If you're a woman who's been married, you'll definitely relate to several parts of this story. The characters are interesting and we get to see quite a bit of life changes though out the story. Very enjoyable!

I seem to be on a breakup/divorce kick in my reading right now. But I'm always up for a debut novel, so I grabbed The Story After Us and went down the road of heartbreak again.

Ami has been unhappy for a while. While she and Lars used to be madly in love, daily life, bills and small children seem to have robbed them of any of the magic they felt in their first years. Lars is a workaholic, chasing financial security that seems to be more important to him than participating in his family.

Amelia has turned into the stereotypical shrewish wife, nagging when he's gone, then yelling when he's home. The kids are nervous and unsure of their parents, and Ami's business is struggling.

But she's still shocked and devastated when Lars says he wants a divorce and walks out the door. Having a traveling husband is hard enough, having a traveling ex-husband is more than she was ready for.

The thing I liked about this book was that it didn't go for the fairy tale marriage ending. It was pretty real and a little gritty in the early days of their separation, but then it did go for the fairy tale of work success and new romance. This would be the dream of every newly divorced woman, but it seldom works that way.

Ami didn't have a perfect divorce, but parts of it were pretty close.

Ami is a fighter, whatever life throws at her she faces it, solves it, and then the next obstacle rears up. I am exhausted after reading this. Lars may be the love of her life, but he is an annoying character and even when he eventually tries to do the right thing I still don't like him much.
Angst and realism underscore this poignant and often amusing story, which moves between the past, Lars and Ami's love story and the present, what happens when it implodes. I enjoyed the real-time story best because whatever happens in their past, it's not going to end well.
Ami has to be everything to their children when Lars decides he prefers his work life to his home life. Okay, their financial struggle is relative, not everyone has the luxury of an au pair even an appalling one, but everything falls on Ami's shoulders first, and she has to juggle her children's well being, her fledgeling company and her failing marriage.
'The Story After Us', is a woman's view of family, love, marriage and work, it's an authentic 21st-century story where happy-ever-after doesn't exist but happy families can.
I received a copy of this book from Aria via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

I really liked this story from Fiona Perrin as a light but captivating read. What happens when your husband says he's had enough and he wants a divorce, and the rest of your life seems to be going the same direction? This book looks at how Amelia moves forward from what feels like the worst moment of her life, as well as shots as to how she got there. It's funny and emotional and I really loved this easy Summer read! Would love more of this please!

The plot of this book is limited to marriage woes and job worries. There isn't much variety of input from other than main character. In the last couple of chapters, the author makes the story work out as the reader would hope. Everything was wrapped up in a pretty little bow.

That being said, it kept me interested. Not a bad read. Just not a great one.

Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review.

Ami and Lars are married, and they have experienced deep love, but they have their challenges as well. This book explores modern marriage and what happens after you say, “I do.” This book will hit close to home for many reader. It’s British chick lit, so the humor is a bit different than US chick lit.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.

The author did a wonderful job of writing about the real struggles that many women feel when they have everything they think they wanted. I enjoyed reading about Ami and Lars and their kids. This may have been a novel, but there were parts that most women can relate to!

The Story After Us by Fiona Perrin

This book – definitely women’s fiction - may resonate with women that are going through tough times in their marriage. My takeaway from the story is that women must depend on, like and be true to themselves – a man cannot make their lives what it should be – they must do that themselves.

This book tells the love story and falling away from love that Ami and Lars experience. Lars is studying in London when the two meet, they like then love one another, marry and start a family and then it all begins to fall apart. The story is told beginning with the wedding, moves to the present and then moves between the two till we catch up with them and proceeds forward from there. Not wanting to give away the plot I will say that trouble in a relationship requires two people and there is often fault or blame that can be attributed to both members of the team.

I had mixed feelings reading this book. In a marriage for forty years I rolled my eyes at some of the things that happened and wanted to sit the two down and give them a talking to. I did find that I liked and disliked both Ami and Lars at times in the book. I feel they both became more aware and stronger by the end and do wish them luck in the future – even though they are fictional characters.

Thank you to NetGalley and Aria for the ARC – This is my honest review.

