Name: Create a Life to Love
ISBN: 9781635554250

Erin Zak

When sixteen-year-old Beth shows up at her birth mother's door, three lives will change forever.

Create a Life to Love

Izza

Romance novelist Jackie Mitchell has built a life that works: few responsibilities, friends that know she’s far from outgoing, and sex whenever she needs it. She has her past, but she doesn’t think about it. Ever. All that changes when she finds the child she gave up for adoption standing on the doorstep. Now sixteen years old, Beth Weber is resourceful, a blossoming artist, and a spitting image of her birth mom. To say Jackie is stunned is the understatement of the year. When Jackie meets Beth’s adoptive mom, Susan, they’re immediately attracted to each other, but there’s no way Jackie is getting involved with a married woman, especially Beth’s mom. But when Susan and Beth need a place to stay and end up back on Jackie’s doorstep, their lives change forever. Will these three women who share a past and face an uncertain future be able to forge a life of love together?

Jude Silberfeld

Five minutes in, I knew I was going to love this audiobook. It is not always an easy story to listen to. Then again, when did Erin Zak write an easy story? A huge part of why I love her books is how well she writes vulnerable characters and emotional pain. I know when I start reading or in this case listening, that my heart will cry at least half the time.

Jackie Mitchell is a successful lesbian romance author living in St Petersburg, Florida. Susan Weber is an unhappy wife in an abusive marriage in Savannah, Georgia. They’d never have met if not for Beth. A spunky sixteen-year-old, Beth started out looking for her birth mom and found a lot more than that.

The premise of this story feels a bit far-fetched, yet it works. I have no idea what it’s like to be adopted or to adopt a baby (I adopted my daughter but she’s my wife biological kid, it’s a very different situation) or to not raise your child, and I have no idea whether Zak nailed that part or not, whether it’s realistic at all. For me as a reader, however, on the emotions front, it delivered.

This audiobook came out recently but the book was released a couple of years ago. I didn’t read it then, and the reviews posted at the time are a little all over the place, which is always interesting. It seems that I enjoyed it a lot more than most of my favourite reviewers. I’m not sure if it’s because Zak’s books really speak to me or because of the narration. I absolutely loved Lula Larkin’s narration. I didn’t even care that when the characters were supposed to whisper, they didn’t. The story is told in alternate chapters in first person from the points of view of the three main characters and each voice is perfect.

Because the story is also told from Beth’s POV, it gives the whole book a YA feel, which I liked. Beth’s arc is extremely sweet and a good counterpoint to Susan’s back-and-forths.

I feel that Erin Zak’s books get better and better (I’m still catching up on her earlier ones, it’s the theme of the season), and the writing in this one isn’t without flaws. There are a lot of weak knees, aching hands and smooth voices. Susan isn’t always consistent, she knows Jackie’s attracted to her a moment, seems completely unaware the next, and there a few other inconsistencies throughout the novel. The story seems to lose steam towards the end, and the ending itself is a tad too convenient and cheesy. Despite all this, I honestly didn’t mind too much. I liked these three extremely endearing women, I wanted them to be happy and that’s what I got.

Megan Cooper

4.5 stars 

Wow - really enjoyed this one. I wasn't a fan of Zak's last book and when I read the blurb on this one I was kind of iffy on it. That should teach me a lesson - this one is going on my 2019 favourites list. 

This is definitely a romance - no skullduggery, no ghostly hauntings, no chase scenes or gun play. This one is all about the characters and the relationships and I found myself dragged into their story and left with an "aw shucks" smile at the end. Describing the plot really doesn't capture the essence of the novel - a lesbian romance novelist answers the door to find a teen who is actually the child she gave up for adoption sixteen years ago; then the adoptive mother and her daughter show up on her doorstep a few days later, after leaving her abusive husband; slowly the relationship builds between the three and everyone gets a HEA. Rather than going for the angsty jugular, Zak handles the storyline and the characters with a remarkable amount of maturity and tackles some serious topics without going over the top. 

Interestingly, Zak has split the narrative between three first person POVs - Jackie, Susan and Beth. 
 At first I thought it might be too much, but it gave the whole story a more holistic feel and I was just as interested in Beth's sections as I was in the two romantic MC characters - even better, Zak didn't fall in the trap of retelling the same damned scene from each perspective, and the POVs were woven into one another quite well and allowed me to connect with each of the characters and their own personal struggles and growth.

Definitely recommended if you are looking for a good romance with a more unique set up of circumstances.