Book Review: My Year of Casual Acquaintances

I was recently sent My Year of Casual Acquaintances by Ruth F. Stevens and really enjoyed it.

The novel follows Margaret Meyer, or Mar as she now wants to be called. Mar and her husband of 28 years divorced the year before after he left her for another woman and she has started her life anew in a small apartment with a view of the water. Mar loves her job as an editor for an engineering publication and she is learning to embrace her new independent life while also trying to figure out what she wants in life and how she can mend her strained relationship with her adult son. When not working, Mar spends a lot of her time at the health club taking various exercise classes and coming across all different kinds of people. And so Mar begins her year of casual acquaintances – each one bringing something new or some sort of perspective to her life. Her acquaintances range from a woman and her dog whom she sees regularly when walking on the beach that she connects with to a flirty but flighty hip hop instructor to a best selling novelist whom she becomes romantically involved with.

Mar is flawed, but in a way that is so realistic. You can’t help but shake your head at some of the things she does or decisions she makes but at the same time know that what she’s doing is so relatable. And although she is flawed, you can’t help but root for her and hope things work out for her in the end.

I won’t spoil the ending, but it is full of hope and possibilities. A follow up sequel is coming out at the end of the year and I imagine it picks up where My Year of Casual Acquaintances leaves off and I’m looking forward to reading it!

*This book was sent to me in exchange for an honest review. This post contains affiliate links.*