This is a wonderful book. This book is so full of heart gripping emotions. I loved the story of Jonah and Lucy and Jonah's teenage daughter from his first marriage. I don't think I have ever had a book to make me cry so much. The tears were due to many of the heart breaking events in the lives of Lucy and Jonah. But tears were also shed due to many happy events as well. Once I started reading this book I could not put it down until I finished all of it. A great read.

I absolutely loved this book, the insight into step parenting as well as miscarriage Was so well written, I was glued to it from the first page and had to keep readong to know what happened, would recommend this book to anybody and have actually done so!

I appreciated being selected for this title, but it just is not not my cup of tea. I'm sure the story is captivating and will enthrall its audience, unfortunately I do not see myself in it.

This is the first time I have read anything written by Prowse but I have heard nothing but good things about her work so when I was offered the chance to read this one I jumped at the chance, I don't think I even read the blurb so I had no idea what to expect of the story.

Right from the beginning I was hooked by the beautiful writing and Lucy's voice and I was swept away in Lucy and Jonahs story, so much so that I devoured this book in one day.

This book is filled with emotion, from the love that Lucy and Jonah share, the joy they experience at the news of Lucy's pregnancy and then the sadness and heartache when she miscarries, and all the emotions in between. And to add to the mix they have the Camille's presence throughout without letting her know what was going on so relationships are strained. But ultimately this is the tale of family, and this tale will bring you to tears, of sadness of happiness, of bittersweet moments of joy. And if you have been lucky enough to not find yourself in Lucy's heartbreaking situation it will leave you with a better understanding of those who have.

Another lovely book from Amanda Prowse who just keeps churning out bestsellers and I'm sure The Idea of You will be no exception. A sensitive story dealt with beautifully. This book brought tears to my eyes twice. Thank you for the opportunity to read and review.

The Idea of You is one of the saddest books I have ever read. There's nothing really spectacular about it-the writing is efficient, the characters are sympathetic, and the story flows in a (mostly) predictable path-it is a simple story that is simply heartbreaking. The Idea of You will resonate deeply with women who have been denied the thing they desire most- a child-but either can't conceive or cannot carry a baby to full term. The Idea of You tells the story of Lucy Carpenter, a successful businesswoman who is almost 40 when she marries the love of her life and is ecstatic at the prospect of finally achieving her dream of becoming a mother. But after several painful miscarriages Lucy begins to despair of ever having a baby. Plus, wherever she goes Lucy is surrounded by pregnant women or those with young children. Listening to her sister and coworkers complain about the exhaustion, frustration, and sheer drudgery that comes with having a baby only magnifies the desperation Lucy feels to experience this for herself. Then a surprising turn of events forces Lucy to examine her priorities and the direction she wants her life to take. You will shed tears of sadness for all the loses and struggles Lucy faces, but also tears of joy as she learns the true meaning and depth of a mother's love.

This book was amazingly heartbreaking, Lucy finally finds the love of her life and wants to start a family with him. Her plans don't goes as planned and when other family member come around it sends them all off balance. Emotionally powerful and put me to tears often. I think I found a new author to splurge on!

I kept hoping for something exciting to happen in this book but, it never did. It was an easy flowing storyline but, just not very exciting.

I really enjoyed this book. The writing style flowed really well and the author really knows how to draw you in to the story. I was instantly sucked in after just the first chapter.

This book follows a couple who have suffered a number of miscarriages. Lucy wants nothing more than to be a mum. When her husband's daughter comes to stay it puts a strain on their relationship especially when she reveals her secret that she has been keeping for over 20 years.

I thought that this was really well written and I would like to read more from the author in the future. I felt Lucy's emotion each time she had a miscarriage. The characters and situations felt very realistic. There is so much raw emotion in this book and I found myself getting quite emotional when reading this which doesn't normally happen. I really liked the way that this was written as it drew me in right from the start. The way that the author handled the topic was done really well. The story felt realistic and not overly dramatised.

