Lust For Life    by Adele Parks Order:  USA  Can Downtown Press, 2005 (2005) Paperback, e-Book      Reviewed by Kim Atchue-Cusella Martha has the ideal life - two kids, a perfect husband and a dream house that they are close to buying. But when Martha returns from grocery shopping with her sister Liza, Michael drops the news that he is leaving her. She doesn't think he is serious at first but it slowly sinks in as he packs to go to the local hotel. As her idyllic life crashes around her, Martha starts to fall apart. Liza has always been the wild sister while Martha was the sensible one. Liza lives for the moment. While shopping with Martha, she decides she wants to settle down to a life similar to her sister's. When she gets home, she dumps her live in boyfriend Greg. In disbelief, he watches her pack and leave the apartment. When Liza shows up at Martha's house, she heads to the comfort of the kitchen to talk about her newly single status. To her surprise, her sister's usually neat house looks like a tornado has hit. Liza ends up comforting Martha. She helps her sister pull herself together to be strong for the kids, and while doing this finds she is enjoying the mothering role. The novel ropes you in right from the beginning via the closeness of the Evergreen sisters. There are both hilarious and melancholy moments in how they handle their lives after their breakups. When each enters the dating scene looking for a different kind of man than before, an adventure unfolds. Adele Parks has a unique way of weaving humor into real life situations and keeping the reader guessing about what is going to happen next. I loved Lust For Life and look forward to reading Adele Parks' backlist as well as whatever she writes next. Note: Opinions expressed in reviews and articles on this site are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of BookLoons. Find more Contemporary books on our Shelves or in our book Reviews