With Or Without You by Carole Matthews

I got With Or Without You by Carole Matthews from the library and wasn't quite sure I'd ever get to it. Picked it up a few days ago and found it rather hard to put down. It's mainly chicklit, but also has a women's fiction feel to it.

When Jake tells Lyssa it's not working, she knows he's not talking about the toaster. What she doesn't realise is that he has been seduced by another woman.

Lyssa's immediate reaction is to sob into her pillow and wait for Jake to come home with his tail between his legs. But slowly she understands that's not an option. In a bid to escape, she embarks on a trekking holiday in Nepal. Her sister teases her that she'll meet a hairy-arsed yak shepherd - but it never occurs to Lyssa that in the Himalayan foothills she might fall in love...

When it's time to go home- back to reality and a very sheepish Jake - Lyssa has to face the hardest choice of her life.

I liked Lyssa a lot. I really felt she grew in the story and figured out what mattered most to her. The woman who Jake leaves her for is training for a trip to Mt. Everest, so Lyssa decides to make a trek to Nepal. Luckily, she has some common sense and just does a month-long trek with a group. I enjoyed how she changed during the month, learning that she can do without all the things that she once thought were so important.

Another thing I liked is how we also learn about things through Jake's eyes. He cheats on Lyssa and really hurts her, yes, but it was interesting to see how much he realizes he's screwing up his life with the decisions he's made.

Lyssa's sister is another character who we learn more about, and how she deals with having a large family and the rut she seems to be in with her husband.

All in all, I definitely recommend this one if you're in the mood for a good chick lit novel. It's not as funny as some, and deals with some serious issues, but I really enjoyed reading it and hope to read more of Carole Matthews.