The Night We Met

by Tara Taylor Quinn

I wasn't "supposed" to love Nate Grady, let alone marry him. But we found a love that triumphed over all adversity...just like Jane Eyre, my very favorite heroine. I was young, bookish, naive...on the verge of entering the convent--and then I met him.... The day I abandoned my old life, the day I agreed to marry him, now seems an eternity ago. But despite everyone's objections, I fell for Nate. An older, previously married man. My first and only love. "My husband."

When I looked into Nate's eyes on our wedding day, the rest of the world vanished. If I was crazy for doing this, I prayed the craziness would last forever....

Genres: Contemporary Romance, Harlequin, Romance, Contemporary

273 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published July 1, 2012

About the author

Tara Taylor Quinn began her love affair with Harlequin when she was fourteen years old and picked up a free promotional copy of a Harlequin Romance in a hometown grocery store. The relationship was solidified the year she was suspended from her high school typing class for hiding a Harlequin Romance behind the keys of her electric typewriter. Unaware that her instructor loomed close by, Ms. Quinn read blissfully on with one finger resting on the automatic repeating period key. She finished the book in the principal’s office. Forced to leave her romances in her locker after that, Ms. Quinn’s typing skills improved - a fact for which she is eternally grateful.

With over 80 original novels, published in more than twenty languages, Tara Taylor Quinn is a USA Today bestselling author with more than seven million copies sold. She is a winner of the 2008 National Reader's Choice Award, four time finalist for the RWA Rita Award, a finalist for the Reviewer’s Choice Award, the Bookseller’s Best Award, the Holt Medallion and appears regularly on the Waldenbooks bestsellers list. Ms. Quinn writes for Harlequin and MIRA Books. Reviewer, Cindy Penn, wordweaving.com says, “Amazing character development is the hallmark of author Tara Taylor Quinn’s work. Indeed, Taylor’s profound observations of human nature and intimate understanding of values and priorities lends extraordinary psychological depth to all her work.”

Tara Taylor Quinn was born and raised in Ohio. Though she wrote her first story at the age of seven, her professional writing career began ten years later when she was hired as a stringer with the Dayton Daily News in Dayton, Ohio. She attended Wright State University and graduated from Harding College in Arkansas with a degree in English and Journalism. She published several magazine articles before turning to writing as a full-time occupation.

Ms. Quinn is a Past President of the Romance Writers of America and served for eight years on the Board of Directors of that association. She has a wide range of experience as a public speaker and workshop presenter for writers groups around the country.

When she’s not home with her owners, Jerry Lee and Taylor Marie, or fulfilling speaking engagements, Tara loves to travel with her husband, stopping wherever the spirit takes them. They’ve been spotted in casinos and quaint little small town antique shops all across the country..

Reviews

[Geri Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 emotionally draining stars!

Tara Taylor Quinn is a new to me author. This is my first book from her (I'm currently reading another one) and it was a real doozy.

Life started the night we met. Everything before this was merely preparation for what was yet to come.

Eliza Crowley was 18 years old and on the verge of entering the convent when she met Nate Grady. The year was 1968. Nate Grady was divorced, and because the Catholic Church doesn't allow divorce, Eliza's blossoming relationship with Nate became a point of contention with her family. Despite their objections, Eliza abandoned her dream of being a nun, left the Catholic Church and married Nate.

The Night We Met is the story life together, from the moment they met, when they had kids, the problems they encountered throughout their marriage. It reads like a memoir, and it spans four plus decades. It is told entirely in her POV which starts out with a marker of what's going on in the general in the world and then goes on to detail what is happening to their life at that moment. It was very unique and the writing style is very engaging.

I was totally invested in Eliza's character and her relationship with Nate. It wasn't an easy one. They went through so much -- births, deaths, infidelity, business triumphs -- the ups and the downs, the ebbs and the flows. It was gut-wrenching and painful to read at times but also satisfying.

Yes, there is lots of romance but I wouldn't really consider this as romance because it fits more with general women's fiction. The book doesn't really go into detail or go very deep in examining the characters' motivations but it doesn't mean this was a shallow book. Quite the opposite. Life lessons are dispensed and as a reader, I can't help but connect with what the characters learned at each moment of their lives.

Another reason why I hesitate to call this romance was because of the ending. It wasn't a typical HEA but it was very satisfying and it made sense considering the themes explored in this book. This book was really beautifully written. There's some religious undertones but not too much. Nothing off-putting. Just some general stuff about living a blessed life. I for one found it very comforting.

A word of caution though, for those who are planning to read this. Tissues. Lots and lots of tissues because there will be tears and snot. Lots of them, so be prepared.

[Vintage · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Goodreads. I love Goodeads' reviewers as they are usually so good. However, I just want to say "I hate you" to each and every reviewer that recommended this book, but I guess I can't say I wasn't warned. You all said it made you cry, and yep. There you go.

This link about John Green, author The Fault in Our Stars sums up how I feel about your betrayal.
https://www.buzzfeed.com/mattbellassa...

