When your heart says the person you just met is the love of your life, but you are already married to someone, do you give your “love of life” a chance or shrug him/her off as a mere infatuation? Daniel Pearson, in Chasing What’s Already Gone by Michael Ross, faced this exact same dilemma when he noticed an incredibly beautiful girl while he was out shopping (or — more aptly — tolerating) with his wife, Jane. His marriage with Jane has been undergoing a rocky period since a long time and they both seemed to be suffering each other’s presence rather than enjoying it. So, needless to say, Danny (short for Daniel Pearson) was more than tempted to follow the “love of his life.” He did not succumb to the temptation and continued the torment called shopping with his wife. Nevertheless, when another chance encounter made him stand face to face with his love, he did not let the opportunity go. The conversation went smoothly and the lady introduced herself as Ella. Before leaving, she handed Danny her card and asked him to call her some time. After thinking and rethinking, he finally made the call. To his dismay, however, the voice on the other side sounded nothing like his Ella. Did he get played or was he chasing something that was already gone? His desire to meet and greet with the love of his life grew even stronger when he caught his wife cheating with her boss. Regardless of his wishes, the reality of the matter remained that he had no information about his girl except for a fake card that she had handed over. He had lost hope but when his best friend, Rob, pushed him to search “Ella,” the chase is on.
The chase part of the story is very addictive. I could not put the book down until figuring out whether or how Danny would find his Ella. I was pretty confident that he would find the girl because I could not fathom any other way in which the story could possibly proceed. The author has inserted so many twists in this first part that left me confused every time there was a twist.
When the book proceeds from the chasing part, even then it doesn’t lose its grip. The author knows how to get the readers interested and has many tricks up his sleeves to hold their attention. At least, I reminded interested in the lives of Danny and his “Ella” until the end. The value of relationships and respecting one another’s decisions are well taught by both these characters. The author made his characters mention something about “Ella’s” past but held it a secret until it was the right time to reveal it. And what a perfect timing that turned out to be! All said and done, the author knows how to play his cards right.
The characters are well defined and I found it extremely easy to make a connection with each one of them. The author has spent almost as much time describing the secondary characters as he did with the primary characters. Their dialogues are very informative and intriguing. The author made a very clever decision of making Danny the narrator of his story. Danny talked about his life in a very satirical (and humorous) and colorful manner. His thoughts are very similar to the most of us. I loved him.
If you are a romance lover and looking for a romantic fiction that is filled with just enough twists and comedy then this one is for you. Along the way, the author has managed to sneak in a few important lessons of good relationships.
