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Leslie A. Rasmussen is the award-winning author of the novel, After Happily Ever After. She was born and raised in Los Angeles and graduated from UCLA. She went on to write television comedies for Gerald McRaney, Burt Reynolds, Roseanne Barr, Norm McDonald, and Drew Carey, as well as The Wild Thornberrys and Sweet Valley High. After leaving the business to raise her boys, she obtained a master's degree in nutrition and ran her own business for ten years. Recently, she’s written over twenty essays for Huffington Post and speaks on panels discussing empowering women in midlife. She is a member of The Writers Guild of America, as well as Women In Film and the Women’s Fiction Writers Association. The Stories We Cannot Tell will be released by Touchpoint Press July 11, 2023. In her free time, she loves to read, exercise, and hang out with friends. Leslie lives in Southern California and is married and has two sons.
Reviewed by Rabia Tanveer for Readers' Favorite
The Stories We Cannot Tell by Leslie A. Rasmussen is the story of two 30-something women who were brought together by fate. Katie was a devout Christian woman who became pregnant out of wedlock. Unhappy and desperate, Katie had no idea what she would do now. On the other hand, Rachel and her husband were ecstatic when they found out she was pregnant. The Jewish couple was desperate when they discovered something wrong with their baby. They weren’t the only ones, though. Katie also found out something was wrong with her baby too. Katie and Rachel found each other in a support group and a friend in each other. As their pregnancies progressed and their complications increased, Katie and Rachel were left to make the toughest decisions.
This novel is a tale of friendship, comfort, found family, and acceptance. Women feel very vulnerable and exposed while pregnant. The insecurities they feel, the intensity of emotions, and the heightened senses can overwhelm a woman. Somehow, Leslie A. Rasmussen portrayed every emotion a woman goes through while pregnant and it was all told in clear detail. I felt bad for Rachel and Katie. They were both on different spectrums of pregnancy. One was happy about her baby, and the other was terrified. They struggled in their own ways, and Rasmussen ensured readers heard them clearly. I was devastated halfway through the story and was on the verge of tears. Rachel and Katie found comfort in each other and became the support they needed to survive. The pace was perfect and allowed readers to get close to the protagonists early on. The descriptions were realistic and emotion-evoking. I had a hard time putting The Stories We Cannot Tell down, to be honest. I loved it and highly recommend it.
