The One That I Want

A Novel

By: Allison Winn Scotch

Narrated by: Allyson Ryan

Length: 9 hrs and 56 mins

Publisher's Summary

Tilly Farmer is 32 years old and has the perfect life she always dreamed of: married to her high-school sweetheart, working as a guidance counselor in her hometown, trying for a baby. Perfect.

In fact, on the surface you might never know how tough things used to be. At 17, Tilly lost her mother to cancer, her father drowned his grief in alcohol, and she played parent to her two younger sisters more often than being a kid herself. Still, Tilly never let tragedy overtake her belief that hard work and good cheer could solve any problem. Of course she's also spent a lifetime plastering a smile on her face and putting everyone else's problems ahead of her own.

But that relentless happiness has served her well - her sisters are grown and content, her dad is 10 years sober, and she's helping her students achieve all their dreams while she and her husband, Tyler, start a family. A perfect life indeed.

Then, one sweltering afternoon at the local fair, everything changes. Tilly wanders into the fortune tellers tent and is greeted by an old childhood friend, now a psychic, who offers her more than just a reading. "I'm giving you the gift of clarity," her friend says. "It's what I always thought you needed." And soon enough, Tilly starts seeing things: her father relapsing, staggering out of a bar with his car keys in hand; Tyler uprooting their happy, stable life, a packed U-Haul in their driveway; and even more disturbing, these visions start coming true.

Suddenly, Tilly's perfect life, so meticulously mapped out, seems to be crumbling around her. And she's not sure what's more frightening: that shes begun to see the future or what the future holds.

As Tilly furiously races to keep up with - and hopefully change - her destiny, she faces the question: Which is the life she wants? The one she's carefully nursed for decades, or the one she never considered possible?

©2010 Allison Winn Scotch (P)2010 Random House

Critic Reviews

"[A]n aching, honest look into the death and rebirth of relationships....a wise, absorbing narrative." ( Publishers Weekly)

Great book

I almost didn't order this book because of the review criticizing Allyson Ryan's narration. However, I found the narration to be perfect for the story and it is a wonderful book. I will look for additional books by this author and narrator.

Language...

Although the story itself was decent - I was extremely distracted by the cuss words. They didn't lend anything to the actual story :(

ugh.

The book may be good, but I can't handle Allyson Ryan's reading of it. She's slooooow. Pauses for a second or more between each sentence. And enunciates the wrong word at the wrong time. Poor choice.