Book Review

Title: Time of My Life

Author: Allison Winn Scotch

Publisher: Shaye Areheart Books

Publication Date: October 7, 2008

Number of Pages: 304

ISBN: 0307408574

Reviewed by: Karen O'Connor (Okinawa Correspondent - Japan)

What would you do if you daydreamed about your old life to the point that you were given the chance to relive it for a second chance at happiness?  That is what Jillian, the protagonist of Allison Winn Scotch’s upcoming release, Time of My Life, is faced with. 

Sure we always see the greener grass on the other side of the fence of life, but we are in the life we are because of the paths we chose that brought us here.  Sometimes I wonder how I got ‘here’ myself.  ‘Here’ being in a fun, loving and loyal marriage; living in Okinawa; having great friends literally all over the world, and being as happy and busy as I am.  But some days I wonder what would have happened if I hadn’t taken that temp job in Hubby’s building and met him, if I had stayed in Denver ten years ago and not run home to Maryland full of homesickness.  If you don’t have moments of wonder and reminiscing than you just aren’t human.  It is human nature to always wonder, “What if?”

Allison Winn Scotch replaces Jillian in her past seven years back.  Into a relationship with the man she still wonders “what if” about when her marriage to Henry doesn’t feel shiny and perfect anymore.  In her old life she is a mother of an adorable little girl, the wife of a overworked husband who she pushes away when he is home because he’s just in her way, and a desperate housewife who is always going at full speed in order to make life seem perfect and desirable from the outside looking in. 

When Jillian ends up seven years in her past after a freak chi experiment administered by her gorgeous massage therapist Garland she wonders if this is her second chance at being happy.  Jillian discovers that she is still in a relationship with Jack (the love that took place before her relationship with husband Henry), is still living in their New York City apartment and she is still working in her old advertising job.  Well, when you know what happens, things can happen a little more smoothly the second time around.  Promotions happen faster because Jillian knows what “Coke” wants in their ad campaign before they do and a tumultuous relationship that ends like a car wreck on the Brooklyn Bridge is suddenly saved and enjoyed because the land mines are clearly marked by memories of what happened last time when that fight was picked. 

The underlying story line in Time of My Life was the relationship, or lack there of, between Jillian and the mother that deserted her and her family when she was just a child.  After discovering that this woman who haunted her in both the future and the past is just a stones throw after all this time, Jillian begins to realize what may have caused her mother to leave all those years ago.  The fears that Jillian faces as a mother herself are overwhelming and terrifying at times and when she looks back and actually moves towards a relationship with her mother, she begins to understand.

But after all the fun and wondering if this is really a second chance or just a freak of nature/time space, Jillian starts to realize what she thought she wanted and regretted were not in her past but right in front of her in her “real” life. 

Time of My Life was an okay read but for some reason it didn’t grasp my attention like I wished it had.  I don’t know if it was the books concept or the voice of the main character, Jillian, that didn’t captivate my attention.  I wanted to enjoy this great idea of a woman who appears to time travel (still don’t know exactly what happened, if Jillian actually stepped backwards in time or was just dreaming) and gets a second chance with one of her great loves as well as the opportunity to rebuild a broken relationship with her own mother.