3-4 Stars

Fiona Perrin delivers a wonderful women's fiction story that had me on pins and needles. The story opens with a mother and wife at odds with her increasingly distant husband and the pressures of running a business, one account away from failure. I was equally excited and nervous to read this as I always seem to root second chances and I'm never certain it's the right thing. Ah, the journey of a reader.

The story is told from Amelia or "Ami's" perspective and initially goes bit was very hard to stop myself from feeling hopeful about their future but while Lars was worthy in their early years, he's ice cold and not at all sympathetic. Perrin pairs Ami with an amazing best friend, Liv, who not only provides support and also inadvertently helps her on her career path.

Perrins' writing is exquisite, descriptive and heartfelt: "I was like a thundercloud, plump with rain, which had yet to burst again, but where every so often a fat drop escaped." As my eyes teared up I could can FEEL the tears escaping hers. The road is rocky for Ami and Lars, and frankly he's quiet frustrating. But the story is all about their marriage, it's really about Ami finding her voice and coming into her self again. She's challenged by far more than Lars, and she rises to the occasion.

Fiona Perrins' debut is real and heartfelt. Everything about this story had me thinking, wondering what she should do, and changing my mind - I simply wanted Ami to find happiness, and clearly that meant something had to change. 4 Stars and recommendation!

This book was a good way to pass the time, it was just missing the wow factor. I liked it, but it wasn't anything that blew me away.

This was a tough one to get through - it hits way too close to home.. But Ami is strong - Lars is a douchebag, and the kids are just hysterical (funerals - I love it). liv needs her own series... It was a love story without being a ooey-gooey romance and that is what I liked most about it.

Were there parts that drive me crazy? Of course? Every time Ami's parents gave her guilt, every time Ami had guilt of her own over her marriage - it could be like a drinking game but then poor Liv would have alcohol poisoning in the first third.

Best book ever? No. Satisfying read? Definitely.

Perrin has created complicated complex real characters in Ami and Lars, and in their kids as well. This is really about Ami at a stage in her life where she needs to decide how she wants to go. Lars has left her and she flounders a bit. Work is all over the place and she has to deal with a creepy boss. Slowly, however, she pulls things together. This is not chick lit, there are no easy answers (although there could be). Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. You'll smile more than once in this and nod your head in recognition of certain things.

I did not enjoy this book, the character was so self involved and just not credible. I skipped pages just to get to the end.,

While this book is chick-lit, it's British Chit-lit which is a tad different. I enjoyed it however it did take me a while to get into the storyline. I thought the characters were well developed but the pace was slow at times and had me wondering how much was left of the story. I will say that a little more than halfway through it picked up tremendously and I could not put it down for the 2nd half.
I do always find stories set in London quite fascinating and the trials of being a working mom very relatable for most women in her situation.
The main character Ami was a little bit too wishy washy for me and at times I thought I missed a page because she seemed to be fine with moving on...but then wanted him back...but then was moving on. But perhaps that was just the characteristic of the main character.
I did enjoy the storyline even if at times it was slow. I would look for more from this author in the future. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC.

Ami was living in a shabby apartment with her best friend Liv when she first saw Lars. The two of them hit it off immediately. They began to date, all the while working towards their grown up dreams.
Fast-forward ten years. Ami and Liv's relationship is still as strong as ever. Ami and Lars- not so much. They are now married with two small children. Their goals no longer seem to mesh. He's never there, and when he is, all they do is fight. He decides maybe they should get divorced. Ami's not sure she wants to be on board. How will this affect her kids? her home? her business?

i thought Ami was a very realistic character. i think someone in her position would go through the same emotions and could see them feeling one way one day and the opposite the next. Its not a simple situation and neither would be the reactions. Liv was funny, and so was the animal man.

I absolutely loved the overall message of the book- that while women are fine with men, they are fine without them too. The phrasing was definitely area specific at times. There were a number of lines that were i'm sure local British slang i had never heard before, but could figure out for the most part. Although i know the story was more about Ami's growth than anything else, i would have liked an epilogue to show how things were going a year or so later.

Thank you Aria, Netgalley, and Ms. Perrin for this ARC.

