Book Review: "The One That I Want" by Allison Winn Scotch

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

But one sweltering afternoon at the local fair, everything changes. Tilly wanders into a fortune teller's tent and meets an old childhood friend, 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 alcoholic father relapsing, staggering out of a bar with his car keys in hand; her husband 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 as she furiously races to keep up with - and hopefully change - her destiny, she faces the question: Which life does she want? The one she's carefully nursed for decades, or the one she never considered possible?

I swear, even though I have not been to a psychic and been given the gift of clarity, I could relate to a lot of stuff in this book. It was rather scary at how much I could identify with the characters while I was reading. I was a bit worried that the book was going to go down the same route as other chick lit or women's lit that deals with the same subject material. Luckily my fears were proven wrong.

Throughout the book, it was a page turner for me as the reader traveled with Tilly and her gift of clarity. Her seemingly perfect life began to slowly unravel, some for the worst and some for the best. I was not a fan of Tilly's husband. I don't think I need to go into details about him here but it's rather obvious in the book as to why I didn't. Again it was another section of the book I could relate to and it floored me at the reactions I would have while reading.

The part of the book that made the most impact to me was how Tilly and her sisters dealt with their father's alcoholism. As someone who has become affected by someone who is recovering from addiction, I could really relate to how the daughters all reacted. There were scenes in the book that I just nearly broke down and cried because I totally knew what they were going through and the anger and helplessness that followed. I read this book during an especially tough time in my life and was very grateful that it made me feel as if I wasn't alone in the world with the feelings I was having.

I'm not quite sure what category this book goes into. It's not chick lit but it's not really heavy women's fiction either. Perhaps just contemporary fiction would probably be best as it's light reading but with serious story lines mixed in. This is the first book from Scotch that I have read and it has made me a fan. I want to go back and read the rest of her books now and will be looking forward to reading more from here. The writing is beautiful and engaging. As I said before I could identify with the story so it made a huge impact on me after reading. She was at BEA signing books and I was very sad to miss out on speaking with her and letting her know how I felt. HIGHLY recommended.

The One That I Want by Allison Winn Scotch is published by Shaye Areheart Books (2010)

This review copy was provided for a blog tour with TLC Book Tours

I'm able to give away a copy of this book provided by the publisher. To enter, you must fill out the form and have a US or Canada mailing address. Winner will be picked Thursday, June 10.

PLEASE use the form only to enter the contest. For any comments about the book, review, etc. please use the comments link at the bottom of the post. All information must be filled out correctly or else your entry will not count. (ie. you must use FULL name and list your mailing address)