I liked the book a lot. A very sensitive subject but the author manages to put together a well written and honest story. Situations people can relate to so that makes you feel more sympathetic with the characters and you get a deeper understanding of their emotions and motives.

This book was really sad and tackled a difficult subject well. I found it very predictable though and thought it could have done with a few more twists along the way to keep me hooked.

Thank you to Netgalley and Amanda Prowse for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is the first book I have read by this author so I was unsure what to expect. It is a lovely story, we follow the life of 39-year-old Lucy who is newly married to Johan. It appears to the outside world she has it all however, we get to see that underneath that facade she is a vulnerable woman struggling to stay pregnant when to be a mum is the thing she wants most in the world. As the story progresses you find out about the skeletons in her closet, I won't go into detail as it will spoil the book but I recommend you read it, you won't be disappointed. I will warn you the book is emotional you will need a box of tissues handy. It is extremely well written and the characters come to life in your mind I cannot wait to read another book by this author!

A book all about loss and love. Some parts are heartbreakingly sad. Really relatable characters.

A heart-warming book about a highly emotive subject. Not my usual genre, so don't take the fact that it didn't grab me and make me plough through it in a day as a bad sign. I can see a huge fan-base for this type of work, but it was a little to cliché for me at times. Specifically the moody teenager, with her over-reactions to Lucy's attempts at friendship was like an off-the shelf character.

I did like the twist of her having had a baby when she was a teenager - didn't see that coming, and it brought it together at the end far better for me than my prediction of Lucy having a successful pregnancy.

A very easy read. For me, it was a page turner at the beginning but the story changed very little so towards the end I got a little bored. I would read another novel by this author as I enjoyed her style of writing.

As usual Amanda Prowse does a fabulous job. Not many writers can tug at my heart strings, but Amanda never fails. Thanks again for another great read

The blurb of this book absolutely captivated me. However, I was immediately disheartened when I began reading and found it to be written in third person. Had this book been written in first person, it probably easily could have been a 5 star read for me.

Lucy is 39, finally married but struggling with making a family of her own. The struggles she and Jonah face are so real and so gritty. To add to the every day stresses of Lucy's life, she and her husband decide to take in Camille; Jonah's daughter from his first marriage who lives in France. The story progresses depicting difficulties in parenting, step-parenting and just marriage in general

"You do lose things when you get married, it's true, but what we gain far outweighs what we have lost."

Prowse writes a story of struggles and love. Of heartache and forgiveness. Of what truly makes someone family. The writing is good. It truly is. However, I just feel like I could FEEL this story and connect with this story and subject matter so much better had it been written in first person.

Heart wrenching but a realistic, wonderful story.

The Idea of You is the first book I've read by Amanda Prowse and wow, what a story. I loved that this book was about an older couple – 40-ish – even though they hadn't been married that long.

Lucy wants a baby more than almost anything. Jonah has a teenage daughter, Camille, from a previous marriage but he also wants a baby with Lucy. When Camille comes to live with them their relationship becomes strained; Camille's attitude towards Lucy isn't great and this impacts Lucy's attitude towards Camille.

It's hard for me to say much about this story without giving anything away and I don't do spoilers. The emotion that this story invoked in me was hard to deal with at times even though I have no personal experience with any of the things that Lucy dealt with. Once I started reading The Idea of You I couldn't put it down.

I think Ms. Prowse's writing is wonderful but I do want to mention that some might find it different and judge it unfairly. It's written in British English so a lot of the words are spelled differently from American English and the phrasing and terminology might be hard for some readers to understand. I've read a lot of books by British authors so I didn't find anything strange about the wording or phrases. I am glad that I read on an e-reader, though, because it's so easy to look up words that I'm not familiar with.

I love reading books by new-to-me authors and I found it very rewarding to read such a great story that helped me stretch my boundaries as a reader.

A review copy was provided by the publisher via NetGalley but this did not influence my opinion or rating of the book.

A very honest telling of a very sensitive subject. I enjoyed the characters and wanted to see their stories turn out well. I shed a few tears along with Lucy as her story unfolded. Communication, really listening to others is so important.