Review: This Time Is Different by Mae Woods

This Time Is Different by Mae Wood
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Gentle, Warm and Sweet

I’d probably give this book 4.5 ⭐️ if I could.

This is a really lovely book. It’s real, warm, painful and funny. It’s not filled with vast excitement or hot and steamy passion, but it’s filled with tenderness, delight, Dad jokes and negotiating the minefield that is dating with grown up children.

Amy is a dentist. She’s 38, has a 17 year old son and has been divorced for 3 years. She has a slightly awkward relationship with her ex-husband but there is still genuine affection between them and they navigate co-parenting well.

Thomas is a COO at the local hospital. He’s 52 and was widowed 8 years previous. His children are all in college and are starting to move onto living their own lives without him. He’s very focused on his career after his kids have achieved independence.

Amy and Thomas meet when Thomas gets hit in the face with a softball bat at a work function. He gets hopped on pain meds and is awkward and adorable. That doesn’t change the fact that he is captivated by the wide smile of his Doctor Dentist Angel.

This story is fairly straight forward, there are no ups and downs, dramatic splits and passionate make up sex. It’s about liking each other, making each other laugh and wanting to spend time together both in bed and out of it. It’s about making time for each other and understanding that kids come first and careers are important. It’s about a very grown up relationship and all the joys that they can bring.

This book is beautifully written and perfect for when you are in the mood for gentle, sweet and warm narratives. It’s perfect for having characters you’d like to spend time with and be friends with because though they’ve had the normal difficulties in life they are not ‘broken’. It’s about watching two nice and interesting people find each other and make space for each other in their own worlds even when it’s a little uncomfortable doing so. It’s a perfect portrait of having a second big relationship in their lives and doing it differently this time, even if the first time round was wonderful.

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