I don't like heart-warming books that make me think of life; I don't do dead dog books (Where the Red Fern Grows, Old Yeller, etc. I don't do coming of age books as in The Red Pony, The Yearling, A Day No Pigs Would Die. You know why? Because people dieeeeeeee.

If I wanted a book to make me think and examine life, do you think I would read Harlequins? Escapism is my little red pill.

I'm too drained to write a substantive review: it's too hot in Phoenix (a 115 stinking degrees with a whopping 4% humidity down from the equally awesome 9%), and I have to pack as we are moving. My fun reading break has broken me, and I'm swilling leftover Spanish white wine.

Not the best written book, but stark and effective on how the choices we make and the people we choose change us for both the bad and the good.

All of this boils down to ****.

[reeder (reviews) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this as part of the cheaters’ contrition tour, but this is not a cheating book. Frankly, I’m not even sure it’s a romance, despite the Harlequin imprint. It’s a first-person narrative of four decades in the life of a marriage that marks the passage of time with significant historical/media events alongside dramatic episodes from the heroine’s married life. And one of those episodes is the husband’s infidelity, so in true contrition tour style, I’m going to recap just that portion of the book. But first, a little background on the marriage:

The couple met in 1968, when the 19-year-old RC heroine was a week away from becoming a postulant in a San Francisco convent. The older (33), twice-divorced hero recognized her as his soulmate after just two “dates” and proposed via letter. When she accepted, she gave up her vocation and her church, and her family disowned her. She moves from California to his home in Colorado, where he eventually buys a small ski resort somewhere between Boulder and Denver.

Seventeen eventful years later (May 31, 1985), the wife is going through her husband’s pockets while doing laundry and she discovers a credit card receipt for two glasses of wine. But he only drinks beer or whiskey! And it’s timestamped for a day and time when he had claimed to be caught in traffic returning from Denver. She looks suspiciously at the receipt. She looks fretfully at her toddler daughter playing at her feet. She crumples the receipt. Her daughter needs her daddy, and the wife knows what she must do.

That night, when her husband comes home, she screws his brains out. They sex like they’ve never sexed before. As she falls asleep cuddled next to her exhausted husband, she’s satisfied that she’s amply demonstrated he doesn’t need to seek intimacy with other women. Marriage saved.

Two weeks later, she walks into their bathroom to find him scrubbing a lipstick stain off a pair of his underwear.

The husband is contrite, insisting he loves his wife. He was with the other woman (the chairperson for a charity auction they’re hosting at the ski resort) because he is about to turn 50 this year and is really feeling the difference in his and his wife’s ages. Being with the also-older OW makes him feel less old, less anxious.

Then the wife asks a series of killer questions that get some of the worst non-answers I’ve ever (not) read in a cheating book:

“Have you told her it’s over?”

His silence was my answer.

“When’s the last time you were with her?”

“Liza, don’t do this. I’ll call her right now, tell her to hold the auction someplace else.”

I didn’t care about the damned auction.

“Today, Nate? While I was home this morning making beds and changing diapers, were you in Denver screwing another woman?”

Nate didn’t answer.

“Do you have plans to see her again?”

“I’ll cancel them.” [Ouch. Wrong answer, dude.]

He’d been expecting to see her again. If I hadn’t come into the bathroom, caught him, he would’ve continued to have sex with us both. Not only had he not ended it, he’d had no plans to do so.

She throws him out of the house, and they don’t even speak again for six months. All communication takes place via their eldest son. In the meantime, she doesn’t tell anyone about the separation, basically staying hidden in her home raising her toddler daughter. Her teenaged sons are fantasy versions of adolescents going through a parental break-up: they are completely supportive of their mother, spend lots of time with their dad, and toss no blame or self-pity around. The wife doesn’t seek a divorce because she can’t imagine ever pursuing another relationship, but anticipates that her husband will initiate a divorce to get on with his life. (Why? You think he wants wife #4? I'm thinking a three strike policy applies here.)

At the six-month mark, he calls to get her opinion on possibly selling the ski resort they co-own.

Two weeks later, he calls to discuss a parenting issue for their elder son. At the end of this conversation, she notes, “He didn’t ask how I was. Or if I needed anything. I didn’t ask him, either. That was the way it was between us now.”

After another couple of weeks, he calls with a suggestion regarding their daughter.

Suddenly, it’s April, and her husband has been calling every week. Tonight, they start discussing a television program that aired earlier in the week: The Mystery of Al Capone's Vaults, hosted by Geraldo Rivera. (If you’re unfamiliar with the story: the show was a live broadcast with a lot of hype, including the presence of medical examiners in case human remains were found in the vault and IRS agents in case money or valuables were found. The vault was empty. *sad trombone*) The wife is adamant that Geraldo was reckless, promising more than he delivered. The husband asks if this means that Geraldo can never be forgiven, never be allowed to make amends. The wife realizes they’re not talking about Geraldo anymore.

I’m unclear on the how and why, but by the end of this conversation (which was never about Geraldo but was also never NOT about Geraldo), she asks her husband to come home, they make love, and he moves back in. And there’s still two decades of marriage to narrate.

