I enjoy Amanda Prowse's books. She blends easy reading with difficult, emotional issues well, in this case she is obviously drawing on her own experience but in other books she has clearly done a lot of research.
I really felt for Lucy, I can't imagine the pain of having a miscarriage even once but several times must be heart breaking and I think this was conveyed realistically.
I would have liked to rate it more highly but a couple of things bothered me. Firstly, I found some of the dialogue quite stilted rather than natural. This made some of the conversations irritating to read.
Secondly, I just thought there was too much going on, too many threads, and because of this I thought that it didn't have the depth that it could have had if the author had stuck with the miscarriage theme. The characters, even Lucy, seemed a little superficial at times.
However, I would still recommend it to anyone who enjoys contemporary fiction which focuses on social issues.
My thanks to Netgalley for this copy.

I received this book from Netgalley.
Whilst reading and thoroughly enjoying this book I idly wondered why I had never come across Amanda Prowse before and then I realised I had read Poppy Day quite a while ago. This thought pleased me very much as I realised that Prowse is no formulaic writer happy, as are many best selling authors, to reproduce the same story with different characters, possibly different endings and often still produce an enjoyable 'holiday read'.
Amanda Prowse I know, writes from personal experience when it comes to the devastating subject of miscarriage and this really shows through. Whether or not she is a step-parent I do not know but I am and I recognised so much of the relationship between Lucy and Camille from my own experiences. Some, like the teen acting up out of sight of the birth parent and the birth parent rarely believing the situations when described by the step-parent made me feel so much better about myself.
This was a thoroughly engrossing, extremely emotional read that contrary to the amount of tears my husband noticed me shedding, an excellent story that absorbed me so much I was grateful I was on holiday as I didn't want to put it down, brilliant, and recommended to anyone who enjoys a domestic drama.

This book hits the subject like a hammer slaps a nail. As an adoptive mother I understand the grief of infertility and the identity issues surrounding adoption; it's loss and it glory. Although I did occasionally lose patience with the protagonist, Ms. Prowse handled the issues with thoughtfulness and insight.

This book was emotionally charged about a very sensitive topic that impacts many women. The author made it easy to sympathize with the characters. It was a bit long for the content of the book, but I would recommend it.

This was a difficult and emotional read as the writer has made you invest heavily in the characters. An impressive piece of characterisation.

Not my kind of thing at all; predictable, lacking tension and over-sentimental, with a sugary happy-happy ending for everybody. I will avoid this author in future. Sorry.

From the time we are little girls playing with dolls, most of us long to be a Mother. Lucy is no different. She is a woman who finds love a bit later in life than most women. She meets her knight in shining armor at the christening of her friend/co-worker’s baby at the age of 39. After they marry, they find that trying to start a family is not as easy as they had hoped. Her new husband, Jonah, has a teenage daughter that comes to stay for the summer amidst their attempts at a successful pregnancy. This puts further strain on their marriage. This novel is the story of their love, marriage, parenting and attempts to have a baby.

As a Mother who suffered a miscarriage at 12 weeks, I empathized with and felt sorry for Lucy. I, like Lucy, blamed myself and wondered what I had done to “cause” this to happen. As with Lucy, “I did everything it said in my book”. I did not know how to grieve openly. I did not know how to be happy for those around me who bore children around this time. I did not know how to deal with those people who carelessly told me things like “you can have fun trying again”, “you were ONLY 12 weeks”, “it will be OK… you can try again” or “it was God’s will”. Sometimes, I wanted to smack them. You can only fully realize her pain if you, too, have laid on the couch with your feet up in the hope that you can stop what you know is happening or checking for a bit of blood every time you go to the bathroom.

I found the author’s use of “letters” to the baby interesting and a great way to convey parts of the story. Everything wraps up fairly nicely, though not perfectly for Lucy in the end.

Release/Publication Date: March 21, 2017

Genre: Literary fiction, romance, psychological

Cover: Perfect, but only after you finish the novel.

Source: I received this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review. Thanks you!

Rating: 3.5 stars (rounding to 4)

Lucy Carpenter is approaching her 40th birthday as well as celebrating one year of marriage. Her wonderful husband, John, is a divorcee with a 16 year old daughter who lives in France with his ex-wife and step-dad. Lucy is hoping to soon have it all, a successful career, a wonderful marriage and a baby on the way. Unfortunately for Lucy and John, becoming parents may not be in the cards. Amanda Prowse has written about motherhood, or specifically the struggle families deal with when there is a miscarriage. This is an emotional book especially if you or a family member have lost a child due to miscarriage. The characters in this book are very real. Lucy and John love one another, yet still have issues to deal with. John's daughter, Camille, struggles with a new step-mother and the loss of her father's time and affection. She is not likable when she is introduced, but as the story continues, she changes and becomes a much nicer young lady. The struggles this family goes through are real, and the changes the family dynamics go through could happen to anyone. A great story with great characters that will pull at your heartstrings as well as make you smile. Definitely a recommended read for anyone who enjoys family dramas.

A very emotional story that was lovely although I found it hard to sympathise with the main characters

The Idea of You is the first of Amanda Prowse novel I have read and it will definitely not be the last! This is a lovely story that unfolds wonderfully the more you read, the characters are believable and likeable (mostly), the story is believable and likeable - I think that many readers will both laugh and cry at times as well as emphathise with the main character Lucy. Such a fabulously heartfelt and honestly written book of life.

