The Idea of Him by Holly Peterson + a giveaway

Good morning, everyone! Today I'm a stop on the TLC book tour for Holly Peterson's latest, The Idea of Him. And to go along with today's post I have a super fun giveaway thanks to the publisher. Be sure to read through to the bottom for dets and entry.

Allie Crawford has everything - a great job, a great husband, a great family. But all of that changes the day her husband drops a $5,000 casino chip on the bedroom floor. Allie might not have suspected anything had Wade not covered it up so quickly. Just a few weeks later Allie finds Wade locked in their laundry room with a leggy blond and everything starts to go downhill. The woman, Jackie, claims there's something serious going on. Something that will ruin Allie and her family. Jackie wants her trust but with very little to go on Allie isn't so sure. Could the man she married really be so different than she'd thought he was? And what - beyond an affair, that is - could he be involved in that would be so detrimental to the life they've built together. 

Author Elin Hilderbrand called The Idea of Him "...a coming-of-age book for grownups." This is something I found so appealing in going into Holly Peterson's latest. Here you have a thirty something woman who seems to have everything together, forced to face the realities around her - realities that differ greatly from her actual idea of life.

There were intriguing aspects of the book: what Allie's husband is involved in, what role the mysterious Jackie plays in them, and of course the tantalizing detail that whatever the big secret is could ruin everything. But while The Idea of Him had a definite hook ultimately it just didn't live up to its promise for me. I found the big reveal to be a bit of a letdown given how it was built up. I also found there were a few too many threads to the story - elements that I felt were more distracting than supporting of the main plot.

Peterson's voice is incredibly engaging, however, and I did find myself drawn along into Allie's tale. All in all a The Idea of Him was good way to spend my weekend reading time.

Rating: 3.5/5

And now for the giveaway: the publisher is offering up one copy of Holly Peterson's The Idea of Him along with a handmade candle from Andrea Schroder (you can check her items out on her website and follow her on Twitter).

To enter, simply fill out the Rafflecopter below before Monday, May 5. US only and no PO boxes please.

a Rafflecopter giveaway


To see more stops on the tour be sure to visit the official TLC tour page here.

For more on Holly Peterson and her books visit her website here. You can also like her on Facebook and follow her on Twitter.