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When Life Happened  By  cover art

When Life Happened

By: Jewel E. Ann
Narrated by: Tia Rider Sorensen
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Publisher's summary

Parker Cruse despises cheaters. It might have something to do with her boyfriend sleeping with her twin sister. After a wedding day prank involving a strong laxative, that ends the already severed relationship between the twins, Parker decides to grow up and act 26. Step one: Move out of her parents' house. Step two: Find a job. Opportunity strikes when she meets her new neighbor, Gus Westman. He's an electrician with Iowa farm-boy values and a gift for saying her name like it's a dirty word. He also has a wife. Sabrina Westman, head of a successful engineering firm, hires Parker as her personal assistant. Driven to be the best assistant ever, Parker vows to stay focused, walk the dog, go to the dry cleaners, and not kiss Gus - again. Step three: Don't judge. Step four: Remember - when life happens, it does it in a heartbeat.

©2017 Jewel E. Ann (P)2017 Jewel E. Ann
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Categories: Romance

What listeners say about When Life Happened

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

✫✫ 3.5 Stars ✫✫

This is a hard book to review! I loved a lot about it but I didn't love a few things too.
I'll start by saying I loved the basic story line. The author did an amazing job telling this story. I loved Parker when she first met new people, she was snarky, honest and fun. The time line in this book is what I think made it hard for me. If this story took place over a few years I would have LOVED it but it was really only a few months and that made it very hard for me to get on board with the love story. I do not like insta-love and this book has it times 2!! About 4 hours into this book I was wondering if it was supposed to all about the shock value. Because yes, there is "I didn't see that coming" in a huge way but I couldn't see where the book was going from there with 5 hours left to go. I found this book to be pretty depressing most of the time. And don't get me started on the sex scenes lol I was getting whiplash, either you have closed door sex scenes or you have details, you do not have graphic details then SLAM the door closes, that was a little odd for me.

I think if I had known before starting it that this book was sad and it had a shocking moment I would have loved it and like I said above If it had a longer timeline I would be screaming from the rooftops about it but instead I was left feeling a little unemotional about the characters because I couldn't get on board with the love they had for each other and after a huge WOW moment in the middle, the rest of the book fell a little flat for me.

The narration was great, She was perfect for all the characters and spot on the entire time!

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12 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Excellent writing

My first comment is about the writing because my review about the storyline is going to take some time. So the writing is excellent. The plot and characters are intelligent and well thought out. Jewel E Ann painted such vivid scenery in my mind, I was so impressed. I thoroughly enjoyed the flow and pace of the book as well.

When thinking about the meat and potatoes of the story, I have a lot to say that might save the next listener from the surprise, shock and awe I experienced while I listened. While the blurb and the little one liner on the front of the book talk about falling for the neighbors husband... it's kind of misleading. If you were to take like 50 steps back, yes. I can see how it is about that. But up close and personal, no. Not really. I won't go into detail what it is about, but just be prepared for there to be so much more.

Also, be prepared for about 70% of the book to be sad. There are some pretty intense highs and happy moments but mostly it's navigating through a lot of pain. I was really surprised, necessarily in a bad ways I just wasn't expecting.

Tia Rider Sorensen did an amazing job. This is a straight third person book, which means that Tia always had to be on. The sound quality was good with no outside noise or swallowing or popping. I really was impressed with the narration, all the way around.

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6 people found this helpful

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    2 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Waste of time