The Story After Us, A heartwarming tale of life and love for modern women everywhere,  Fiona Perrin

Review from Jeannie Zelos book reviews

Genre: Romance, General Fiction (Adult)

This is one of those books that's well written but which I didn't really enjoy. I wanted to like it, but was expecting a second chance style romance, or at least A romance, when what we get it the disintegration of one and a possibility of another. If the genre was in the Romance section I'd have felt a little less disappointed. To me a romance is a HEA or at least a solid HFN.
So, Ami and Lars were so in love, where did it go wrong? Sadly that happens to lots of marriages, so busy with work and family that the romance, the love, gets lost. I felt so sad for them.
Yet Ami annoyed me, I felt sorry for her at first, Lars just didn't want to recognise there was an issue and I felt she still loved him dearly, wanted their marriage to work and was prepared to put in the effort, where Lars was just either ignoring the issues or blaming her for nagging. Familiar story? Of course it culminates in a massive row and Lars leaves.
I wish we knew more of Lars, his thoughts, his personality, but we really only see what Ami thinks of him. The one insight when he was talking to his friend I did feel sorry for him, but still felt he was being unfair to Ami.
The main thrust of the book is Ami's life separated from Lars, and she seems to veer madly back and forth, one moment missing what they had, the next declaring she was happy without a man. Of course it doesn't help that she's got money issues, a new business and young kids to worry over. Given that she is now a single parent responsible for the kids, Lars is always away anyway, she somehow manages to have a remarkable amount of free time. In the real world it isn't that easy to go out for an evening, just saying ;-) I did love Ami's bag campaign, excellent idea and fit with the theme of the book really well. I loved Ben, but had to wonder just what he saw in Ami at times ;-)

As I said its a well written story but I really didn't like either Lars or Ami and for me that's a huge issue, and added to that I was expecting a Romance so this book wasn't a hit for me. That's a personal view of course, and I'm sure others will love it.

Stars: Two and a half, there were parts I liked and it was well written, just that I didn't like it enough for a three.

ARC supplied by Netgalley and Publishers

I love British chick-lit...and this is a perfect, well-written example. Ami is faced with a husband, not painted as a villain or cheat, just a man who leaves her and their children because of his commitment to his business.

Left to her own devices and facing multiple issues, including possible job loss, unwelcome advances and the responsibility of caring for her trouble children. It is lovely to watch her, as she triumphs.

The atmosphere of life in the London fashion, advertising world makes for interesting reading.

Perrin creates a fun, fast read which I enjoyed and which will do well in a reading group among women who have to cope with marital change.

Ami Fitch is wife, mother, and small business owner of Brand New, advertising company. Lately, all she does is argue with her husband, Lars. Lars files for divorce. Ami beggs him to stay but he doesn't. Lar changes his mind when their youngest son is nearly sufficated by their daughter Tessa. Tessa is going through a funeral phase when she re-enacts funerals. Tessa "buried" her brother--nearly sufficating him in cusions and blankets while the au pair left them to shag the footballer two doors down. Lars makes numerous changes to his lifestyle for his family, yet he only does these things for his children not for Ami.

Numerous aspects of this story was conflicting for me. At various points, it felt that Ami wanted Lars back then she didn't. She wanted Lars to do certain things and he finally does it but now she doesn't want him back. Ami was a very wishy-washy character to me. I get that the author wrote her to show how a woman doesn't need any man as Ami's advertising pitch very blantly showcased. But yet Ami has issues making up her mind of what she truly wants. I felt that Lars character could have been more developed. The title made it a bit confusing for me. The title implied that there is a story after "us"meaning after Ami and Lars. But it only implied that Ami was moving on with someone else. I was yearning for more from Lars since the story kept flashing back to Ami and Lars past which implied to me that perhaps they may re-create or re-find aspects of their love.

I've been trying lately to read different types of books that I would normally go for, and usually this could be quite a risk but I'm so glad I decided to give this book a go. The storyline itself was amazingly written and flowed really nicely, it was easy going, heartwarming as well as a little emotional.

I feel that I could relate to Ami quite a lot so that made the read even more enjoyable and I felt like I flew through the pages. It's a beautiful, touching novel that I would recommend you giving a go.