I love all of Amanda's books, and she is an author, I auto-buy. I jumped at the chance to read and review this book, and I was not disappointed! It hasn’t been easy, but six years later Merrin has forged a new life for herself. But when tragedy strikes, she has no choice but to return to the village she swore she’d never set foot in again. And she is forced to relook at the questions that she has been avoiding for all those years. Amanda is a huge supporter of libraries and having become a proud ambassador for The Reading Agency, works tirelessly to promote reading, especially in disadvantaged areas. Amanda's ambition is to create stories that keep people from turning the bedside lamp off at night, great characters that ensure you take every step with them and tales that fill your head so you can't possibly read another book until the memory fades...

Use italics (lyric) and bold (lyric) to distinguish between different vocalists in the same song part I really loved this story of love and hope amongst heartbreaking events. It is truly a wonderful story and I know you will enjoy it as much as I did. I recommend this book. Amanda Prowse is one of my favourite authors and I always can't wait to start one of her books, as they are always a treat. Curiosity, attention, compassion, and kindness, practiced as ways of honoring ourselves, allow us to develop a loving relationship with ourselves. And once we learn to love ourselves, to treat ourselves with care, consistency, and affection, we can direct our loving hearts outwards. A popular TV and radio personality, Amanda has appeared on numerous shows where her views on family and social issues strike a chord with viewers. She also makes countless guest appearances on BBC national and independent Radio stations including LBC, Times Radio and Talk FM, where she is well known for her insightful observations and her infectious humour. Described by the Daily Mail as ‘The queen of family drama’ Amanda’s novel, 'A Mother's Story' won the coveted Sainsbury's eBook of the year Award and she has had two books selected as World Book Night titles, 'Perfect Daughter' in 2016 and 'The Boy Between' in 2022.I find the character development so well done. This is one of those stories that would make the reader think about their lives and make them want to leave the toxic things, including toxic people and relationship, out of their lives and start living again amidst heartbreak and fears. This is a remarkable story of family love and of a small town. Scandals, rumors and a wedding that didn't happen. It is about forgiveness and letting go, about learning to live and love after your heat has been broken and you have been humiliated and devastated by one that you loved and trusted with all your heart. It is a story of returning home to a family and a town that loves you as much as you love it. I love a good romance. You get just that with Prowse books. You have to read this one to find out if happiness is found. The best characters and the story line that you won't soon forget. We follow Merrin's life journey as her future is ripped apart and she flees her home to try and make a life elsewhere. But, as we all know, the problem with running away is that we take along the problems that are in our hearts and our heads. And at some point, we just have to turn around and deal with them.

each other and laughed and also at times cried with them. I felt sad that Merrin spent so long away from home but it took coming home to find some of the answers she was looking for and the courage and strength to move on. Amanda always reaches into your heart with her writings, and this story about Merrin (Merry) was so emotional. And feeling that she was never going to find anything close to the love she had felt at the time, the story grows, showing how she hardens her heart to feelings too intense, pushing away so many people who love her, romantically, and otherwise.I had a hard time empathizing with Merrin, not because I didn't understand her, but on the contrary. She has a cheerful, sweet and even a little wild character. She has a great capacity to forgive and give second chances to others. But she is incapable of forgiving or loving herself. She is a complex and unpredictable character who leaves us unforgettable moments of reading. His marriage proposal took her by surprise. She didn't doubt his feelings, but she didn't understand what was the hurry. They were fine as they were, and they were so young. But she was so in love that the thought of all the time they could spend together once they were married tipped the scales. Curiosity, a willingness to explore and accept the full range of reactions and feelings, brings the ability to be grateful for all that our emotions and bodily sensations can teach about the human experience. It can prod one to look beneath the surface of appearances, to discover substance beneath an introvert’s quiet or emptiness underneath glitter. Trying out a new role, developing a new skill, investigating a possible future self can bring honesty and inner direction and with them the self-respect that lies at the core of loving oneself. The sadness and grief is, at times, overwhelming. But it is also punctuated with some beautiful moments in Prowse's trademark style.

Where do I start? Merrin is a beautiful character, full of hope, romance and life. It broke my heart to read how she crumbled, along with all her dreams, on that fateful day. We love those we care for. There is something about physically taking care of another human being who is dependent on us for that care that reaches deep into our capacity to give, to make a difference. It allows us to love them as well as to love how we feel being able to make the difference. Caregivers often report abiding joy from their connections. This is one of the few times I don't have a favorite character because they all have something different to bring to the novel. They are varied, complex and unique in their characterization.Ruby (Merrin’s older sister) and Bella (Merrin’s bestie) are two fab characters in the book. Merrin’s mother was just as good.

I enjoyed this book right from the start. I loved the setting in the small Cornish village where in a tight knit community everyone knows each other, which is good in some ways but not in others. I couldn't put this down and finished it over the weekend. I can't recommend this and all of Amanda's other books highly enough. Perfect for a cosy afternoon on the sofa with a cuppa and cake. Merine lives in a small fishing village, Port Charles, Cornwall, and she is to marry Digby the love of her life. The jilting is, quite simply, awful. She gets all spiffed up, takes a magical horse carriage ride to the church, where the vicar tells her Digby (! that's right - that's his name) isn't showing up. So, the groom let her get ready for the wedding - PAY for the wedding trappings, finery, and celebration, and then just didn't show up. When she confronted him later that day, his inadequate explanation hinted at his mother's meddling and highlights his immaturity and unsuitability to assume the mantle of marriage. Our devastated h is accosted by village people who simultaneously pity and chastise her for daring to think she'd be "living in the big house". The h, being very young, super sensitive, and self-conscious, knows she has to leg it out of there because she simply cannot stand to be the object of the town's attention, gossip, and pity.This story follows Merrin’s journey as she discovers what it truly means to love and be loved. I loved reading this book and its about so much more than romantic love. God is love. When we take up permanent residence in a life of love, we live in God and God lives in us. This way, love has the run of the house, becomes at home and mature in us, so that we’re free of worry on Judgment Day—our standing in the world is identical with Christ’s. There is no room in love for fear. Well-formed love banishes fear. Since fear is crippling, a fearful life—fear of death, fear of judgment—is one not yet fully formed in love. MY THOUGHTS: As with all of Amanda Prowse's books, To Love and Be Loved is a very emotional read. I had shredded a great number of tissues before I was a quarter of the way through! If only the worst Merrin had to worry about on her wedding day was the weather . . . Merry is from a small coastal town in England. She lives with her sister, two parents, and grandmother. She and Digby, late teens/early twenties, are madly in love. He proposes, and when the wedding day arrives, something unexpected happens. Years later, Merry has left her hometown and started fresh in a bigger city. Her career grows, and she meets someone new, but it's not the same. She misses her family and friends, yet they also weigh her down, as does the stigma of what happened on her almost-wedding day. How can a beautiful, kind, generous, and wonderful young woman ever recover?