Day By Day

by Sandra Steffen

Sandra Steffen, the bestselling author of The Cottage, touches our hearts once again with an emotionally compelling and complex tale of love, desperation, renewal -- and a secret that will irrevocably change three people's lives.When a car accident leaves Maggie MacKenzie in a deep coma, her adoring husband sits at her bedside, day after day, with her sister, Jackie. In a moment of despair, Spence and Jackie reach out blindly for one another. But just as all hope seems lost, Maggie awakens. And everything has changed. Shocked by the realization that the world has carried on without her, Maggie remains certain of thing: she's been granted a second chance. . .and she intends to make the most of it.

Genres: Contemporary, Chick Lit, Contemporary Romance

352 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Sandra Steffen is an award-winning, bestselling author of over thirty-seven novels, honored with the RITA Award, National Readers Choice Award, and The Wish Award. She balances writing with family life, having married her high-school sweetheart and raised four sons. Sandra enjoys reading, walking, laughing, connecting with friends, and, above all, writing.

Reviews

[Natti Rivero · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was a bad and distressing experience for me.The author can have a lot of great books but this one was revolting.
I felt completely disgusted with Maggie's husband and her sister.The end was so unfair,Maggie should have moved on with someone who really deserved her.

[Letti · Rating 3 out of 5]

Utter BS.... I'm sorry it's bad enough if your spouse seeks the arms of another woman, but worse if your sister and spouse betray you... where can you actually find forgiveness in that, I mean she was was in a coma for only 9 weeks the plug wasn't pulled there were options that could of been found, Maggie wasn't even in the grave... And on top of it all her sister get's a little present that comes in nine months.. If i was in her shoes i would pull a Lorena Bobbitt on his butt but instead of tossing his willy wonka out of a car window that bad boy would be in the blender and I will make sure he drinks it all down... My sister on the other hand won't have to worry abt anything i would kill her plan and simple and then claim insanity due to my head injury sorry but hey i speak the truth.. Maggie had no back bone granted she yelled etc. but when someone else would raise their voice or give her a snide comment she backed down, and the topping on the cake her sister knew what she was doing all but admitted to wanting Maggies husband but knowing he didn't love her sibling jealousy evil bith jackie.... Hell thank the lord this will never ever happen to me, My sisters husbands are younger and cuter than mine i might be at least willing to swap..lol


Spence is a piece of shit, may he choke on a steak and may Jackie burn in Hell were all the B*tches live... those two ppl make me sick to my stomache and yet they get the happy ending... Jackie knew what it felt like to be cheated on her husband David did it to her and yet she opens wide for her sister husband really where does this crap come from... well blow me down and pick me up its disgusting savage insane utter unbelievable BS

[Cc · Rating 1 out of 5]

12/25

I've read this so many times, lol. And....it still pisses me off. My sister would have killed my husband if I was laying there in a coma and he tried to have "comfort" sex with her. Not only killed him, she'd have drug him off to some abandoned home, tied him up and had a "comfort" torture session. To help her through her pain of losing me, of course. I'm sure the therapist would've understood. Are there really sisters like this? My baby sister died last year and I miss her like I've lost my own soul, but I laughed today finishing this and it felt good to able to remember her and laugh with her memory telling me how gruesome the torture would have been. Let me tell you something, if a "therapist" tells you what happens in this book is love? Start looking for abandoned houses. For all three of them. 😂 Honestly, I was happy to be able to remember her and not feel sad.

In all honesty I should give this sucker 5 stars for rage reads, but the writing was a smidge wonky and the rage was inadvertently done by the author. So 1 star it stays. Anybody need directions to an abandoned farm house in rural Maine? If you do - I know one that has the ashes of, um............this book, burned on an alter of "love" - therapist style.




Once again proves my theory that some authors HATE their heroines. I wonder what she did to Ms. Steffan? I bet she slept with her husband. 😜

[April Reader · Rating 1 out of 5]

The biggest sin for this book is that it was boring and dragged on and on and on and on...

Maggie (heroine) and Spence (hero) are happily married with two girls. Her sister Jackie was recently dumped by her cheating husband. Maggie gets into a car accident that results in her being in a coma for about 9 weeks.

On the last day in her coma, unbeknownst to our heroine, Spence and Jackie lost hope that she will ever recover from her injuries and they plan on giving effect to her living will which dictates that they take her off life support and end her life. They watch some home videos of Maggie and cry together. Then they fall asleep on the couch up and slowly wake up reaching for each other. The f*ck.

Next morning, the hero receives a call from his brother who was in the hospital visiting the heroine and tells her that she's waking up. Oh snap!

Over the next few weeks, the hero and SIL avoid each other like the plague because they both agreed that it was a horrible mistake made out of grief and need for comfort but it turns out that SIL is pregnant with the hero's baby.

At first, they lie to Maggie about the father's parentage, telling her that it was her cheating ex who got her pregnant and then Maggie runs into said ex and discovers that it was his first time back in town in the last several months and that he's had no contact with his ex. Maggie goes home to talk about it with her husband and as she's thinking out loud, she realizes that with the timing of the baby, the only man Jackie was in close contact with was her husband.

SIL leaves town to start her own life. She doesn't want Spence to be an active father because it would obviously be an issue for the family. SIL eventually falls in love with a new man and all is good for her. While I was glad that she found a man to focus on her so that she wasn't so much in the heroine's life, it was hard to feel happy for her because she effectively destroyed her sister's marriage.

Yes, there is an HEA between Maggie and Spence but it is hard to believe that they can actually work through the affair. I mean, it was her sister that he cheated with and in her own home. They got back together at the very end of the book and I had a hard time believing that they could work it out. Not enough time was spent between them trying to make it work. It was one of those 'we love each other too much to give up on our marriage' moments that didn't feel earned.

