Book Review: All You Could Ask For

By Amy Bromberg

All You Could Ask For alternates among three characters, Brooke, Samantha and Katherine, who all think they are leading successful lives. Brooke is a picture-perfect suburban housewife, married to her college sweetheart and raising twins. Samantha just got married, and not even 24 hours into their honeymoon she finds out her husband has been having an affair when she discovers naked pictures of another woman on his computer. Katherine is a highly successful businesswoman who hasn’t stopped obsessing over her ex-boyfriend who not only dumped her 20 years ago, but for whom she also works. She decides to take her first vacation after a horrible blind date on her birthday. The three women have never met before but they will become forever bonded with one another when they are all forced to deal with being diagnosed with breast cancer.

Right from the start I couldn’t put this down. I was surprised, and very happy of course, that the three women’s voices are authentic and believable. The flow of each story to the next was superb. At the end of some chapters I felt like I was standing on my toes waiting for the next narrative to start.

I loved this book from beginning to end. I’m still flabbergasted by the fact that this was written by a man. Not just any man, but one that is fact a sports fanatic. I believe that not many men out write chick lit books because of the difficulty they would have in developing genuine female characters. Mike Greenberg has definitely proved us wrong. He not only beautifully managed to create just one, but also three realistic and extremely relatable female characters. Mike clearly understands the women’s psyche.

Hopefully women will learn from this book that routine self-breast exams and getting mammograms are vital. Unfortunately there’s breast cancer on both sides of my family, so I really need to be careful. It’s important to note that 100% of the profits from this book are being given to the V Foundation for Cancer Research.

All You Could Ask For is a pleasurable, thought-provoking and tender read. This is definitely one for your beach bag, folks.

Thanks to HarperCollins for the book in exchange for an honest review. They have some copies to give away with Mike's visit to CLC.