Happily married to her college sweetheart, Poppy lived a blessed life with the husband of her dreams. Then everything changed. She is no longer a wife. She is no longer the envy of her single friends. Now, people look at her with pity as they whisper a single word behind her back.

Widow.

Years after her husband’s tragic death, years of pain and sorrow and wishing for the life she’ll never get back, Poppy decides to finish Jamie’s birthday list. She’ll do the things he wanted to most. Because maybe, just maybe, if she can complete his list, she can start to live again.

Poppy expects going through the birthday list will be hard. She expects it to hurt. But what she doesn’t expect is Cole. Could the man who delivered the news of her husband’s death and shattered her heart be the one to help her put it back together again?

Admittedly The Birthday List was hard to read right now as I’m watching my friend bury her husband. So the feelings of pain and anguish over Poppy losing her beloved Jamie was completely devastating for me.

Young… Widow…

Five years later, Poppy is opening up her restaurant and working on completing Jamie’s birthday list. The birthday list are all the things Jamie wanted to complete at each birthday… accomplishments, fun things… the things he wanted to do most. Poppy tackles this list with the hope to live her life again… to move forward.

And here we meet Cole Goodman. They’ve met before and coming into each other’s path again is both surprising and exciting. Cole instills himself into her life as a friend though deep down inside hoping for more. He’s a good man, an honest and kind man and it’s hard for Poppy not to take notice. But he never pushes, patiently waiting on the side while he helps her complete the list all the while also helping her to find closure to unanswered questions in her past.

“In a heartbeat…”

This was a beautifully written emotional story of new beginnings… of watching a widow pay respects and honor her husband while trying to find life and live again. I miss these kinds of books… the books with no angst or drama “just because” but just a well written story that touches the heart and soul because the happiness found is so well deserved.

I enjoyed this author’s writing and will definitely read her again!

“I hear you’re saying yes to everything today?” I chased a bite of macaroni with some water.

She nodded, smiling again as she chewed.

“A guy could take advantage of that.”

Her chewing stopped and her blue eyes snapped to mine.

“Me, for example. I could use this to get exactly what I want.”

I didn’t miss the way her eyes flared, and damn, it was sexy. If things were farther along—if this were a year from now and we were in a different place—I could have used this game to have her moaning yes all night long. But we weren’t there, and I wasn’t a complete asshole.

But I did love to tease.

“Poppy,” I whispered, leaning closer.

Her breaths were shallow as she waited.

“Will you bring me both the mixed berry and the apple pie?”

She blinked twice, then a hand flew over her mouth—still full of salad—covering it as she laughed. “Yes.”

I grinned, sitting back in my chair and digging into my food. “Maybe you can tell me more about this list too? It seems like every time I see you you’re on to something new.”

Her hand fell. “You really want to know?”

“I really want to know.”

Read another excerpt of The Birthday List HERE!

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