I needed more from this one for a few reasons.

I liked Lucy, but I didn't love her. Although I would NEVER want to endure her hardships, there were times I found her to be shallow and dramatic. I wanted a little more of her history. What happened prior to her 39th year? What happened prior to this perfect, amazing husband/marriage that is turning out to be a little rocky.

What happened before? Some flashbacks may have been nice, but I'm not sure they would have fit in well. There were moments when my heart absolutely shattered for these characters. For the things that were happening and the lived they were living, I just needed a history. Life doesn't typically start at almost 40, so I really struggle with that. (Unless of course your last kid leaves the house at 40 and then I guess like really does start, but that wasn't the case here.)

Lucy was truly an amazing character, she knew what she wanted, and she stuck to it. She was a very strong willed woman, and that was fantastic in itself. The writing style was also wonderful. I would absolutely read another book written by Amanda Prowse without even thinking twice. This one just did not hit home with me.

Originally I gave this book a 2.5, but I just really need to push it up to a 4 because the writing style is truly fantastic, the story itself was amazing, and I really did enjoy it. It most certainly tugs at your heartstrings. I just want to know how she got where she was, what made her who she is, I wanted more of how she got to be 39, happily married, unsuccessfully trying for a baby when Camille shows up with some ripples of her own.

This was easy to read pacy, Some of the characters were a bit too good to be true at times and there was some predictability to the story line but overall a good read and about a subject that is different to many books.

3.5 Stars for me on this one. It was a slow start and I put it down several times before finally finishing it. It just didn't grab me in the beginning like a lot of books do. I'm not a quitter and a book has to be really bad for me to stop reading it completely, because I keep thinking "What if something good happens and I miss it." So I continued and was happy for it. As the story progressed I go a bit more into it.

So we have Lucy who is approaching 40, single and has a great job but she's not happy. She longs for a companion to share her life with and children, she wants children. She finally meets the right many, Jonah and they start their lives together. Time after time they are let down when she has one miscarriage after another. Then comes along Camille, Jonah's daughter from a previous marriage. She comes to stay with them bringing with her teenage drama. Her and Lucy don't get along too well but as the story goes things arise with Camille that Lucy can identify with. They form a bond and through sharing things from Lucy's past become stronger. Of course like any situation when things come out in relationships about one's past the other may have issues with it. This was the case with Jonah. It took a while but it did have a happy ending.

Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for this opportunity.

The Idea of You was a good book. Easy to read and the storyline flows well.

This was the first book I've read by this author.
I enjoyed her writing style and learned a few British terms along the way. lol

I'm not going to re-post the description, as it can be read above.
Basically, this is a heartfelt story about family.
There's much more depth than the description mentions.

I liked the main characters.
They were not perfect, but real.
You could relate to each one, in one way or another.
Especially enjoyed watching the relationship between Lucy & Camille develop.


Had a feeling the story would turn the way it did, so it wasn't a big surprise.
The fallout was a bit more surprising...

I liked how the loose ends were resolved by the end.

Far from fluffy, but an enjoyable, quick read.


I received this electronic book from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for this opportunity!

I really enjoy this author.
Her central character,Lucy, is a very human sort of person. She tries but doesn't suceed, but is fundamentally kind.
She has aproblem carrying a child and this knowledge shakes her life. Meanwhile shedevelops a stepdaughter, not just that but a teenage stepdaughter,. She then has the choice whether to allow herself to become embittered or choose another path.She does alsohave a loving husband, caring family,ideal job and two homes.
The characters in the story are really "genuine" friends do annoying things,her sister is really likeable anda loving sisterandthere is also someone else who she finds loves her
As with the anorexic daughter in Amanda Prowses' The Food of Love,the characters can be good yet still do stupid things and put their foot in it at times
Thjere is enogh minutae of daily life to be interestingbut never boring. I really enjoyed it

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. I absolutely love everything this author has written and this was a worthy 5 stars

I enjoyed this book, especially the three main characters. I thought that the author did a fantastic job of creating real characters with all of their flaws who ultimately loved each other.

Not my usual type of book but the author created a very emotional and thought proving read.

With her fortieth birthday approaching, Lucy Carpenter dares to hope that she finally has it all: a wonderful new husband, Jonah, a successful career and the chance of a precious baby of her own. Life couldn’t be more perfect.
But becoming parents proves much harder to achieve than Lucy and Jonah imagined, and when Jonah’s teenage daughter Camille comes to stay with them, she becomes a constant reminder of what Lucy doesn’t have. Jonah’s love and support are unquestioning, but Lucy’s struggles with work and her own failing dreams begin to take their toll. With Camille’s presence straining the bonds of Lucy’s marriage even further, Lucy suddenly feels herself close to losing everything…
Heart-wrenching and poignant, this latest work by bestselling author Amanda Prowse asks the question: what does it mean to be a mother in today’s hectic world? And what if it’s asking too much to want it all?

I’m not sure what to say about this book without giving any spoilers. Amanda Prowse has done it again! Another lovely book that really gives you something to think about. 5*