The Book Diva's Reads

Rachel Goldman should be on top of the world. Her blog is an internet success. She has a book about to published. And she's in love. Of course, there are a few snags; her book is about being successful at divorce and she's about to remarry her ex-husband. If that isn't bad enough, she thinks her best friend, Arianna, is cheating on her live-in boyfriend, Ethan, who just happens to be Rachel's brother. Almost forgot, her ex-mother in law, Anita, wants to make Rachel and Adams second wedding even more of a society event than their first.

Rachel carefully navigated the world of marriage breakup, divorce, and being single in Life From Scratch. Although she was devastated by the breakup and divorce, she found solace in writing about her problems and endeavored to achieve success at cooking. She merged these two into a blog that become a massive hit and evolved into a book contract. Rachel wasn't looking for love, but she found it - with her ex-husband, Adam. He has left his law firm and embraced his first love, literature by becoming a teacher. In Measure of Love, Adam and Rachel take their relationship to the next step, marriage (or in this case remarriage). Rachel is happy that Adam wants to commit to her, but before she knows it she's trying to plan a wedding in less than four months. What follows is a mixture of I Love Lucy and Jane Austen's Emma (the latter is actually referred to in the book); well-intentioned meddling with disastrous results (minus the comedic happy endings).

I found Measure of Love to be a fast-paced read. I almost felt as if I was meeting up with old friends as I revisited with Rachel, Arianna, and others in their new struggles and dealings. Rachel isn't as self-assured in Measure of Love...but only when it comes to her love life. Arianna is still somewhat exotic, but not nearly as extreme when compared to Adam's sister Lisbeth. Lisbeth is an artist and is planning her own wedding to her partner, Emily, a physician. (Truly an odd couple with disparate personalities, but they fit.) I felt sucked in by Rachel's internal struggle with her remarriage and her well-intended meddling. I waited patiently with Adam as he watched Rachel struggle with these issues. I suffered along with Arianna as she drifted slowly away from her best-friend. And I hoped for that happy-ending for not just Rachel and Adam but also for Lisbeth and Emily. The characters are well-developed and the situations not only realistic but relatable. Ms. Ford blends great writing and a tale about romance and love, mixed with relationship/friendship drama and touches of humor; the result is a great read about second chances for love. Measure of Love is the second installment in Ms. Ford's Life from Scratch series; I am rather anxious to read the next installment, featuring Arianna's story, Apart At the Seams.