Recent Reads: How to Talk to a Widower (Book #25 of 2013)

I almost feel like I’ve cheated by reading 3 Jonathan Tropper books during this challenge.
Obviously, part of a challenge is expanding my reading horizons and while I feel I’ve done this by adding sci-fi and crime novels into the mix (my list of books to-read on Goodreads is painfully long and it gets bigger everyday). But that Jonathan Tropper…I mean…come on.

I wasn’t originally going to read this book for a little while. But I finished A Stranger on the Planet a few days earlier than I had intended and it was the only book I had at Brad’s. If you don’t know, I can’t go a day without reading a book, especially at work (it’s my salvation on extremely boring days…so everyday.), so I grabbed it. I knew it would be a quick read, though, and it took me about 4 days to read (which is good when I pretty much only read at work and before bed). It actually brought me back up to speed and I’m hoping that I can read my next book within the week so that I stay on track! Once again, you can check my Goodreads profile to keep track!

Onto the book…

How to Talk to a Widower is my 5th Tropper book. I only have one more of his novels to go before I’ve read them all, and I sure hope he’s working on his 7th book. I don’t want to know a life without him for too long.
This is the story of Doug Parker, a 28 year old who’s wife Hailey (an older woman around 40 years old) dies in a tragic plane accident.
We meet him about a year later and his life is a disaster…if you can even call it that.
He drinks and cries his days away, in deep sadness over the loss of his wife and deep confusion over how he could ever move on.
Meanwhile, his twin sister Claire has big plans for Doug, hoping to help him get out of his stupor and back on the dating scene.
Doug is deeply afraid of moving on, the fear of pushing Hailey behind so far into the past that it’s a problem for him. He feels guilty at the prospect of moving on, finding love, and fears that it will be like Hailey never existed.
As all of this is happening, Hailey’s 15 year old son Russ is getting into trouble on a regular basis, and Russ hates his real father, so he longs to be adopted by Doug. So, obviously, Doug has a lot on his plate.
And I’m just scratching the surface.

I have officially read 6 of Tropper’s books, and while I’ve enjoyed them all, this one made the top 3 for sure.
I sincerely enjoyed the characters and the plot development, as well as the writing (which was bonkers good in this one). For example, Chapter 26 is one of the most interestingly written chapters I’ve ever experienced in a book.

If you’re going to start reading his books, this is one of the ones you should start with. Job well done.