Customer Reviews

More to Life Than This

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Kate and Jeffery are a comfortably married couple who aren't exactly happy with their mundane life. To remedy this, Kate goes on a retreat to a Tai Chi class and leave Jeffery with a Barbie-doll for an au pair named Natalie.

While away, Kate falls steadily in love with Ben (who is a flat, uninteresting character that Ms. Matthews just wants you to like because there's no one else around for Kate). While at home, Jefferey can't keep himself from lusting over Nat, who flirts like hell with a married man--sometimes--no, make that often--in front of his two kids.

The big spoiler is that both Kate and Jeffery have affairs. Kate has the best, most adventurous sex of her life and Jeffery gets to sleep with a woman who would never go for him.

In the end, there is no consequence for their actions. They keep their secrets, feel their passion renewed, and basically live happily ever after.

If you're all for adultery this could prove a worthwhile read, but if you want to see characters actually grow and change, skip this book. Kate was wishy-washy and whiny, her husband so dull you could skip over his chapters. If I could give zero stars, I really would have. I can't believe I finished it.

I wish I could convey all the sarcasm that I feel in the title of my review of this book. Because, bottom line, that is the message: In a middle-age married rut? Take a lover and watch the spice come back into your marriage! I don't recommend this novel on any level whatsoever. It was offensive and insulting, not to mention degrades and cheapens something that should not be. I wish I had passed on this one.

I enjoyed reading the book and was surprised with some of the reviews as I continued my reading. It was easy to read and one of those reads where you want to know what happens next. However, the book is completely cut off with no ending. The story is developing throughout the book and has a completely unfulfilled ending and is cut off in a couple of pages. As much as I liked the book, I was very disappointed with underdeveloped end of the story.

More To Life Than This starts off describing an almost idyllic marital/family relationship which lacks a bit of spice and passion. The opening scene has the husband and wife happily wiling away a weekend afternoon on a garden tour while their perfect children skip down the cobblestone path. Stop right there. The husband is happy to be on a garden tour? The children aren't whining and complaining that they want to go home? That's right. Who then is complaining? The wife! Apparently this scene is too perfect, leaving Kate with a sense of discontent and asking herself if there's more to life than this. Wow. Who can relate to this? Realistic to me would be a husband who would prefer to watch sports or play golf on the weekend, but reluctantly goes on a garden tour after the wife cajoles him into it and children who loudly proclaim how "boring" a garden tour is. I think more people can relate to that! The feeling of "is there more to life than this" is familiar, but not given the perfect children and exceedingly supportive husband as laid out in the opening scene.

Given her malaise and unhappiness, Kate decides to escape for a week and places a hot nanny in charge of her husband and goody-two shoes children. At this point I want the sweet, if slightly wimpy husband to chuck the ungrateful wife for the sexy Aussie. That's when I realize that I cannot finish this book. The "heroine" elicits no sympathy from this average reader. Note to author: next time try creating a character that we can all relate to-someone akin to the Calgon take-me-away woman who needs a bath to escape her screaming children.

Kate & Jeffrey Lewis have been married over a decade and have little spice left in their marriage. They have two perfectly well adjusted children, a beautiful home, and Jeffrey makes a comfortable living. But Kate still feels that there has to be more to life than this...

When Kate tells Jeffrey how miserable she is, he suggests she take a holiday with her friend Sonia, not knowing what his innocent suggestion will mean to their union. Kate hires a sexy au pair to take care of her family while she attends a tai chi seminar to find herself. Instead, she finds Ben, a wealthy businessman who makes no secret of his attraction to Kate. And Jeffrey is finding his tongue hanging on the ground for the completely inept Natalie, who manages to disregard all of Kate's instructions, flirts openly with her married boss (in front of his kids no less), and allows his pre-teen daughter to get her belly button pierced. Jeffrey rightly fires her, but in a moment of the wrong head doing the thinking, takes her back. Will the two spouses succumb to the temptations put before them?

I am never one for spoilers, but what really bothered me was that up until the end, Kate and Jeffrey stayed true to the characters that Matthews had created for the first 250 pages, then veered off into no return territory, both falling for their paramours, despite knowing them less than a week, then renewing their own love for each other because of misread actions by their new lovers. Huh? This was a huge disappointment from an author that is in the habit of taking difficult contemporary subject matter and mining relationship gold.

This book was dull and I couldn't finish it. It had the same feel of other books I've read from red dress.

all this book is about: Being bored with your marriage the moms goes to a retreat for a week - both have an affair - the kids keeping the dads affair secret and not wanting mom to come home they want the girlfriend cause shes fun. keep the affairs secret from each other forever and that makes the marriage happy again - NOT
I had never read Carole Matthews book before and got it for a couple of bucks so the price was right I thought. well i over spent. I will not buy any more of her books. This was a horrible story and had parts i couldn't even read so I skimmed over chapters! Do I recommend this book to anyone? NO don't waist your time or money.
I only gave it a one star because you can't give it minus stars!

I almost didnt buy this book because of the reviews but I have enjoyed other books by Carole Matthews and Red Dress Ink so I gave it a shot. I enjoyed the book and I think that readers who dont have unrealistic expectations of chick lit. It is just supposed to be fun and an easy read and you dont have to condone what the characters in the book do to get pleasure from reading this book.

More to Life Than This deals with some real-world issues that couples face in the course of their marriages. I thought the book was very well written and dealt with thess issues in a unique way. While not my favorite Carole Matthews book, this is a good, light, fluffy read that is entertaining.

I don't think this perky, fun Brit Lit tale is meant to be a deep analysis of modern marriage. I think it is meant to be a sort of tongue-in-cheek look at what happens to a perfectly good marriage when both people get stuck in a rut.

There is a great deal of humor in this book, which other reviewers seem to have missed. In fact, the satire is over the top. Does the average wife hire a drop-dead gorgeous au pair to watch over her husband and children for a week while she goes to learn tai chi? And does the au pair immediately take one look at the VERY staid and proper husband, an accountant, no less, and get frisky with him? Hardly...

And does a very proper boring middle-aged wife, looking to "find herself," really find it at a resort where she will learn the Eastern Arts for a week and, oh yeah, catch the eye of a man of the world?

COME ON, people, lighten up! This book wasn't meant to be anything other than funny and sweet. And it is...a perfect beach read and very enjoyable.