This was a brilliant read. As soon as I started reading this book I just knew I was going to love it. Highly recommended

If you adore The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (as I do) then this is a book you NEED to read!

It's utterly heartbreaking and emotional, it's a story of hope and friendship and the power of words, and the special relationship between female friends. This book is written via letters, emails, messages (and so on, just like in The Guernsey Literary Potato PeelPie Society) I found it incredibly easy to follow, it's like being a fly on the wall of Aggie and Rosie's friendship, at times it feels incredibly personal as though you shouldn't be eavesdropping and reading her private thoughts.

This book broke me entirely, I was a mess by the end, the women are immensely likeable I really connected with both women through their letters and I loved getting to know them as they shared their lives with the other woman (plus other friends wich pop up briefly).

I love the plot, it's deeply emotional - believe me, you would have to have a heart made of stone not to be affected by this gorgeous story.

"The best friendships are worth fighting for…" and that's so true. When you start a friendship, you are convinced nothing can break that bond and you really mean that. Sometimes though, life happens and cracks start to show. The pain is too much and forgive and forget is not on your mind.

Many years later, life happens again and it's time to fill up those cracks and rekindle the friendship. 

Little by little the author reveals what has happened before and how the girls open their hears to each other. They talk about every day life: Rosie in a war zone in the desert and Aggie in the UK. They both struggle with the past and are trying to built a future. They promise to see each other real soon...

This book is a collection of mails, letters and other messages going back and forth between the two friends, but also between the girls and their family and other members of the village. I really liked this format.

The story certainly touched my heart. I often found myself smiling, but from time to time the author slipped in a real shocker too. Some brought tears to my eyes. I had to read that certain part twice to be sure my eyes did not fool me.

I loved this book. It was beautiful and honest. 5 stars

Thank you

Fabulous read, I highly recommend this book
Brilliant read. Having previously read Melanie’s first book The Wedding Cake Tree and thoroughly enjoying that I couldn’t wait to read her next book. This is not your run of the mill book as it is told in emails and letters, which I found very easy to read as it wasn’t like huge chapters to wade through, the story of Rosie and Aggie’s renewed friendship is told in a beautiful way with many laughs and tears along the way, it’s a real rollercoaster of emotions from beginning to end! And blimey what an ending it has, but I won’t spoil it for you!! Also a highlight in the book is the lovely Gethyn who you can’t help but fall in love with. The insight into being at war from a women’s point of view was very interesting, as this isn’t often written about. A really great read, highly recommended.

Sometimes I really like epistolary style books and sometimes I feel like they are a way to stymie character development. Rosie and Aggie are good friends but the end is bittersweet.

Wow, this book was one emotional rollercoaster! I absolutely adored reading this and cannot wait to find something with similar themes.
The story was so heartwarming but also eye opening at the same time about the war. Highly recommend!

Such an interesting story told in such an interesting way. An entire books told through the correspondence of friends and family was enough to warm my heart and remind me about the power of friendship.

Enjoyed the book. It took place during the Iraq War. It was interesting reading about Rosie and Gethyn in Kuwait and Iraq and how their time was spent. They seemed to be bored most of the time and not have much to do. I never realized meteorologists would be needed during a war. I definitely got to know Aggie and Rosie through their letters, also their family and friends. After all of Aggie's descriptions of the café and Scotland, I want to visit. It seemed so beautiful. i was not surprised by the ending.

Aggie and Rosie were the best of friends, until a man came between them. They haven't spoken in for fifteen years. When Aggie learns that Rosie has been deployed to Kuwait, she writes her a letter. The friends continue to write back and forth and make plans to meet up. Add in some letters/emails from Rosie's family, Aggie's crazy mom, Gethyn and a young school boy.

Loved the characters, story and writing style. I liked getting to know everyone through their emails/letters. Loved finding out who the guy was that caused all the problems between Aggie and Rosie. It was not who I thought it would be. Honestly, he didn't seem like a very nice person. I loved Aggie and her crazy ways. She was full of adventure. Can't believe she flew to Venice for a booty call and definitely wasn't expecting the person who showed up. Loved how Aggie and Rosie helped each other through their letters. This book is all about friendship.

I definitely recommend the book and look forward to reading more by the author.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Harper Impulse and Killer Reads through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Heartwarming and poignant story of the ups and downs of friendship and life. It took me a bit of time to settle into the narrative structure of emails and letters, but as with my previous experiences with a similar storytelling style, it suddenly all clicks! Dear Rosie Hughes is a light, funny, emotional and entertaining read that is just what you need in between heavy reads.

Thanks to Netgalley and Harper Impulse for providing a copy for review.

3.5 stars

I really love books that tell a story through letters (and emails if modern) so I really enjoyed this book. It was easy to get into and it would make a great holiday read.

A lovely read which I really enjoyed and one that I found hard to put down once started.
A must read for book lovers.

I couldn’t get into this book and DNF it at 25%. I really wanted to like it but it just didn’t hold my interest. Sorry!

Once I got used to the format (letters and emails) I found Dear Rosie Hughes to be an entertaining and worthwhile read. It's definitely a beautifully told story of the ups and downs of friendship and life. I appreciated that Melanie Hudson was able to create such complex and layered characters. I have to say DRH was an emotional rollercoaster for me. I will definitely look for more from Ms Hudson.
I received my copy through NetGalley under no obligation.

I have to be honest, I am shocked this book had so many good reviews. I tried so hard to get into this and found myself skimming through to finish it. I don't mind when books are written as letters, but I just couldn't get into the story lines and characters.

