Wiping away her tears, Kay looks at her old photos, of friends who have come and gone through life’s big moments. But then there’s Rose, her one constant through everything. Now Rose is missing. Does the key to finding her lie in their past?

It should have been the happiest day of Kay’s life. Getting married with her best friend and maid of honour, Rose at her side. But then Rose messages Kay moments before the ceremony, I’m so sorry. I can’t do this. Please don’t look for me. Kay is heartbroken. What could have possibly driven Rose to leave?

Kay doesn’t know a life without Rose in it. They’ve stuck together through thick and thin; getting each other through tough break-ups, the rollercoaster of children and losing Kay’s beloved mum.

Searching through a lifetime of belongings, desperate for clues, Kay finds a box of old photos. As she looks at pictures of them dancing with their friends from years ago, she suddenly wonders whether the key to finding Rose lies in their past. Writing down a list of long-lost friendships, Kay feels certain one of them will know what happened to Rose.

But as Kay begins to uncover a lifetime of memories to help her find her friend, will she also find herself?

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About the author

I have been told that I write like a tall blonde, so that’s how I’d like you to picture me.

I’ve published six novels. The most recent, which came out in January 2022, is ‘The Woman Who Came Back to Life.’ I’ve also published two non-fiction books. I work as a book coach and creative writing tutor.

Before writing books, I did a lot of different jobs. I worked in schools, shops, offices, hospitals, students’ unions, basements, from home, in my car, and up a tree. OK, not up a tree. I’ve been a sexual health trainer, a journalist, a psychology lecturer, a PhD student, a lousy alcohol counsellor, and an inept audio-typist. I sold pens, bread, and condoms. Not in the same shop. I taught parents how to tell if their teenagers are taking drugs (clue: they act like teenagers), and taught teenagers how to put on condoms (clue: there won’t really be a cucumber). I taught rabbis how to tell if their teenagers are druggedly putting condoms on cucumbers.

Throughout this, I always wrote, and always drank a lot of tea. I’m now pretty much unbeatable at drinking tea.

***

Author Links

@drbethmiller

https://www.bethmiller.co.uk/

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Book Link

 https://www.amazon.co.uk/Friendship-List-unforgettable-page-turner-friendship-ebook/dp/B0FCXXK2TH/

 

 

You’ve met Mrs Bright. She’s that nice woman who lives three doors down and always smiles at you in the mornings. She’s planning her thirtieth wedding anniversary with her husband. She wants to travel, read endless books and take beautiful pictures. She’s been waiting for this forever.

For the past twenty-nine years, Kay Bright’s days have had a familiar rhythm: she works in her husband’s stationery shop, cooks for her family, tries to remember to practice yoga, and every other month she writes to her best friend, Ursula, and Ursula replies. Kay could set her calendar by their letters: her heart lifts when the blue airmail envelope, addressed in Ursula’s slanting handwriting, falls gently onto the mat.

Ursula is the only one who knows Kay’s deepest secret, something that happened decades ago that could tear Kay’s life apart today. Ursula has always been the person Kay relies on. Knowing she will hear from Ursula is like being sure the sun will rise tomorrow.

And now Ursula has stopped writing. Three missing letters doesn’t sound like a lot, but Kay gets out her shoebox of notes from her best friend, in case there’s something she overlooked. Ursula seems fine, but the further back she goes, the more Kay begins to question every choice she has made in her life. Which might be why, at ten o’clock one morning, Kay walks out of her yellow front door with a just a rucksack, leaving her wedding ring on the table…

 

 

My Review

What do you do when you are not happy anymore with the life you are leading? Do you have to stay because of the kids or a thousand other reasons? Or is it time for a change and be what others will consider as being selfish? Don’t you deserve some time for yourself after years of giving more than taking? After  all, you only have one life and you have to make the most out of it.