Also, now Jackie's son is half-sibling AND cousin to Maggie's daughters. Ew

[Tmstprc · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not horrible, but could we make the wife’s life any more miserable?

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

THIS SUMMARY/REVIEW WAS COPIED FROM OTHER SOURCES AND IS USED ONLY AS A REMINDER OF WHAT THE BOOK WAS ABOUT FOR MY PERSONAL INTEREST. ANY PERSONAL NOTATIONS ARE FOR MY RECOLLECTION ONLY

Lots of mixed reviews... I have read so many books, that when the bottom falls out of your life or you think it does, people do crazy things. This was a one time deal...not a behind your back long lasting affair.

I am such a believer, if this hasn't happened to you what would you do...

Unfortunately, I am unable to borrow any of her books, not available in audio at my library or at ILL

I loved the story and the angst.... I however would have beat the h&ll out of my sister and my husband once I was able. Even in a world of infidelity, the lines of family is a taboo of taboo no matter why.... excuses and then a pregnancy on top of it. There is no way to get distance from it, to ever let it go as it is there every Christmas, every birthday. This would be impossible of me to forget no matter how hard I tried to forgive. I would have divorced the husband and went after the therapist...then if the sister and husband ended up together.... so be it

[Willow · Rating 2 out of 5]

A story where “devoted” husband, Spence/H, cheats on his dying comatose wife, Maggie/h, with said wife’s younger sister, Jackie. The backstabbing Jackie gets pregnant, because who knew that unprotected sex can lead to babies? The comatose Maggie wakes up, finds out about the infidelity, and her little sister’s illegitimate spawn fathered by her cheating husband. The betrayed Maggie banishes her sister and kicks her husband to the curb. But, not for long because Maggie is a doormat and Maggie doesn’t do anger. She is soon happy again, forgives and forgets and takes Spence back. Cheating Spence barely feels guilt and grovels even less. All is forgotten and everyone gets their HEA, including the backstabbing Jackie who gives birth to Spence’s bouncing baby boy and hooks up with her conveniently widowed young Doctor. The end.

(Meanwhile, back in the real world where there are real consequences for cheating and betrayal, the now teenaged illegitimate spawn finds out that his cousins are also his half-sisters, his uncle is really his father, and his aunt is still his aunt but the odd animosity she has towards him and his mom finally makes sense. All hell breaks loose. The revelations and deceit mess with his head, so he needs intense therapy. His mom is miserable. His uncle/father is miserable. His cousin/sisters refuse to talk to everyone in the family, except their mom. And his betrayed aunt is still in therapy, still hates her backstabbing sister and cheating ex-husband, but is much happier, healthier, and is bonking a very handsome younger man. That’s her much deserved HEA….and not part of this story)

[Lu Bielefeld · Rating 1 out of 5]

Sentimentos contraditórios...
Li o livro após receber a resenha da Adriana e fiquei com sentimentos contraditórios, por um lado eu até entendi a traição em um "momento de desespero", mas não engoli e nem aceitei.
Pq tiveram que transar para aliviar as angústias da vida????
Sei lá, acho que a irmã sofria de inveja da vida da mocinha e cobiçava o que ela tinha.
O marido também não se esforçou muito para reconquistá-la e ela não tinha motivo para se sentir tão culpada, afinal ela não fez nada de errado.

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the story and the angst.... I however would have beat the h&ll out of my sister and my husband once I was able. Even in a world of infidelity, the lines of family is a taboo of taboo no matter why.... excuses and then a pregnancy on top of it. There is no way to get distance from it, to ever let it go as it is there every Christmas, every birthday. This would be impossible of me to forget no matter how hard I tried to forgive. I would have divorced the husband and went after the therapist...then if the sister and husband ended up together.... so be it.

[Eliana]

Read this one a long time ago, it's a very sad story that is hard to read, at least for me it was. But then most stories that involve coma in the romance and women's fiction genres break my heart.

[Ana HM · Rating 1 out of 5]

9 semanas y perdieron la esperanza de que la h despertará?
H estaba "soñando" con que tenía sexo con su esposa esa es su "justificación" pero ¿la perra de la hermana? Ella sabía lo que hacía y no se detuvo, TRAICIONÓ A SU HERMANA.
Aún más tuvo un bebé del esposo de su hermana algo que siempre será un recordatorio de su infidelidad y de la traición de los dos. Y aún así la sinica no se arrepiente si tanto quería ser madre hubiera buscado a alguien más, debió abortar al producto de la traición y discordia.
Daño para siempre el matrimonio de su hermana que horrible y asqueroso.

[Lenore Kuipers-Cummins · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book and couldn't put it down. It involves Maggie and Spence McKenzie and their daughters Allison and Grace. The setting takes place in the familiar to me, Grand Haven, Michigan. (The author who has written a lot of books is from Michigan). Jackie is Maggie's sister and best friend. It all begins with a serious car accident. If I write anymore it will spoil your reading. I highly recommend this.

[wrkatreading · Rating 3 out of 5]

What I liked, the writing. The story flowed nicely. I believed the heartache the H was feeling.
What I didn’t like, two of the characters characters together. I didn’t and couldn’t believe the reasoning for their actions.
A second book is needed for the anticlimactic ending. We read the buildup of how this is going to end and then poof it ended.

The three stars are for the writing.

[Techdivakt · Rating 2 out of 5]

Maggie, Spence and Jackie, cheat, have baby

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very slow moving = boring. It finally picked up, and I liked the last 1/4 of the book...the ending. A little too wordy...could have been shortened. I listened on audio and can't say this is one of my favorite readers.