Fabulous book by Rachael Johns as normal. Great characters, plot and writing. Highly recommend to fans of the genre!

I had high hopes for this one and have seen great reviews for Rachael Johns books, but this was kind of a slow read for me that I must admit I struggled with finishing a few times due to my lack of interest and story pacing. It was just ok for me, didn't really connect with characters, but will definitely try another book of hers in the future. Thanks for my ARC!

Flying the Nest is very much a modern day story. Nest parenting is a concept where separated parents share the parenting in the family home. Each parent takes it in turns to be the sole parent for a week and the ‘of duty parent’ lives elsewhere durning that time.

Ashling Wood had never heard of this type of parenting until her husband announces out of the blue that he wants a trial separation effective immediately. Ashling had no idea her marriage was in trouble. Her husband gets himself a flat close to his work, and Ashling moves in with her SIL for her week off. Ashling is a mess emotionally her whole life and focus has been turned around.

She is offered a beach house a few hours north of Perth - it needs doing up so she is offered free accommodation in exchange for repairs. The small friendly community, and the ocean at her front door, helps Ashling pull her life together and gradually starts to live again.

Of course a few hurdles have to be overcome before everyone settles into their new lives. There is anger, sadness, laughter, danger, rebellious children and love.

Rachael Johns is an incredible storyteller, she never disappoints me and I’d buy her shopping list if she printed and released it. Okay - maybe not her shopping list - but certainly anything else she releases.

Another great book by Rachael Johns
A story of what happens when your life falls apart after an unexpected marriage breakup.

I loved the setting in Western Australia. Coastline described beautifully.

3.5★
“It was seven o’clock in the morning and I was cutting oranges for Payton’s soccer game when Adrian casually asked if I’d heard of nest parenting.”

Welcome to your weekend, Ashling!

“And that is the exact moment the bottom fell out of my world!”

Married for eighteen years, juggling work and kids and school commitments, Ash is floored by the suggestion of a separation. If anything, she was thinking they should have a romantic getaway.

This is ‘that’ kind of book. A busy mum pulls up her socks in her sensible shoes (Adrian is a podiatrist, so the family must wear ‘proper footwear’) and tries to get her head around alternating weeks with Adrian in their family home. The kids don’t move, the parents do, but Ash can’t bear the thought of being separated from their ten-year-old daughter Payton and almost fifteen-year-old son Saxon.

Adrian’s twin sister Hayley was Ash’s best friend at school – still is, in fact – which adds another awkward element to Ash’s story. And let’s be clear, this is very much her story. This is chick lit about a not-quite forty-year-old chick who thought she was fine but is now feeling wrinkled and crinkled and a little worse for wear. What’s a girl to do? Hayley has ideas.

“‘Naked selfies.’

‘What?’ I spluttered, almost spilling my drink.

‘When was the last time you sent naughty photos to your husband?’

I blushed. ‘Never! We dated before smartphones were invented.’

Okay, not selfies then, but better than that, Hayley’s new fella (she turns them over pretty quickly, no smutty pun intended) has a family beach shack at Ragged Point where Ash can stay for free if she cleans the place up. Cue her lifelong ambition to do something creative and turn her interest in renovation into a job. Plus, she can take Charlie, the family dog with her for company.

It's no surprise that she makes an instant friend at the little coffee shop, ‘Brewed Awakening’. Jedda has a toddler and also knows what Ash needs.

“‘I still don’t have any idea what went wrong with my marriage.’

‘You know what the answer always is?’

Jedda’s eyes twinkled. ‘Wine!’

Yes, of course. Wine! And some flashy, trashy shoes as well!

The kids, meanwhile, get used to things and take advantage of their parents, Saxon with videogames and Payton with snacks.

“‘Well, I’m back now and when it’s my week, it’s my rules.’

I held out my hand for the ice-cream and soft-drink concoction. ‘You can have some fruit and cheese and crackers if you’re hungry.’

‘I don’t want stupid fruit. Daddy’s so much nicer than you,’ Payton cried, all but throwing the glass at me as she ran off.”

It's also no surprise that Ash meets a handsome (barefoot - no sensible shoes) stranger at Ragged Point, the black sheep of an influential local family.