When you are young you have certain dreams, but you have to put them on hold because there is work and kids and you promise yourself and each other that you will do those things when the children have left home. But then years go by and you still are waiting for the day to come and go on those adventures and you feel like those dreams will remain exactly that : dreams. Time to act or to keep on waiting?

A beautiful story that I could not put down about friendship, making the most of your life and live it the best you can. Sometimes you have to hurt people in the process in order to make them see your side of the medal. It can break them or set them free too.

No let people back you into a corner. You are also important! 5 stars.

Thank you, Beth Miller and Bookouture.

 

About the author

I have been told that I write like a tall blonde, so that’s how I’d like you to picture me.

I’ve published three novels, with one more about to be born, in January 2020. I’ve also published two non-fiction books. I work as a book coach and creative writing tutor.

Before writing books, I did a lot of different jobs. I worked in schools, shops, offices, hospitals, students’ unions, basements, from home, in my car, and up a tree. OK, not up a tree. I’ve been a sexual health trainer, a journalist, a psychology lecturer, a PhD student, a lousy alcohol counsellor, and an inept audio-typist. I sold pens, bread, and condoms. Not in the same shop. I taught parents how to tell if their teenagers are taking drugs (clue: they act like teenagers), and taught teenagers how to put on condoms (clue: there won’t really be a cucumber). I taught rabbis how to tell if their teenagers are druggedly putting condoms on cucumbers.

Throughout this, I always wrote, and always drank a lot of tea. I’m now pretty much unbeatable at drinking tea.  

 

Author Links

@drbethmiller  

https://www.bethmiller.co.uk/ 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Beth-Miller/e/B00PWNOA2Y/ref=dp_byline_cont_ebooks_1

 

 

Book Links

Amazon: https://bit.ly/39xYAG1

Kobo: https://bit.ly/2MQs7km

Apple Books: https://apple.co/2rRQuag

Google Play:  https://bit.ly/2ZLpiGH 

Meet Eliza Bloom: She likes to live life by the rules: long, blue skirt on Thursdays, dinner with mother on Fridays and if someone tells you a Valentine should be anonymous, give your new husband a blank card. Nothing is out of place in her ordered life…

But last night her teenage daughter found something in a hidden shoebox that no-one was supposed to see and started asking questions. Questions that might just change everything in Eliza’s carefully constructed world.

Join Eliza as she shows you how to run away with the love of your life (quite fast actually, as your family are coming after you), how to make your grandfather happy (this might involve a little bit of lying), how to let someone you love go (actually, this never gets easier) and how (now, this is a bad idea) to keep secrets from your new husband.

The only way to truly live is to learn how to open your heart.

 

 

My review

This book was quite an eye opener for me. I know that different religions have different rules, but I never realized how strict they could be. Well, maybe it’s not really true what I say, because they are strict to us but for them it’s only natural. For them it’s how it’s supposed to be, no questions asked. But there are rebels everywhere who don’t want to take everything for granted.

So we meet Aliza and when Alex come onto the scene he seems like the perfect escape route. Aliza can leave her old life behind and takes a step into ‘the real world’. Alex is very keen on showing her everything he loves and convincing her to try it as well. But which one is the real girl? Eliza or Aliza?

The author gives us the chance to follow Aliza. She lets us into her life where she is figuring out where she belongs. But does she have to choose or is there something like the golden mean? She goes back and forth and and past mixes with present. When a secret is revealed, it’s one more thing that adds to the pile of issues.

A story that shows that love between family and friends does not die when one person does something devastating and terribly wrong in the eyes of others. There might be a crack in the bond but it will never break completely.  4 stars.

Thank you, Beth Miller, Bookouture and Netgalley.

 

About the author

Beth Miller is the author of two novels and two non-fiction titles, including For the Love of The Archers. She has worked as a sexual health trainer, a journalist and a psychology lecturer and is now a mentor and book coach. Beth is a member of the Prime Writers, has a PhD in Psychology, and is a world class drinker of tea.

www.bethmiller.co.uk