Toxic relationship. Carin is married when she first meets Matias. Soon begins a year where Carin is not in a healthy place and all that matters is her son Charlie. Matias becomes the most selfish person ever even wanting Carin to give up being a mom. Run Carin run.

This was an intense and interesting story by this author. There were many twists and turns in this book.

An honest look at love and marriage and the frailties of the human heart, this is a story of a woman’s loss of self and purpose and the journey she takes to find her way back.

Carin Frost doesn’t understand what’s happening to her. A confident businesswoman, wife, and mother, she begins to resent everything about her life. Nothing makes sense. Nothing makes her feel. Maybe it’s the recent loss of her mother in a tragic accident. Or maybe she’s just losing her mind.

Enter Matias Torres. As their new business partnership thrives, so does their friendship—and his interest in her. Carin is determined to keep her distance, until a work assignment sends them to Southeast Asia where a storm is brewing on the island. In the midst of the chaos, Matias asks her to do something unimaginable, exhilarating, BOLD. Carin knows the consequences could be dire, but it may be the only way to save herself.

My thoughts:

"It's never the wrong time. Things happen and you make it work. You fit it in your timeline. You don't get to choose where or when."

This book was an emotional read but I loved how realistic everything seemed. It wasn't all sunshine and rainbows.

Thank you Netgalley and the Publisher for my ARC in exchange for my honest review. This was an enjoyable book.

Carin Frost is married to Jack and they have a ten year old son Charlie. She’s a successful business woman and since her mother died in a tragic accident crossing the road she’s been struggling. Carin feels numb, she goes to work, looks after Charlie and she doesn’t feel like talking to Jack. The man she was once head over heels in love with, she now goes out of her way to avoid him and it’s a bad sign.

Matias Torres is from Barcelona, he starts working as a partner at Carin’s company, she finds him interesting and they have a lot in common. Carin notices how good-looking he is, she feels attracted to him and Matias is putting out vibes that he feels the same about her. They travel to Southeast Asia for a work, when an earthquake hits the island and Matias comes up with a crazy idea.

Carin is at a cross roads, she feels like she has lost herself, she’s floundering in a world of feeling worthless and she can’t cope with her grief. She goes along with Matias’s plan, her mind is playing tricks on her and has she made a big mistake?

I received a copy of The Year I Left by Christine Brae from NetGalley and Vesuvian Books in exchange for an honest review. It’s a story about Carin not realizing she’s jugging too many things, her relationships, marriage, work, and her mental health suffers because of this and she should have got professional help when her mother died. A thought provoking read, it makes you think about the pressure many women are under these days and three and a half stars from me.

While this book may not have been my favorite by Christine Brae, I definitely enjoyed it. The author has this way of writing that makes you feel exactly what the character is going through. It was very raw and real and so easy to get lost in her story

Sadly this book didn’t work for me and it wasn’t because of the subject matter. I was well aware what the premise of the story was. My main issue and struggle was the characters Mathias and Carin. I especially had my problems with Carin. I didn’t like her and her reasons for making certain choices in her life. I could’ve maybe cut her some slack if she’d put up a fight and not just surrender to her feelings or had been honest from the beginning.
My expectations might I have played a part too. Here’s a woman who’s lost. In her marriage and with herself. I expected more self discovery and not her being dishonest to the people who love her.
I liked how the story was constructed. As a letter from Carin to Mathias. The writing was great too. Sadly it wasn’t enough to make it work for me.

Brae has a way with words that sets her apart from the rest. Beautifully written, this is not your every day love story. This is a deeply refreshing tale of love and self discovery. I highly recommend for anyone ready to be swept up and swept away.

Christine poured her heart and soul into this book. I could feel every word. I was transported away with the main character. My heart wept for her. This book was an emotional masterpiece.

I enjoyed this book. The pain and lost feeling that Carin was feeling is definitely relatable. I definitely didn't agree with all that she did and felt she could have handled it better, but everyone handles the curve balls life throws at you differently. She was unhappy and trying to find herself and better herself for her son.

Christines writing style is flawless and her style has evolved with each of her books, without her name attached I’d still feel I’d know whose words I was reading. It’s poetic and beautifully descriptive allowing you to live and feel in that moment. The way the words flow, you can’t help but feel tangled in the world that she creates, regardless of whether you enjoy the book to its fullest or not !

This book will not be for everyone and that is a given when the story unfolds, there are subject matters that are delicate and some that will not be agreeable. Actions that are taken that may be consider selfish and some that may not sit right with the reader ! I couldn’t fully immerse myself in the characters and unfortunately, I didn’t find a connection that I so desperately wanted. And that’s ok, not everyone has to like every book or every story

But this book without all of the above, when you strip it down to its barest form and it reveals its soul to you, it is about the pursuit of happiness within yourself and finding love, whilst finding yourself in a world that you have created and knowing exactly where you stand, accepting who you are, whether you have wealth or not. Realising that everyone is equal in this goal and being ok with the choices you make !

3 3.5 Stars

Diz

This one had me hooked although I did have mixed feelings about it.

Carin was a fantastic character, full of raw and honest emotion which I loved. The situation she found herself was highly unlikely but if you can put up with this, the idea of the story and the feelings behind it are actually very common and relatable.

