To Love and Be Loved

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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. I find the character of Merrin quite daring and brave as opposed to what other characters feel about her when the story started.

Amanda always reaches into your heart with her writings, and this story about Merrin (Merry) was so emotional. She misses her Gran's funeral because she just *can't* stomach the possibility of seeing Digby or his mother. Seeking to be “good enough” to be worthy of love only invites us to climb onto the treadmill of perfectionism.

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. Our dedication to an activity that we love brings countless benefits that align with those of other sorts of love. Sometimes an author plops you down in an idyllic setting and surrounds you with a great cast of characters and it just feels right. And once we learn to love ourselves, to treat ourselves with care, consistency, and affection, we can direct our loving hearts outwards. Merrin believed she had found her happily-ever-after in Digby, that is, until he abandoned her on their wedding day.

I already purchased three and plan to read one a month until I'm fully caught up by the end of 2022. A “secure attachment,” the cornerstone of a loving relationship, develops out of trust that someone will provide what is needed.I liked the author's writing style, the story wasn't super fast paced, quite a gradual build up to where it ended, but easy to follow and enough to keep me entertained. My goto author when I want a good contemporary read; this one was a lovely family drama set in the fishing village of Port Charles, Cornwall and Thornbury, a market town Nr. Merrin’s friends and family back home are lovely and even when she is away, she speaks to them regularly. When neglect, abuse, or squalor replace basic comfort, the baby develops a different understanding of and set of expectations for relationships.

Amanda Prowse is an International Bestselling author whose twenty-nine novels, two non-fiction titles and nine novellas have been published in dozens of languages around the world. Merine lives in a small fishing village, Port Charles, Cornwall, and she is to marry Digby the love of her life.

In navigating our mutual stresses and triumphs, sharing activities and tribulations, we come to appreciate each other’s strengths and grow from them. 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. She gets all spiffed up, takes a magical horse carriage ride to the church, where the vicar tells her Digby (! Our delicate hothouse flower of an h does indeed grow and mature and her efforts are rewarded in the end.

I loved the characters in the story, but would have liked to have gotten to know some of them a little better. After I was widowed, my relationship with my bichon gave me something to replenish all the empty spaces that had been filled with love. The world would be a far better place if each child who is brought into it was wanted and beloved—if not before birth then shortly after, once its presence resounds. Shitty, horrible things happen and this was indeed one of them, but put on those big girl panties and move along.I liked the story and the relationships, and I enjoyed Merine’s narration, and how she endured the pain and rebuilt her life. However along the way she must mend her heart as she once again rebuilds her life and regains her confidence. In taking the time to listen to one’s body and honor a need for food, drink, movement, an increase or decrease in stimulation, we learn to identify our own needs, to discriminate between needs and wants, and to discover ways to care for ourselves. To Love and Be Loved is her latest release due out in January 2022, but I received an early copy through NetGalley. I might not live in England, be a jilted lover, come from a poor background, or have wandered out all on my own, but I identify with how Merry feels.