If You Only Knew by Kristan Higgins

Summary
The drama, hilarity and tears of sisterhood are at the heart of the thoroughly captivating new novel by New York Times bestselling author Kristan Higgins—a funny, frank and bittersweet look at marriage, forgiveness and moving on 

Letting go of her ex-husband is harder than wedding-dress designer Jenny Tate expected…especially since his new wife wants to be Jenny's new best friend. Sensing this isn't exactly helping her achieve closure, Jenny trades the Manhattan skyline for her hometown up the Hudson, where she'll start her own business and bask in her sister Rachel's picture-perfect family life…and maybe even find a little romance of her own with Leo, her downstairs neighbor, a guy who's utterly irresistible and annoyingly distant at the same time. 

Rachel's idyllic marriage, however, is imploding after she discovers her husband sexting with a colleague. She always thought she'd walk away in this situation, but her triplet daughters have her reconsidering her stance on adultery, much to Jenny's surprise. Rachel points to their parents' perfect marriage as a shining example of patience and forgiveness; but to protect her sister, Jenny may have to tarnish that memory—and their relationship­—and reveal a family secret she's been keeping since childhood. 

Both Rachel and Jenny will have to come to terms with the past and the present and find a way to get what they want most of all.

Quotes

"You deserve a husband who'd cut off his own dick before he'd cheat on you, Rach. You do."

"What I didn't quite expect was that as soon as I left Manhattan behind, the beneficient, regal creature forgot me. It tolerated me when I was a student of eighteen, it gave me my chance, it celebrated me when I made it, and it forgot me the second I drove over the Henry Hudson Bridge. You're always just a foster child in the city that never sleeps. The second you go, someone else takes your room."

Impressions
Touched and impressed by the author style!

It's a beautiful story about women, sisters, mothers, love and relationships. Simple but full of emotions that are able to grabb you from the start.

To be honest, when I was trying to tell a friend why this story was amazing, I said: "there is nothing. No boom, no crash, no murder, no blood. But it's the simplicity and how the author is able to make it amazing."
As a reader, it's the best feeling ever. To be surprised and hooked by the characters' emotions.

In this book, we follow two sisters. One who has a perfect life with the perfect husband, perfect children, perfect house. And Kristan Higgins brings us behind the scene. Behind the perfection to understand the exhaustion of pretending as well as the reality of her perfect marriage. A husband who cheats and how her life will spiral.

But it's not an ugly story. The emotions are real, perfectly proportionned. Like you and me could have reacted. And it's much more about this woman journey...
You will find Rachel much more colorful, strong and alive along the road.

Then, you have Jenny. She had a perfect husband until he asked for a divorce and offered all she wanted: love, a child and his attention to another woman.
How she is trying to stay friends to pretend everything is still perfect. But her life has already taken a new turn when she moved out and meet Leo.
Her journey is funny, sad, pathetic, hopeful and she is not afraid to try again.
She has a lovely heart even if she doesn't see it.

Was very impressed about this story because how true and proper were the emotions. Not too much, not too cliché. Just a vision of perfection, of the expectations we can project and how difficult it is to be true to yourself.

A really lovely and charming book!

Source 
Arc provided by Netgalley. I received this book in exchange of a fair and honest review.