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Review
4.5 stars
This is a beautiful story. An emotional story of love, loss, grief and moving on, friendship and family, and finding where you truly belong. It’s sweet, romantic and beautifully written, and I loved it.
Amelia is a journalist who is left reeling when she learns that her seemingly perfect life is anything but. Her marriage is over, but she loses herself in her latest story investigating what happens to ‘abandoned’ embryos following fertility treatments. It’s an interesting dilemma, for sure, but it becomes deeply personal for Amelia when she realises that some of those embryos belong to her childhood friend and neighbour, Parker, and his late wife.
Parker hasn’t moved on in the three years since his wife died. She was his world and her slow death from cancer was traumatic and devastating. So after Amelia turns up on his doorstep to give him the news that he still has a tangible connection to his beloved wife, he is determined to find a surrogate to give him the children that they could never have together.
It’s an intriguing situation, and I read with eager anticipation, guessing what was coming next and loving every moment of it. But then the story twisted in a direction that I wasn’t expecting, and I loved that too, because I had no idea how it was all going to work out, and I loved watching these characters stumble through and figure it all out in a way that is less than perfect, but so very real.
I had been holding on to the past so hard that I couldn’t even imagine the future.
Amelia and Parker are both in a position where their futures are up in the air, and they have a lot of soul searching to do. Some of that they do together, and some of it apart, and it’s a beautiful journey as two childhood friends reconnect and find their way forward. Amelia brings life back into Parker’s world, and there are some wonderful moments of laughter and fun, as well as deep and meaningful conversation. They share a lot – both from their past, and in trying to figure their lives out, and there’s something really special about these two together.
Amelia was a part of my heart. She always had been.
There’s a great cast of friends and family rallying around and supporting Amelia and Parker through their journeys – including interfering mothers who are desperate to see their kids together and happy. There’s a lot of depth to the story which is slowly revealed throughout the book, and the whole thing is really cleverly put together. By the time you get to the end, you realise just how intricate and right it all is.
The story ends in a great place, though I would have loved just a little bit more, but it was satisfying, and left me smiling.
Beautifully written with lots of feels, this is a gorgeous read.
4.5 stars.
An Advanced Review Copy was generously provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.