The Other Side of Now by Paige Harbison

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The Other Side of Now by Paige Harbison

Magical realism

The Other Side of Now

by Paige Harbison

Excellent choice

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Quick take

In this magic tale of second chances, an actress discovers her long-dead best friend still alive in another timeline.

Good to know

  • Illustrated icon, Romance

    Romance

  • Illustrated icon, Light_Read

    Light read

  • Illustrated icon, Female_Friendship

    Female friendships

  • Illustrated icon, Salacious

    Salacious

Synopsis

With a leading role on a hit TV show and a relationship with Hollywood’s latest heartthrob, Meg Bryan appears to have everything she ever wanted. But underneath the layers of makeup and hairspray, her happiness is as fake as her stage name, Lana Lord. Following a small breakdown at her thirtieth birthday party, she books an impromptu trip where she knows the grass is greener: Ireland. Specifically, the quaint little village where she and her best friend Aimee always dreamt of moving—a dream that fell apart when an accident claimed Aimee’s life a decade ago.

When Meg arrives, the people in town are so nice, treating her not as a stranger, but a friend. Except for the (extremely hot) bartender giving her the cold shoulder. Meg writes it all off as jetlag until she looks in the mirror. Her hair is no longer bleached within an inch of its life, her skin has a few natural fine lines, and her nose looks like…well, her old nose. Her real nose.

Her phone reveals hundreds of pictures of her life in this little town: with an adorable dog she doesn’t know; with the bartender who might be her (ex?) boyfriend; and at a retail job unrelated to acting. Eventually, she comes to accept that she somehow made a quantum slide into an alternate version of her life. But the most shocking realization of all? In this life, her best friend Aimee is alive and well…but wants nothing to do with Meg.

Despite her bewilderment, Meg is clear-eyed about one thing: this is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to reconnect with her friend and repair what she broke. She finagles an opportunity to act in the play Aimee is writing and directing and as the project unfolds, Meg realizes that events as she remembers them may not be the only truth, and that an impossible choice looms before her.

Content warning

This book contains scenes depicting eating disorders.

Free sample

Get an early look from the first pages of The Other Side of Now.

The Other Side of Now

PROLOGUE

fifteen years ago

I pull the trigger over and over and over as the increasingly feeble stream of water fails to propel my tiny horse as fast as I want it to go.

“Come on, come on!” I say, baring my teeth, which are still sore from today’s orthodontist appointment, not taking my eyes off the bullseye for a moment.

Aimee’s horse lurches ahead even farther, and that’s when I notice that she’s doubled over beside me, cracking up, her finger not even on her accelerator gun.

“Mine’s broken!” she says between laughing gasps, and points at her ghostly horse, racing on speedily without her assistance.

My jaw drops and I yell, “This game is rigged!”

The finish-line bell sounds as Aimee’s horse stops at the end of its track, leaving mine far behind.

“You win,” says the bored, older teenager working the booth. He then gestures at the prizes. She picks a white teddy bear; he yanks it down from where it’s clipped by the ear and tosses it to her, then sets up the horse game for another couple of suckers.

“It’s rigged,” I whisper to the girl taking over my old position. “The game is rigged.”

“I don’t think she got it,” Aimee says as we walk away.

“Kids.”

It’s the end of summer and as hot as it gets in this part of muggy Florida. At home, the air-conditioning is broken, so I’ve been aching hot for weeks except for the nights I’ve been allowed to sleep over at Aimee’s. Even our pool is hot. My parents keep reminding me what a whiny, ungrateful complaint that is, but it sucks, and it’s not my fault they don’t get that having something that should be nice that doesn’t work is annoying.

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Member ratings (18)

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New and recent add-ons
View all
A Family Matter
The Other Side of Now
The River Is Waiting
Walk Like a Girl
The Amalfi Curse
The Love Haters
Aftertaste
I Regret Almost Everything
A Curse Carved in Bone
My Friends
Enchantra
Gifted & Talented
Retreat
The Bright Years
Water Baby