I enjoyed this. Took me long enough to get to it!
Busting my backlist!

Two sisters.
Both different.
Both with different lives and life experiences.

Moral choices. Dilemma’s.

It had a route of its own though, I thought ….no I was convinced…..I knew how this would play out.

I was wrong. I loved that I was wrong.

An enjoyable read, about two sisters whose lives now differ in many ways. Willow sees herself as less attractive and less successful than her sister, but there's a childhood secret which explains why their paths diverged so much. Well written, and with certain magical element to it, this is a great read.
Thanks to the publisher for a review copy.

Perfect for fans of Jojo Moyes, Dorothy Koomson and Liane Moriarty, this is an uplifting and heartfelt novel from the author of The Memory Book,

light easy reading but enjoyable. good holiday read. and shows you should never be too down on yourself

'The Other Sister' felt very unlike the previous Rowan Coleman books I have read. After reading the first few chapters, having expected something else, I wasn't at all sure I was going to enjoy it; however, Rowan Coleman has not let me down before, and it wasn't that I didn't like the story - so on I read! What a good job I did!
'The Other Sister,' may be Willow, or it could be the character that she might have been if events hadn't happened the way they did. On the surface Willow presents as a hard-working, dependable, slightly quirky sort of character who has made some big mistakes in the past, but has moved on and made a life for herself. Divorced, living alone and buying increasingly bigger dress sizes(!) there are a few people in her life that Willow has time for; her boss, her beloved twin sister Holly and family, and her best friend Daniel being among the few.
Into this predictable mix bursts Chloe, her ex-step-daughter, fifteen, pregnant and in need of help, followed quickly by Chloe's father who also happens to be Willow's very estranged ex-husband, Sam who evidently loves Chloe, but is desperately struggling with his difficult teenage daughter. Confused? So is Willow, who very much wants to do the right thing by both Chloe and Sam but is trying to work out what exactly the right thing is!
As Chloe bursts into Willow's life, so she becomes the catalyst to the re-emergence of events from Willow's past, events that become slightly darker than we'd anticipated and which for Willow, still need closure before she can be truly happy!
Or was Chloe the catalyst? There is a funny little piece in the book which involves a mysterious little shop tucked away in an alley, a pair of *a-mazing* shoes, a moth eaten fur coat and a token. Once Willow has purchased these items her life begins to change and we are left wondering if this is some sort of 'Mr Benn' moment (Google children's tv series from the 70s youngsters!) This scene for me is slightly jarring and in my opinion doesn't quite belong to the book - but that is entirely subjective of course.
In general a really good read which I thoroughly enjoyed.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book which kept me turning the pages from the moment I started it. It was full of surprises and took a whole different route from what I was expecting. I found it heart warming - filled with love and opportunity that overcame all obstacles. Another winner from Rowan. If I could I would give it 4.5 stars.

This book is fabulous!
Beautifully drawn characters with just the right amount of reality.
The story is around twins, one has everything, the other is successful but there is something wrong
This story is about how the truth will always come out and when it does the innocent prosper. Lovely!

Loved the story
This book has the power to shock you to the very core. There were so many unpredictable twists and turns. A spontaneous kind of humorous love story. But, really it's a book of its own unique genre: there is romance, comedy, family love and right in the middle: the aim to just be happy with what you have.

Willow and Holly, twins, alike in every way except body shape. Willow is ashamed for her 'fat' body, she feels undesirable, and undeserving of love. That quickly changes when a pair of shoes walk into her life, and soon she has a chance to make up for her terrible past, she has an opportunity to seek forgiveness.

Note, that my above synopsis is heavily condensed. I've left out all the gems that make this such an awesome read. This book will definitely garner smiles, muffled, barely contained laughter and an all-round fuzzy feeling you get after drinking a cup of warm tea (or your preferred beverage.) This book was definitely a favourite for me, I loved the idea of fate, coincidence, second chances, redemption. All in all, a lovely book. There's also a significant love triangle thrown into the mix- usually I'm not a huge fan of these since they are so rare in real life but, with Rowan Coleman's writing it actually seemed possible. I will definitely keep an eye out for Rowan's future books.

I received this book through NetGalley.

The Other Sister has hidden depths to it, which completely took me by surprise. I could tell the story was leading up to something, and there had to be a reason why Willow and Holly, identical twins, seemed to be so different, but I just wasn't expecting what was revealed.

Willow on the whole doesn't tend to like people, she likes her sister and her best friend, but generally doesn't want to spend her days with anyone else. She lives alone, and has a job in a talent agency and has an ex husband plus ex-stepdaughter.

Over the course of just a few days Willow ends up sharing her house with a famous actress that is a client of the agency, needing a bolthole to lay low, and her ex-step daughter is suddenly back in her life too. What is seemingly the trigger of this is one day when Willow was heading back to the office, she accidently took a wrong turn, and found a shop that had the most magnificent pair of shoes in stock.

Whether you believe it or not, these shoes, plus some of the other things in this shop appear to have magical qualities, or at the very least life altering consequences, and from that moment Willow is suddenly more open to people than she has been for years, more attractive to men than she has been for a long time, and generally is liking her own reflection a lot more.

I loved the scenes involving Willow, India the actress and Chloe (the stepdaughter), and there are some great moments between the three of them. The trip to Hamleys brought a huge smile to my face as well as reminders of my own childhood.

As I have said there is far more to this story than I want to say, mainly as its far more fun to discover everything for yourself. What I will say is from the start I was interested in Willow's story, and as more threads and characters were introduced, I felt more and more involved and just wanted to help Willow change to become a more rounded person.

I've read quite a few of Rowan Coleman's books now, and I really enjoyed this one, it may not become a new favourite, but its still a lovely piece of writing, with warm hearted humour, as well as some far more serious subject matter too.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and Ebury Press for this copy of the book which I have reviewed honestly.

This book was truly beautiful! Willow's story is one filled with heartbreak. The characters are what drew me into this book so completely, not just the sisters but all of the characters they come into contact with. Chloe was exceptionally well done.

I've been recommending this book to everyone and anyone as it really is one that people can delve into and escape from the world - even if it is into one as sad as Willow's.

Holly and Willow are twins but something happens to Willow when she is 9 which totally changes her and her personality. Holly thrives - she marries well and has her own twins whereas Willow gets divorced from her husband and leaves his daughter behind - the hardest thing she has ever done.

Willows personal life is a mess and she spends her whole life working until she wanders off her normal route one day and stumbles across a second hand shop with a pair of the most incredible shoes - all of a sudden her life feels different and she feels better about herself and when her now teenage pregnant stepdaughter turns up on her doorstep she is determined to help her.....even if it means contacting her ex husband!

A lovely story showing how events can totally change a person but lovely that her twin Holly was always there for her and willing to drop everything to come to her side

this book starts out very light hearted. On the purchase of the shoes I thought this is probably not a book for me but then I read on and was so pleased I did Willows life is totally shaped by a childhood secret. Slowly over the course of the book you discover how this has shaped all her relationships It's beautifully done the past does not have destroy the future but for that to happen you have to face it.