To Love and Be Loved by Amanda Prowse

What could be better on Valentine's Day (other than a card, flowers and a romantic dinner, of course) than sharing the love for a book about love? It's my stop on the blog tour for To Love and Be Loved by Amanda Prowse anf. Big love to Kelly Lacey at Love Books Tours for inviting me and to the publisher for my review copy, which I received via Netgalley.

The Blurb

In this life-affirming tale from bestselling author Amanda Prowse, one woman built a new life to escape her humiliation. Now, can she put the shame behind her and finally find happiness?

Young and desperately in love, Merrin had the whole world ahead of her. But just as her new life was about to start, the ground beneath her feet was cruelly swept away. Devastated by the humiliation, she ran far away from the beloved fishing village she had always called home to lick her wounds and escape her gossiping friends and neighbours.

It hasn’t been easy, but six years later Merrin has forged a new life for herself far from the sea, burying the impulsive girl she once was. But when tragedy strikes, she has no choice but to return to the village she swore she’d never set foot in again.

Reluctantly back in the arms of her community, Merrin begins to realise what she’s been missing out on all these years. As she begins to remember the person she used to be, she is forced to make choices about her future, and to question the past. What does she want from her life? Who is important to her? Who is to blame for everything that went wrong? And can she forgive them, let old wounds heal and finally be her true self again?


Buy Links

Amazon

My Review

This is my first fiction by Amanda Prowse but I loved the book she wrote with her son, Josh Hartley, about his depression and the effect on the whole family. The Boy Between is a very honest, emotional and affecting book, well worth a look. You can check out my review here. 

As many of you will know I'm normally one for the darker side of life with my crime and psychological thrillers but everyone needs a bit of love in their life, right? To Love and Be Loved tells the story of Merrin, a young woman from a loving family who lives in a tiny Cornish seaside village of Port Charles. Everyone knows everyone else and everyone gets along and it's picture perfect gorgeous. Merrin is head over heels in love with Digby and they're planning a beautiful wedding day. But when the day goes catastrophically wrong Merrin is embarrassed, ashamed and just can't face anyone. So she leaves the place she loves to start a new life and it's a fair while before she summons up the courage to return.

Merrin is very easy to like. She's bubbly and happy, at first, anyway, and secure in the love of her family and her man. But after that disastrous day she is a changed woman, sad and lonely. My heart went out to her then. She is so beautifully described that I could feel the ache in her heart, just as I could feel her joy in the happy times. I really warmed to her and understood her need to run away. But she made one decision I didn't agree with, not returning home for a significant event. Part of her worry was people talking about her and that awful day but I wonder if they wouldn't have talked more about her not returning for this particular event.

Port Charles is absolutely a character in its own right. It sounds absolutely gorgeous, just as you'd imagine a traditional seaside village - beautiful views and kind -hearted, hard-working folk. A place to belong, to be part of something. And throughout the story, it's not only the pull of her family and friends that Merrin feels, but the pull of Port Charles itself. 

This is an easy to read and enjoyable tale of self discovery, friendship, grief, family and love in all its forms. And about the pull of the people and places that really matter to you. I've been quite emotionally fragile recently and I was in pieces more than once. But I think anyone reading this will be moved by Merrin's ups and downs. Oh, and by the beautiful words of wisdom dispensed by her parents. It felt good to leave the crime behind just for a bit and come into the light for a while. 

The Author

Amanda Prowse is an international bestselling author of twenty-eight novels published in dozens of languages. Her chart-topping titles What Have I Done?, Perfect Daughter, My Husband’s Wife, The Coordinates of Loss, The Girl in the Corner and The Things I Know have sold millions of copies around the world. Other novels by Amanda Prowse include A Mother’s Story, which won the coveted Sainsbury’s eBook of the Year Award. Perfect Daughter was selected as a World Book Night title in 2016. She has been described by the Daily Mail as ‘the queen of family drama’. Amanda is the most prolific writer of bestselling contemporary fiction in the UK today. Her titles consistently score the highest online review approval ratings across several genres. A popular TV and radio personality, Amanda is a regular panellist on Channel 5’s Jeremy Vine show, as well as featuring on numerous daytime ITV programmes. She also makes countless guest appearances on national and independent radio stations, including LBC and talkRADIO, where she is well known for her insightful observations and infectious humour. Amanda’s ambition is to create stories that keep people from turning off the bedside lamp at night, that ensure you walk every step with her great characters, and tales that fill your head so you can’t possibly read another book until the memory fades…