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That's Not How It Happened

Published
Nov 2025
Main Genre
General Fiction General Fiction
Rating
Pages
320

About This Book

From the Emmy-nominated co-creator and Executive Producer of How I Met Your Mother, this smart, funny, bighearted novel for fans of Kevin Wilson and Monica Heisey, follows a family turned upside down after Hollywood decides to make a movie version of their lives.

With Audiobook narration by Cobie Smulders and Josh Radnor

Paige didn't set out to be a stay-at-home mom, but when her husband's screenwriting career took off right before they had a son with Down syndrome, the decision was made for her. Now, with their children nearly grown and unsure what's next, Paige writes a memoir about the challenges of raising a child with a disability. When a major actress-turned-producer shows up at her door eager to make her "inspiring" story into a movie, she's shocked, excited, and a little terrified.

This movie just might be the comeback opportunity her husband, Rob, desperately needs. His career has fizzled in recent years. But the movie is going to need a screenwriter, and who better to adapt his wife's memoir than him?... Meanwhile, their son, Emmett, doesn't understand why people think his Down syndrome is the most important thing in his life (that's definitely his girlfriend, Amy) -- but he hopes his newfound fame might somehow get him closer to meeting his idol, Eddie Vedder. Their daughter, Darcy, couldn't care less about the whole thing because she's hardly even in their mom's book. The "normal" child who nobody ever worries about is feeling more forgotten than ever as her love life implodes and college decisions loom.

As their lives are chewed up and spit out by the Hollywood machine, triggering old resentments and launching new betrayals, will any of them even recognize the "inspiring" family in this film? Or will this "feel-good" movie be the end of them?

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Formats & Editions

Browse the different covers, formats, and publication history for this title.

Hardcover

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Hardcover
First Edition Nov 2025 Hanover Square Press ISBN 0778360296
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Hardcover
Dec 2025 Thorndike Press, A Cengage Group ISBN 1420529668
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eBook

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eBook
Nov 2025 Hanover Square Press ISBN 0369773799
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eBook
Nov 2025 -- Not Selected ISBN B0DVWJKHM2
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Audio

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Audible
Nov 2025 -- Not Selected ISBN B0F22S9S4L
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