Review: Love The One You're With

 Love The One You're With by Emily Giffin Published 2008


"I've been layin' here all night listenin' to the rain

Talkin' to my heart, tryin' to explain

Why sometimes I catch myself wondering what might have been

Yes, I do think about you, every now and then"

"Every Now And Then" by Garth Brooks


Photographer Ellen and lawyer Andy are picture-perfect newlyweds. But pictures aren't always as perfect as they seem. 


When Ellen runs into the ghost of boyfriend's past on a winter afternoon in New York City, she begins to question everything that has happened in the years since they split up. 

Was Leo the one that got away? 

Leo was tall, dark, handsome, and mysterious when he met Ellen by chance, or by fate, serving on a jury together. But nothing good lasts forever, and sometimes people grow apart. 


Or is Andy the love of her life? 

Andy emerged as a staple in Ellen's life after a holiday spent with her college best friend, Margot's, family. Margot was already a staple in Ellen’s life, and falling in love with Andy just seemed like a natural progression.


When Margot decides to interfere with a will day or won't they reconciliation attempt from Leo, she sets Ellen's life on the path in which decisions are made that call into question where Ellen's heart truly lies. Does Margot want what is best for Ellen, or what is best for her? Margot ultimately decides that she knows what is best for Ellen, leading her to the life that has Ellen married to Andy.


When the winter encounter with Leo presents the opportunity to rekindle a friendship with an old flame, Ellen questions if her feelings for Leo are stronger than her feelings for Andy. She is forced to find where love, lust, and loyalty fit into her life. 


Ellen finds herself torn between the past and the present. Torn between the fantasy of first love and the sometimes messy reality of love and life not being a fairy tale.

Andy is not the perfect husband, and Leo was not the perfect boyfriend. Andy is the man she decided to build a life with after Leo left her heart broken. As much as Leo may be the dream, Andy is the reality and the person she has built her life with.


This is a fun read that takes the reader through all emotions of Ellen, trying to decide the path on which her life belongs.

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