Paint the Grass by H.R. Boyd

From Amazon (I couldn't find it on Goodreads yet):

“You have to lose something first, before you can find it . . .” 

Bethany Taylor has been missing for twenty years. She just doesn’t know it. 

She does know how to be the perfect hostess for her husband’s corporate events. She knows how to fill out scholarship paperwork and set up dorm rooms for her boys. She knows how to create the perfect life for her entire family. And for twenty years that’s exactly what she’s been doing. 

Until the day her husband says “I love you” to his perky-boobed running buddy. 

A single sucker punch to the heart shoves Bethany’s missing life to center stage. 

Two choices come to mind. One requires a pair of pliers, a really sharp knife, and relocating to Morocco. The other, slightly less costly option, calls for a journal, a purple pen, and several cans of spray paint. 

Because a fresh coat of paint can fix all kinds of problems—and maybe even mark the path to a new life. 

Paint the Grass is a hilarious and heartwarming novel that celebrates the process of losing something before you find it and the joy that comes from living life true to yourself.

My Take:

First, this is women's fiction rather than romance, which is slightly outside my normal reading. Having said that, I enjoyed this immensely. There were moments in this story that tugged painfully at my heart because I totally related to the emotions Bethany was going through. My husband has never done what her does, but there are still times when I've felt so lonely right beside him that I could barely stand it.  

However, this book isn't really about sadness. It's about a woman taking back her life and figuring out what she wants and where she will make a difference. It's about empowerment and the lifting gift of sisterhood. I found myself setting my own "paint the grass" types of goals as I read. 

Remember what I love, do something scary, show kindness, and be happy being alone are just a few of her daily goals. Every one of them is an exercise in self-evaluation and a potential for growth and deeper happiness. 

I give Paint the Grass by H.R. Boyd 5 stars and a CLEAN rating.

1-5 scale and what it means:

1: I couldn’t even finish it / just plain bad

2: I hope I didn’t pay for this / disappointing

3: I didn’t hate it, but it was still missing something / forgettable but inoffensive

3.5: On the line between good and ok / like, not love

4: Solid mind candy / worth reading

4.5: So very close to perfection! / must read

5: I could not put it down and I’m still thinking about it! / a true treasure

Movie Ratings in relation to my review:

Clean--Hallmark movies, some kissing, no nudity, no intimacy on or off "screen"

PG--Some innuendo but nothing kids don't hear every day, intimacy is all closed door

PG-13--some language (swear words not related to intimacy), more talk about intimacy, heavy petting, removal of clothing on screen, but intimacy is closed door.

PG-14—somewhere between PG-13 and R. Not erotica, but at least a paragraph of on-screen intimacy

R--swearing (F-bomb, on “screen” intimacy, sometimes feels like the whole story is about the intimacy and not the relationship or some other plot, but not always