I could barely put this one down and needed to keep reading. I don’t want to spoil anything – you really have to read it for yourself. This left me with a lot of thoughts and will stay with me for a while!

I was part of the blog tour back in September.

This book was a great adventure that explores the deep longing in all of us to just walk away from it all. Can it be done? How will it affect those around us and those we leave behind?

Carin isn’t feeling quite...right. And then she meets a man who throws her senses into a frenzy. As they undertake a new business venture, things get intense and come to a head on a business trip in the middle of a storm. Carin needs to make decisions quickly and in the moment which will alter her life forever.

I don’t want to give too much away, because I don’t want to rob anyone of the intense emotional experience that comes with each layer of this story. And there are a range of emotions: hope, despair, longing, etc. The author does a great job drawing the reader into the story and getting them to care.

Carin was also a great character because she is an “everywoman” that so many of us can relate to; someone who wonders if there’s more out there, and who sometimes finds herself in awkward situations which just seem to spiral out of control. I mean, what woman can’t relate to that?

I also liked the ending. It was fully appropriate and emotionally fulfilling for the story (again, trying not to give spoilers!).

Fans of Nicholas Sparks will love this great story which will draw readers in and leave them thinking of it long after they’ve turned the last page.

This book was utterly beautiful, and occasionally heartbreaking. I loved reading this, a journey that needs to be read to be lived, and to be lived to be understood. It was my first Brae book, and I can definitely say, it won't be the last.

The Year I Left had an interesting beginning that sucked me in. However, as the book went on, I lost a little bit of interest in the storyline as I struggled to understand how a mother could abandon her child for an affair.

A well written emotional story that once I started reading I was not putting the book down until I had finished reading it. This is a new Author to me, I will now be looking for other books by her. I received a copy through NetGalley and I am voluntarily reviewing.

A beautiful story of a women's journey when she is feeling lost and the bumps and bruises along the way and how she made her way back home. Christine's words and storytelling are poetic at times. Amazing epilogue.

“That kiss destroyed me, gave me life, made me hopeful and sad at the same time”.

Beautifully lyrical. Emotional beyond my imagination and definitely not for everyone.

This was an emotional story that had me captivated. This was a powerful story that stays with you long after you’ve finished. Carin has everything most women dream of. She has a loving husband and child and a successful career but she’s unhappy. It makes you stop and think and wonder what could make her so unhappy. When she has to go on a business trip with her new business partner she gets put in a life or death situation. This makes her feel for the first time in forever and the decisions made can change both their lives.

I don’t want to say much and give away anything about this book. The Year I Left is a book you need to read without any spoilers. I loved this book and couldn’t put it down. Christine Brae writes fantastic stories with characters you love. I highly recommend this book.

The premise of this book is one that made me sit back and think a bit. In the Year I Left, I pretty much understood Carin's actions. A working mom who is drowning in her comfortable life, presumably suffering from a great depression since her dear mother passed away a year prior. Carin could be any woman. One who goes about her everyday with the drive to do it all right. But when loss takes a part of you and you are drowning in despair, sometimes something or someone new and refreshing are all it takes to want to disappear and start anew.

Carin's thoughts as she ponders over the way she met Matias and the unexpected way they are drawn to each other are well-thought out and delivered beautifully by Brae. To feel stuck. To feel like nothing is the way it should be or should have ever been is something so many of us debate as we get older and our lives seem to exist for everyone but ourselves. Brae gives us the fantasy whereby Carin gets to live out a whole new existence where it is just she and the man she suddenly can't live without and everything and everyone from her former life, including her husband, sister and 10 year old son, are simply left behind.

Although Carin was in definite pain as she goes about this new life of 'freedom' with Matias by her side, I struggled with the decision to leave her son without his knowing exactly what happened to her. Sure there was an earthquake on the small islands they were exploring for the deal they had closed upon, but I can't imagine throwing my life by the wayside and pretending to have disappeared when water levels rose and grabbing that one chance to go away for good.

The guilt Carin feels is enormous and I'm satisfied that she felt that pang almost hourly, knowing what the death of his mother could and would do to her Charlie. But I was still surprised that she stayed on that remote island for so long. It was often tedious and left me with a huge pit in my stomach not really knowing, right along with Carin and Matias how this blip in time would actually turn out.

Brae does do a good job of tying up the story with the pull of a mother's love and obligation to return to her son, even with the knowledge that he might not want her any longer. But it felt real and was truly heartbreaking as Carin realizes that perhaps you truly cannot have it all. The love of your life vs. the love of your flesh and blood is not a decision to be made lightly and Brae made it gutwrenchingly difficult no matter Carin's choices.

Overall it is solid read and gives a great perspective into the psyche of a floundering woman and the hard realizations she has to accept as her life takes a most unexpected turn. Carin and Matias are the real deal and their oft-times missed cues and strained conversations were enhanced by very steamy nights and the desperation that filled their hearts and souls most of the time they were together. But I felt their love and have hope they find a way to be together after the dust settles from their exciting and excruciating adventure.

4 stars to a book that gave me pause and showed that love is not always the answer but it certainly does comes close most of the time.