The Girl I Used To Be by Debbie Howells #blogtour #bookreview @BoldwoodBooks @debbie_howells #booktwitter @rararesources #TheGirlIUsedToBe

 

The Girl I Used To Be by Debbie Howells

Published by Boldwood Books

Publication Date: 19th October 2022

Genre: Womens Fiction

My thanks to Rachel Gilbey for the invitation to part of the promotional blog tour for this lovely read.

Book Description:

Marie Kondo for the soul.

Anna and Will have been passing in and out of each other’s lives since they were just kids.

Now 20 years later, Anna is married - she has a lovely house, a step daughter in university and a husband with a good job.

What she doesn’t have is joy. When she runs into Will it sparks something in her, a longing for the Anna she used to be.

Together they embark on a journey to find what brings them joy, to discard what doesn’t and to become the people they always wanted to be.

But in finding themselves, can they also find each other?

Buy your copy here - https://amzn.to/3z2xdmd

My Thoughts:

This latest novel from Debbie Howells is a lovely, at times frustrating, story of how life pulls us in directions we never thought would happen. Anna and Will were smitten with one another when they were young but just as they were getting started Fate stepped in to keep them apart. 

The story is told predominantly from Anna's point of view, with Will's situation and perspective interspersed between the chapters to show us that it's not just Anna wishing they could turn back the clock and change things. They've both settled for relationships which are second best, their hearts not 100% in it, and are both wondering what happened to the hopes and dreams of their teenage years. Feelings which come crashing to the fore when a chance encounter between the two of them leaves them asking the question:what if?

I enjoyed this will they/won't they tale but would have really loved it if Anna and Will could have shared some of the more emotional experiences together rather than struggling in their separate lives. I feel they would both have become stronger individuals sooner with the benefit of each other's support. But I suppose that is a more realistic representation of how life has a habit of sending us the toughest challenges when we will learn the most from the lesson.

A lovely story of love, friendship and second chances.

Follow the blog tour through until the end of October by visiting all these bloggers pages:

About the Author:

Debbie Howells’s first novel, a psychological thriller, The Bones of You, was a Sunday Times bestseller for Macmillan. Four more bestsellers followed, including most recently The Vow, published by Avon. Fulfilling her dream of writing women’s fiction, she has found a home with Boldwood and her first title with them, The Life You Left Behind was published in February 2022.

 

Social Media Links –  

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Twitter: Debbie Howells (@debbie__howells) / Twitter

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Bookbub profile: Debbie Howells Books - BookBub

Love Untold by Ruth Jones #LoveUntold #NetGalley @penguinrandom

Love Untold by Ruth Jones

Published by Transworld, Random House UK, Bantam Press

Publication Date: 29th September 2022

Genre: Womens Fiction

My thanks to the publisher Bantam Press for the opportunity to read this book ahead of publication via the NetGalley platform.

Book Description:

Grace is about to turn ninety. She doesn't want parties or presents or fuss. She just wants to heal the family rift that's been breaking her heart for decades.

But to do that she must find her daughter Alys - the only person who can help to put things right.

And when she finds her - if she does - she risks betraying granddaughter Elin. Who is far less forgiving of the past, with its hurts and secrets and lies. Meanwhile Grace's great-grand-daughter Beca is oblivious to all these worries, too busy navigating the highs and lows of teenage life and keeping secrets of her own.

All families have their problems. And most of them get resolved. But Grace's problem is thirty years old. And she doesn't have time on her side.

So is it too late for her to make peace? Or is reconciliation still within reach?

My Thoughts:

I was so excited when the publisher kindly approved my request to read Ruth Jones' new novel on NetGalley I may just have let out an exclamation of glee and done a happy dance around the room - so thank you Bantam Press for making me an incredibly happy lady!

Ruth creates such down to earth, believable characters - people you would love to have in your friendship circle or family - and you can't help but read her books with Nessa's fantastic voice in your head. Grama Grace is the most wonderful character who has hints of the excellent character Doris from Gavin & Stacey but without the profanities. She's not backward in coming forward though as we discover when she is "rescued" from her daily swim in the sea by a well-meaning couple early on in the book, scenes which had me chuckling out loud. In contrast we also meet Grace's grand-daughter Elin, head mistress of the local high school and embarrassing mum to Beca. She lives by what people will think of her and rarely strays from any rule book (real or self-created) which makes her very straightlaced. Which leaves the missing link, Grace's daughter Alys. Last seen decades ago Grace longs to put right the misconstrued last moments they shared and to explain where she feels things went wrong before she departs this mortal coil.

I loved this book, which shows that we are all fallible as humans, there is no right or wrong way to do things and every family has its secrets. The younger characters discover that no, they didn't actually invent everything, things have been happening that way for generations and just because the older folks don't talk about stuff openly doesn't mean it didn't happen or have a lasting effect. There is a great balance of humour and sentiment throughout the book - some people you will want to throttle due to their stubbornness and others you'll just want to throw your arms around and hug. 

I cannot recommend this book enough, just make sure you get your tissues ready as you will need them for both tears of sadness as well as some great laughs.

Pure brilliance from Ruth Jones once again. A neon-bright 5 stars from me.

About the Author:

Ruth Jones is best known for her outstanding and award-winning television writing, most notably BBC One's Gavin and Stacey, which she co-wrote with James Corden and in which she played the incorrigible Nessa Jenkins. The 2019 Christmas Day special of Gavin and Stacey gained national critical acclaim, drawing an audience of over 18 million, winning a BAFTA for TV moment of the year and a National Television Award for Impact. Ruth also created and co-wrote Sky One's Stella, which ran for six series. Ruth has starred in several other television comedies and dramas.

Her debut novel Never Greener was chosen as WHSmith Fiction Book of the Year 2018, was nominated for Debut of the Year at the British Book Awards, was a Zoe Ball Book Club pick, and was a Sunday Times bestseller for fifteen weeks, three weeks at number one. Ruth's second novel, Us Three, was an instant Sunday Times bestseller in hardback and paperback and has sold almost a quarter of a million copies. Ruth was awarded a Comedy Women in Print Prize in 2020. Love Untold is her third novel.