The Shadow of Your Smile by Susan May Warren REVIEW

(this is #5 in the Deep Haven Series, other books by Susan May Warren)

A beautiful blanket of snow may cover the quaint town of Deep Haven each winter, but it can’t quite hide the wreckage of Noelle and Eli Hueston’s marriage. After twenty-five years, they’re contemplating divorce . . . just as soon as their youngest son graduates from high school. But then an accident erases part of Noelle's memory. Though her other injuries are minor, she doesn’t remember Eli, their children, or the tragedy that has ripped their family apart. What’s more, Noelle is shocked that her life has turned out nothing like she dreamed it would. As she tries to regain her memory and slowly steps into her role as a wife and mother, Eli helps her readjust to daily life with sometimes-hilarious, sometimes-heartwarming results. But can she fall in love again with a man she can’t remember? Will their secrets destroy them . . . or has erasing the past given them a chance for a future?

I love it when authors place the story of a book around a real place with the actual name of towns and restaurants, etc. I love being able to look up those places, it makes the book seem more real as well. 
Before I knew of this book I watched The Vow. This book, reminded me of the couple and story from the movie, the wife having amnesia after her accident, not remember her husband or what she liked or disliked, trying to live her life normally and get back into her old routine to try to help bring her memory back. 
But there were differences in this book. They are an older couple, they have kids, the husband (Eli) is a retired cop. Their marriage was strained. They were both contemplating divorce. But that was before the accident. Now Noelle's memory is gone and she has lost twenty-five years of her life. She is coming to grips with learning she is a wife and mother and those lost years. Now, Eli is doing all he can do to help Noelle. He gets sort of a fresh start with his wife, he wants to help her recover her memory while trying to fix the damage from their marriage but that also means that if she does recover her memory, she could remember why their marriage was so tense and on the verge of ending.  And that could destroy him.
The story kept a steady beat until about halfway through the book; in a good way. It kept your interest. Then a little after half the book, the story begins to go a little faster because the missing pieces of the story are coming out and the story is coming together and that made it seriously hard to put this book down. 
This story does have its similarities with The Vow, but it definitely is a great story all it's own. It is heartwarming, sad and a little romantic. I did my typical thing and tried to figure out the ending before I got there but couldn't. This was definitely a bittersweet one for me. Mainly because the story ended. 
I want to say so much more, but that would definitely be giving away some of the mystery and suspense of the book, and that is part of why this story was so good:)

I rented this book from my local library