If this were a cheating book, with just the events as I recapped them, I would probably rate the book two stars. While the reason for cheating was an issue that had been looming from the start of their relationship and the contrition was genuine and -- based on their reconciliation conversation -- the cheater achieved insight that would prevent the behavior from recurring (all things that I look for in a highly rated cheating book), their emotional distance during the separation was too great for me to believe a veiled conversation about Geraldo Rivera’s journalistic integrity would suddenly bridge the damage. Yes, they had been in weekly phone contact for the prior three months, but there was no indication that they were being kinder to one another in those calls, no indication he was now asking how she was or if she needed anything. (I wonder if it wouldn’t have been better to time the reconciliation to coincide with the tearing down of the Berlin Wall.)

But this isn’t just a cheating book, and there's a lot more to this marriage than just one incident. I’m pleased (and a bit proud) the contrition tour exposed me to a subgenre I would otherwise never have read. For a more holistic view of The Night We Met, please check out the reviews from Geri Reads or Vintage.

[Tia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I knew reading this book would devastate me. Tara Taylor Quinn books have that effect on me. In this book the hero and heroine meet, the heroine makes a huge decision in her life that she never regrets and it depicts the heroine and heroes life together as they grow old. I was completely baffled by some of it, at other times it was bittersweet. I have only cried my eyes out in such angst with this author. I hate it, I hated this book for causing me such emotional torment and I hated the author for ending the book on such a sad but hopeful note. But I loved this book, it gave me hope for the future, for love being the thing that gets us all through. I want to say I'll never read another one of this authors book but that would be a lie. She is the most controversial author I have ever known. At times I hate her so much for telling it like it is and at other times I love her for being brave enough to put it into words. Her books are always bittersweet, full of compassion, love and understanding. This book like many others are a joy to read.

[Jacqueline J · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very different sort of writing style/content for a romance. It actually could have fit very well in general women's fiction. The story starts when Eliza and Nate meet and tells the story of their marriage over 40 years. It is told in first person past tense from Eliza's POV. Most of the episodes of their life are placed in time by a world event. For example such things as "The summer that men landed on the moon we...." Lovely and moving.

[Veronica WordsAreMyDrinkOfChoice · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad book, enjoyed the story progressing, but could not get past the infidelity. The fact Nate cheated and had no plans to end it, meant I couldn’t look at him the same, he didn’t fight for Liza and I wasn’t sure why she forgave him.

[Melissa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Despite this being only an average romance, I kept reading cause I wanted to know how the heroine's life turned out! Definitely not all happy-go-lucky!

[Jennifer · Rating 1 out of 5]

To religious

I tried to read this book, however, with all the God talk I just couldn't finish. To religious for me.

[Cindy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh..Odd historical timeline throughout storyline😂

[Marianne · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 ★s
The Night We Met is the fourteenth stand-alone novel by American author, Tara Taylor Quinn. Eliza Crowley is attending college, living in a Catholic convent and just weeks away from becoming a postulant nun when she meets Nate Grady in a pub. He’s much older, 32 to her 19, divorced, and her path in life is already set. But meeting Nate throws all her plans awry. She is stunned by her own reply when he writes her a letter proposing marriage. It is 1968, so her decision means rejection by the Church and being disowned by her family. Both believe their love is strong enough to survive this isolation.

What is fascinating about this novel is that it is inspired by the author’s parents, and based loosely on their marriage. It is a first person narrative, from Eliza’s perspective, told plainly, and is no standard Happily Ever After tale. There are plenty of ups and downs in the forty years they spend together, happiness and heartbreak. This is a very moving read.

[Leslie Swartz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book isn't just a HEA, it's a lifetime. 40 years of ups and downs. A real love story.

[Cathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I read most books, the stories usually focus on the beginning of a relationship and stops at a shiny happy moment. But what happens afterwards? What happens to the couple after the wedding or after the birth of their first child? We hope and believe for the happily ever after, that everything is all sunshine and roses. But that's not real life. There are diapers, and puke, and more babies, and fights, and financial issues, temptations, etc. that aren't covered in the typical romance.

The Night We Met is a story about a couple, Nate and Eliza, who survive and grow through their May/December relationship, through love, marriage, babies, death, infidelity, insecurities, and finding their way back to each other. And it didn't end there. We see the children move through different stages in their lives, and despite everything, see how much in love the H and h still are as they deal with their own aging.

Even though this book is a Harlequin and first person PoV, I don't think I've cried as much as I did towards the end of this book. There were parts where I wanted to just throw the book, but am really glad I stayed with it. A beautiful relationship, though filled with bumps and bruises, that reflects what life and real love could entail, warts and all. The message in the book is that real love isn't pretty; it's difficult and trying and imperfect. What makes for the beautiful story is how the characters deal, shape, and polish those imperfections.

[Kristen · Rating 3 out of 5]

It reads more like a memoir than a novel but it's a sweet guilty pleasure read.

[Harlequin Books]

Miniseries: Everlasting Love
Category: Classic Romance

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really sweet love story about a couple over a period of almost four decades.

[Mystique · Rating 5 out of 5]

WOW! just beautiful! I was crying so much at the end.
5++++++++++ stars and a definite keeper;)