From the title and description of this book I expected something very different. Something I would be excited to listen to and enjoy. What I got was a bunch of mostly awful people doing awful things to and with each other. Twin sisters who are very different may not be the norm, but isn’t earth shattering. These two are truly horrific. They aren’t just flawed as we all are, but are truly gross. How any sisters treat each other in such gross ways by screwing each other over and over again both literally and figuratively was repugnant and so very gross. Imagine walking in on your boyfriend in bed with your twin and then later having the most annoying excuse of a mother who is deeply in need of a wake up call and probably a lot of therapy and medication expecting Parker to forgive Piper and Caleb (twin and gross jerk ex) to even move into the house she is living in. And then Piper and Caleb tell her that mom said it was okay for them to move into the master bedroom that Piper was living in because they have a kind sized bed and well, they’re pregnant and all. What kind of messed up family does this. And why in the heck does Piper allow any of this? Years of being treated like a second class person having horrible parents are probably a large part of making her who she became, but for goodness sakes learn to say no and at the very least stick up for yourself just a little. And did we really need to know that they were having sex loud enough for Piper to hear them and not want to vomit? Seriously these are some seriously ignorant unthinking, unfeeling gross people who should never have been written on paper. Ewww, just so wrong and not even sure why people liked this book. Parkers cheating with Gus though she tried to fight it.. attraction is a lure to everyone, but we all have brains and therefore control. Cheating is wrong no matter the reason or why and with her boss who was also cheating on her husband. And then in a moment, they’re gone. Then Parker runs off with Levi?? Come on. Backtracking, to Parker and her bizarre relationship with Sabrina, who takes a job without knowing what it really is? No one ever does that. EVER. She’s expecting a real career and what she is actually hired to do is be a paid gofer. Now, there is absolutely nothing with being someones assistant or helping to run someone else life, but how incredible dumb was she to not even ask and think she was going to be jetting all over the world after a 30 second conversation with a total snotty obnoxious woman who was clearly looking down at her as if she were the stuff we wipe off the bottom of our shoes as well as the wife of the man she is lusting after. There was absolutely nothing in this book I could buy into or like. Okay, I liked Rags the dog and Levi, but they deserved so much better than they got! That was it for me. I kept waiting for something even a little bit realistic just not ridiculous happen and it didn’t. For me this was a total disappointment.

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4 people found this helpful

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you lost my interest halfway in

without giving too much away about the storyline I couldn't fall in love with the other characters of the book halfway in. I also started disliking the main character too much. I didn't finish the last hour left on the book because at that point it was too predictable. narrator was good. storyline sucked.

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2 people found this helpful

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Cheating justification trash

I dont know if this author cheated on someone and decided they needed to write an entire book that justifies, excuses, and downplays the crappyness of cheating to make themselves feel better about it but that's exactly what this book is. Absolute garbage.

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2 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Funny and entwrtaining

I listen to a lot of books, but it's been a long time since one made me just listen for hours. Couldn't stop! She tackled some tough issues, but in a way that challenged me to rethink, rather than just DNF. Thought provoking story with fresh themes, delivered in a humorous, not-in-your-face way. Allows the reader space to reach his own conclusions. Some parts were pretty predictable, so you've got to just let that go! haha

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1 person found this helpful

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MUST listen!

out of my top three books this is my first and my second...another Jewel E Ann. I couldn't stop listening. Just....listen you will not regret. ever.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Why did I wait?

Reading through the synopsis and some of the reviews, I had a few preconceptions about this book. I even put it off for a while. Now that I've finally read and listened to it, I can honestly say it was not what I expected. And this is in a good way. This story gutted me, moved me so emotionally, and made me contemplate my way of thinking. Although there are elements which I have strong convictions on, I have to admit not all situations are the same and the curve balls life throws at you can take you down a completely unpredictable path. This book proves that. Just... read it, listen to it, and have tissues handy.
The audiobook was the key to the emotional pull for me. This was the first time I had heard by Tia Rider Sorensen, and she made each me feel each stab of pain, of guilt, and even the numbness that followed from the characters.

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

The Reverend Spooner

Ignore the bad reviews. Cool Spoonerism somewhere near 5:33:36. Absolutely detested the entire story for about four hours. Then whoosh! Definitely worth the pain though I seldom admit to enjoying being subjected to psychological manipulation.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Life just happened!❤️

Wow, this story captured my romantic soul. Jewel does not disappoint with this story of Life. A story of allowing fate to take you on a journey to finding your soulmate and to finding yourself. Jewels characters are powerful. She writes with such detail of the human heart. I was heartbroken, giddy, frustrated, happy and excited while reading. I highly recommend this story and audio. 5+ stars for this story of the human journey to love.

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