A very emotional novel that confronts big issues head on: bereavement, love, guilt, betrayal, sexism, racism, child abuse, and unplanned pregnancy are all explored to some degree. At times it demands some fairly extensive suspension of disbelief (particularly the unrecognised extreme physical abuse of a school age child) but the characters remain convincing. ( )

I was recommended to read this book by my cousin, who lent it to me.
The first part of the book had me crying because it described Adele's condition before she died. It reminded me a lot of my mum. Every detail, right down to how her skin felt, was so similar.
As the book progressed, I found that it was pretty fast-paced, unlike most "chick-lit" that I've read. It was touching to read about how this Kamryn character took on the responsibility of taking care of her best friend's daughter with no hesitation. There were a lot of heavy emotions described in the book, and I was most drawn to how the characters came to accept Adele's death, their grieving process and how they overcame that grief to start living "normally" again.
Pretty heavy stuff, but a good read.

Last word first: Heartbreaking and sweet, if a little predictable in some ways. Recommended reading.

Synopsis: Kamryn and Adele were best friends for years, right up to the day Kamryn found out Adele had slept with Kamryn's fiance. Broken-hearted, Kamryn ditches her friend, her fiance and her former life and does her best to forget. And she thinks she's succeeded, when Adele's dying request for Kamryn to adopt her daughter brings it all back to the surface. Tegan isn't just Adele's daughter... she's also the daughter of Kamryn's former fiance, though he is unaware of it.

My thoughts: There are two things that just make me fall apart - dying mothers and abused children. (That's actually a lie. There are many things in books I find tough to deal with, but those are biggies.) This book serves up both within the first 80 pages.

You'll have guessed already what happens, so I don't really feel like I'm giving you a spoiler when I say that Kamryn (Ryn) decides to adopt Tegan, Adele's daughter. Adele passes away fairly early in the story, though her presence continues to be felt throughout. Ryn has been adamant that she never wants children, so it's both funny and sweet to watch her trying to be mummy to a heartbroken five year old.

Precocious Tegan adds to the fledgling family by adopting Ryn's boss, Luke. The one problem is that Luke really doesn't like Kamryn very much. And in order to finalize the adoption process, Kamryn has to contact Tegan's biological father. Also known as Nate, the man who broke her heart that she hasn't seen since.

I want to emphasize that while there is definitely a strong romance component to this book, the story is more about the relationship between Ryn and Tegan. And to a lesser extent, about Kamryn coming to terms with herself and her past. The story didn't have a whole lot of surprises (though I didn't expect it to end exactly the way it did), but it was highly enjoyable. ( )

i read this after leaving my sisters, a newborn nephew and my other nephew and neice and read it on a long coach journey feeling all sorry for myself, I think the man sitting next to me must have thought me slightly over emotional as it kept making me burst into tears.

It pulls on all the heartstrings; dying best friend, cute daughter of dying best friend abused by monster grandparents, gallons of guilt. I enjoyed reading it because it was a wallowing book and a bit different to usual 'chick lit' though the classic will she choose the 'obviously right for her' man or the 'man who broke her heart' ends up to be the main crux of the story.

I found the first half Ryn and Tiga's developing relationship and how they dealt with their grief and new life together more probabable and interesting than the second half 'complecated love story.' Ryn's new boss first hating her then turning into the perfect father, Nate her ex conveniently living in Leeds turning up in John Lewis'.

In all it was different enough from the usual 'chick lit' and made me cry and kept me gripped for three hours plus. ( )

I truly enjoyed reading this book. Initially I was quite hesitant as I thought it might get draggy and boring but my curiousity got the better of me. This is a new kind of chick-lit as it deals with real issues such as death, adoption and even racial differences. It made me smile and laugh and cry and think a lot. A refreshing read. ( )