A feel good book, think this would be a great holiday read! I connected with the characters and enjoyed the style if email/letter exchanges

This is a wonderful story about female friendships and how we need to try very hard to keep them, or to fix them when broken. Well written and enjoyable

This book was so easy to get into I absolutely devoured it.

In Dear Rosie Hughes we meet Aggie. She rekindles her long lost friendship with Rosie when she learns from Rosie's dad that following the breakdown of her marriage, Rosie enlisted and has now shipped out to war.

They quickly pick up their old friendship where they left off (before a fall out) and start corresponding regularly through letters. This wonderful book takes you on a journey of friendship, love and rediscovery.

The book is written as a series of letters mainly between Rosie and Aggie, although we hear from Rosie's parents and fellow soldier Gethyn. I thought that it would take me a while to get into this kind of format, but it was the opposite. From the first letter I was absolutely hooked.

Hudson has a wonderful writing style that you feel like you are part of the friendship between Rosie and Aggie. I loved both characters and although their worlds were so very different, they still had so much common ground and history that it didn't matter to them that they were thousands of miles apart. I also adored Gethyn and the gentle nature of Rosie's dad.

Aggie's dating antics and her humour for dealing with her hurt were literally laugh out loud brilliant, which juxtaposed with Rosie's quiet internal battle made a perfect balance.

But be prepared for that ending as oh my. I have to be honest the ending was a little unsatisfying for me. I completely understand why it was done it just didn't sit well with me (I wanted the formulaic ending!).

I cannot recommend this book enough, it is a perfect feel good book and everyone should read it. I can't wait for Hudson's next offering.

A 5 star read for me.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Harper Impulse for a copy of this book in exchange for a review.

The synopsis hints at the story, a story of friendship that has drifted and has now been reignited. The whole story is told in a series of emails, letters, and messages. They tell the lives of the characters involved.

I picked this book up only meaning to read a few chapters… I read the lot in one go it was that good. The friends are Aggie and Rosie. They reach out to each other across the miles and rekindle a friendship that ended abruptly. They discuss their lives and loves, experiences and settle misunderstandings.

The story as I have said is a series of messages, letters and each is time and date marked, I saw these as unconventional chapter headings. The author has created such a wonderful story that just enveloped me and with such a distinctive style. When I started I wasn’t sure how this would reach me on an emotional level… how wrong was I! It touched my heart in a huge way, and even now as I sit here typing I can feel that lump in my throat and tears at the edges of my eyes and I read the book several days ago. This is a book that is obviously going to stay with me for a long time, it is a very special book.

As the story made its way, I found that Aggie and Rosie still had a strong, if somewhat tentative at the beginning friendship after a 15-year break. It is one of those situations where I felt that even though they had been apart for many years they were able to pick up where they left off. Yes, they had drifted apart, almost like they had hit pause and were just waiting for the moment when they both needed each other and play could be pressed and all would resume again.

This is a story that made me smile, snigger and sob buckets. It ticked so many boxes without me realising it, I was absolutely absorbed and hooked by this beautiful story. It is one that I would highly and abso-flamin-lutely recommend.

It's the authenticity and warmth of this story that kept me reading. Cleverly constructed as electronic letters and emails between Rosie, stationed in the Middle East, on the eve of the Iraq War in 2003 and Aggie, her estranged childhood friend. The two women, now in their mid-thirties rekindle a friendship that they both need at this pivotal time in their lives.

Mixed in with family letters and letters from friends both past and present, they tell the story of the women's lives, their feelings, and let the reader travel on their journey of self-discovery in two vastly different settings.

This is a poignant story. It's easy to imagine how Rosie feels so far from home and empathise.

The plot is well-paced, original. Every letter reveals another clue to women's past lives and their state of mind. The characters are believable and flawed but you want them to be happy.

The ending is beautifully drawn together with a twist that resonates. One of my favourite stories so far this year and I've already read forty books.

I received a copy of this book from Harper Impulse via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

What an incredible book! When I started it, I had no idea what to expect, other than the fact I had seen people talking about it wherever I turned on social media. By the end of the book I was completely broken by a book that will stay with me for a very long time.

This book takes the form of a series of letters and emails, sent through the military system, and then eventually via regular email. Agatha Braithwaite and Rosie Hughes were inseparable friends throughout their childhood, but an incident in early adulthood ended their relationship until Rosie is deployed to Kuwait as a reservist in advance of the war in Iraq in 2003. When Agatha finds out that Rosie is off to war, she writes to Rosie, and both women are overjoyed to reconnect. Their correspondence focuses on their current issues, Aggie is plagued by a difficult mother, and writer's block for her ghost-writing career, Rosie is facing a divorce she regrets, whilst worrying about the impending war. The issues that tore them apart, and the deeper issues both women have are eventually revealed in their letters to one another. Interspersed between their letters and emails are additional correspondence with Rosie's parents, her soon-to-be ex husband Josh, a troubled boy in their old primary school, and a growing friendship between Aggie, and Rosie's friend in Kuwait, Gethyn, a military doctor.

As the book progresses, Aggie runs away from her issues to help run a cafe in a remote location in Scotland, and her experiences with the new people she meets are shared in her letters to Rosie, with much hilarity.

There were so many funny moments in the book, that I spent far too much of my time giggling out loud, although I did not anticipate that the book would leave me with tears streaming down my face as I tried not to wake my sleeping husband at the side of me!

I know that some people are not fond of books that consist entirely of correspondence, but I found it created the perfect balance, and if anything, it was possible to form stronger opinions of who Rosie and Aggie were as people, based on witnessing their complete openness with one another. I really did not expect to be so moved by this book, but it is going to be a strong contender for my favourite book of the year.

Many thanks to Melanie Hudson, Harper Impulse and Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.