"Once Upon a Time, There Was You"

by Elizabeth Berg, AF, 2011, Playaway digital audio, 9.5hrs, rating=2
*SPOILER ALERT*

...a beautiful and moving novel about a man and woman, long divorced, who rediscover the power of love and family in the midst of an unthinkable crisis.
Even on their wedding day, John and Irene sensed that they were about to make a mistake. Years later, divorced, dating other people, and living in different parts of the country, they seem to have nothing in common—nothing except the most important person in each of their lives: Sadie, their spirited eighteen-year-old daughter. Feeling smothered by Irene and distanced from John, Sadie is growing more and more attached to her new boyfriend, Ron.  When tragedy strikes, Irene and John come together to support the daughter they love so dearly. What takes longer is to remember how they really feel about each other.  (Goodreads)

The beginning left me saying, "Oh no!".  Irene knew on her wedding day that she shouldn't marry John but she went ahead and married him anyways.  One could say that it was cold feet.  But, several years later they did divorce and lived thousands of miles apart.  Then only to find themselves together again because they're 18yo daughter was missing.  So they had to deal with each other while they wait for their daughter's return. 

I was alright with the read up until the abduction.  That whole scene and the aftermath just didn't make sense .. Sadie gets abducted, placed somewhere, abductor leaves and says he'll come back later with someone, days pass and no one returns, then police finds her, Sadie calls her boyfriend, marries him, and then calls her parents.  From there the book continues to work on relationships ... now including Sadie's mother-in-law. 

I can't seem to put it into words but to say that this book was screwy and just okay.