Life as I Know It

    Lauren’s husband wants nothing more than for life to get back to normal—complete with a well-organized house and very properly behaved children. But Lauren’s kids haven’t been allowed to have much fun, and one of them has special needs. Can Jessica embrace this family of strangers and become the wife and mother they need? As she struggles to find her way in this new life—and the way back to her old life—she reconnects with Lauren’s estranged sister and discovers a secret that could rip the family apart.

    Now, torn between Lauren’s responsibilities to her family and Jessica’s chance at love, one woman is about to find out whether the road not taken leads to happiness—or to heartbreak.

What if you had the chance to live someone else’s life? Full of heart and soul, here is a captivating novel about the choices we make for family and love—and how sometimes a total stranger is the person we really need to be.
 
Jessica Taylor is walking her dog in the rain when she meets the man of her dreams—only to be struck by lightning moments later. When she wakes up in the hospital, the doctors insist she’s someone else: Lauren Richardson, wife and mother of four.

    Lauren’s husband wants nothing more than for life to get back to normal—complete with a well-organized house and very properly behaved children. But Lauren’s kids haven’t been allowed to have much fun, and one of them has special needs. Can Jessica embrace this family of strangers and become the wife and mother they need? As she struggles to find her way in this new life—and the way back to her old life—she reconnects with Lauren’s estranged sister and discovers a secret that could rip the family apart.

    Now, torn between Lauren’s responsibilities to her family and Jessica’s chance at love, one woman is about to find out whether the road not taken leads to happiness—or to heartbreak.

Publishers Weekly

In Brit Rose's pleasant debut, single career girl Jessica Taylor experiences love at first sight shortly before being struck by lightning. She awakens in the hospital in the body of Lauren Richardson, an unhappily married, materialistic mother of four who was also hit by lightning. While in Lauren's body, Jessica bonds with Lauren's neglected children and with Lauren's down-to-earth sister, Karen, who has sensed the change in her sister from the very start. After Jessica confides in Karen, the two attempt to make sense of why the switch happened. Rose's narrative initially uses all the old chestnuts of chick lit, pitting the life of a career girl against married motherhood; finding the perfect guy at the wrong time; the dubious current love interest (in this case, Lauren's questionable husband). As the story progresses, Rose's novel evolves into a statement about the pitfalls women encounter and the deals they make with themselves in order to make life livable. Rose's light tone packs a punch as the decidedly somber ending looms, taking the story to a foreseeable but still bittersweet conclusion. (Feb.)

Melanie Rose was an avid reader from an early age and found herself looking at the world around her and wondering “what if?” She began writing as a teenager, progressing to short stories and articles for magazines and newspapers. She trained as a nursery nurse and later became a play therapist on the children’s ward at the Royal Marsden Hospital, continuing to write in her spare time.

Her first novel was voted one of the favorite reads of the year by listeners of Britain Radio 4’s Open Book program.

She now lives in Surrey with her husband and four sons, who, along with many of the children she has cared for, provide much inspiration for her books.