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A Novel
by Ann Garvin
A road trip can drive anyone over the edge―especially two former best friends―in bestselling author Ann Garvin's funny and poignant novel about broken bonds, messy histories, and the power of forgiveness.
Widowed Samantha Arias hasn't spoken to Holly Dunfee in forever. It's for the best. Samantha prefers to avoid conflict. The blisteringly honest Holly craves it. What they still have in common puts them both back on speed dial: a mutual love for Katie, their best friend of twenty-five years, now hospitalized with cancer and needing one little errand from her old college roomies.
It's simple: travel cross-country together, steal her loathsome ex-husband's VW camper, find Katie's diabetic Great Pyrenees at a Utah rescue, and drive him back home to Wisconsin. If it'll make Katie happy, no favor is too big (one hundred pounds), too daunting (two thousand miles), or too illegal (ish), even when a boho D-list celebrity hitches a ride and drives the road trip in fresh directions.
Samantha and Holly are following every new turn―toward second chances, unexpected romance, and self-discovery―and finally blowing the dust off the secret that broke their friendship. On the open road, they'll try to put it back together―for themselves, and especially for the love of Katie.
"Despite dealing with some heavy topics—cancer, widowhood, and the impending birth of a first child—Garvin's (I Like You Just Fine When You're Not Around) book is laugh-out-loud funny." —Library Journal
"A charming exploration of female friendship and cancer's uncanny ability to put perceived slights into perspective…[I Thought You Said This Would Work is] a testament to the power of one's own voice and the mistruths in the stories we tell ourselves, and an introspective, heartwarming, and witty farce." —Booklist
"Equal parts hilarious and heartfelt, I Thought You Said This Would Work kept me reaching for tissues—from laughing so hard. This book is a pure delight." —Colleen Oakley, USA Today bestselling author of You Were There Too
"Ann Garvin navigates the twists and turns of female friendship like few writers working today. I Thought You Said This Would Work is at once profound, hilarious, and ridiculously entertaining. Her best novel yet, I didn't want it to end!" —Karen Karbo, New York Times bestselling author of Yeah, No. Not Happening.
This information about I Thought You Said This Would Work was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Ann Garvin, PhD, is the USA Today bestselling author of I Like You Just Fine When You're Not Around, The Dog Year, and On Maggie's Watch. Ann writes about women with a sense of humor who do too much in a world that asks too much from them. She teaches writing at the University of Wisconsin–Madison Continuing Studies and at the Drexel University master of fine arts program, and she has held positions at Miami University and Southern New Hampshire University in their master of fine arts programs. She is the founder of Tall Poppy Writers, where she is committed to helping writers succeed. She is a sought-after speaker on writing, leadership, and health and has taught extensively at conferences and festivals across the country. For more information on Ann and her work, visit www.anngarvin.net and www.tallpoppies.org.
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