DNF - And Then I Found You by Patti Callahan Henry

And Then I Found You by Patti Callahan Henry
Published April 2013 by St. Martin's Press
Source: my copy courtesy of the publisher in exchange for an honest opinion of the book

Publisher's Summary:
Kate Vaughan is no stranger to tough choices. She’s made them before. Now it’s time to do it again. Kate has a secret, something tucked away in her past. And she’s getting on with her life. Her business is thriving. She has a strong relationship with her family, and a devoted boyfriend whom she wants to love with all her heart. If Kate had ever made a list, Rowan would fill the imagined boxes of a perfect mate. But she wants more than the perfect on paper relationship; she wants a real and imperfect love. That's why, when Kate discovers the small velvet box hidden in Rowan's drawer, she panics. It always happens this way. Just when Kate thinks she can love, just when she believes she can conquer the fear, she’s filled with dread. And she wants more than anything to make this feeling go away. But how? When the mistakes have been made and the running is over, it’s time to face the truth. Kate knows this. She understands that a woman can never undo what can never be undone. Yet, for the first time in her life she also knows that she won’t fully love until she confronts those from her past. It’s time to act. Can she do it? Can she travel to the place where it all began, to the one who shares her secret? Can the lost ever become found?  

My Thoughts:
If you've followed this blog for long, you know that I very rarely give up on a book. I wish I could say that's because I'm so very good at picking the books I read. That's not it. I'm just terrible at giving up on a book once I start it. I always think that I'm going to reach a point in the book where it suddenly works for me.

Lately, though, I've been thinking more and more about the number of books I want to read, the number of commitments I have. I've found a couple of bloggers who are working to reduce their own backlogs of review books by making a decision to stop reading a book by a certain page if they aren't enjoying it. I don't know that I can set a specific page count or make a conscious decision to work through books that way. But I can make the decision to be willing to let go of books that just aren't working for me.

And Then I Found You was one of those books. Henry greets her readers up front with the story of how she was inspired to write this book. I was convinced that with that kind of emotion behind the story, I would really be pulled into the book.Unfortunately, I wasn't.

The personal experience that was the impetus for the book almost seems to play a backseat to a lost love story line. One of those "love that can never be gotten over" stories I can rarely buy into. Then there was my inability to connect to any of the characters. Kate never seemed able to come to terms with any of the decisions she made and seemed unable to ever acknowledge that sometimes you just can't have it all.

I seem to be in the minority in my opinion about this book. Perhaps if I were willing to take the time to keep reading, my opinion would change. But after 120 pages, I was unwilling to do that.