment and living the life intended. This makes it sound quite worthy and preachy which it is not. It is in turns funny and touching and just for good measure has some romance as well. Well worth reading.