This is not my cup of tea but I know this popular Aussie author will please fans of the genre. Thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin for the preview copy from which I’ve quoted.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53375831-flying-the-nest?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=UFmIQMHFbk&rank=2

OMG! Where do I start? So raw! So REAL! The kind of story that could literally happen to anyone.

Absolutely my favorite Rachael Johns book yet! I struggled to put book down and stayed up to the very early hours of the morning several nights in a row to finish it (who needs sleep anyway, right?)

Ashling has no idea her entire world is about to change. No clue her marriage in on the edge, or that her husband is or has ever been unhappy in any way. She has no warning that there is any big discussion coming her way (and, in fact, isn’t actually even given the opportunity of a big discussion). I literally felt her shock when her husband casually mentions his desire to try ‘nest parenting’ – his subtle way of saying he wants to separate.

In the space of just one day, Ashling’s whole world falls apart and she is left to question everything and everyone she ever knew. What is her place in her children’s life now? What is her place in Adrian’s life? Who are really her friends and where do their loyalties lay? Are they true friends she can count on for support? Or, just looking for the inside scoop on the latest gossip? And, who are only her friends because she is Adrian’s wife?

Is she being judged on the breakup of her marriage? Did she do something wrong? Did she not try hard enough? All these are questions that run through her mind, all over-ridden with the most powerful question of all (for her) – how do I fix this?

This story follows Ashling’s journey to rebuild her life better and stronger than it was before, and it’s not all smooth sailing. She starts the journey as a woman defined solely by her role as a successful wife and mother, only to have this belief pulled out from underneath her by her husband wanting a separation, then reinforced by the fact that her family actually manage to survive without her being there to take care of them all the time.

Her desire to make her family happy all the time and her reluctance to cause conflict of any kind has made her a bit of a ‘people pleaser’ over the years and she has a hard time saying no and standing up for herself. She has been so caught up in what makes everyone else happy that she has forgotten to think about what (outside her family unit) could make her happy. Suddenly, she finds she has all this free time on her hands on her week away from the children and what begins as finding ways to avoid thinking about what she is missing with them turns into a journey of discovery as she starts to learn what she is capable of and what brings her joy.

Throw in some new friends, a sexy neighbor and a bit of a local mystery and suddenly her weeks at Ragged Point become something to look forward to until a family tragedy brings her suddenly back to the city and makes her question which life she wants to lead.

So, what happens when the husband she once so desperately wanted back finally realizes what he lost and wants her back?

Guess you’ll just have to read it to find out!

Thanks to Netgalley for my ARC in return for an honest review.

Another wonderful story from Rachael Johns, her story telling just gets better I love the way she can hear or read about something this time “nest Parenting” and turn that into a moving, captivating story filled with wonderful characters that are so easy to get to know. This was a subject I had heard of but didn’t really understand it and now I do thank you Rachael Johns, this story is a page turner and a must read.

Ashling Wood is a happily married woman with two great kids and all is running as it should, or is it, when suddenly out of the blue her husband Adrian drops a bombshell and suggests that they try nest parenting, needless to say Ashling is shocked and stunned she had no idea there was anything wrong but now finds herself only living in the family home with her kids Saxon and Payton every second week.

Ashling moves in with her sister-in-law and best friend Hayley on her kids free weeks but is not coping well, no matter what people think Ash is determined to get her family back the way it was, but when an offer comes her way to stay at and renovate an old beach shack at Ragged Point Ash jumps at the chance and the new friends she makes, make a very big change in Ash’s life.

Meeting Jedda who runs the café and the local paper brings new meaning to Ash’s life, oh she misses her kids terribly but soon starts to think about herself as well and when she meets her neighbour Dan Emerson she starts to feel even better. Life in Ragged Point is going really well and Ash is very at ease on her weeks there but things at home with the kids is starting to not be so good.

When tragedy happens and Ash needs to be back in Perth she struggles with the needs of her family and what lies ahead for her future, will they be happy living near the beach or will she need to leave the life and friends that she has found and now loves behind, or will she work out a way to have both and move forward into the future, happy and at peace with what has happened?

This is a story about families and what happens when they break down, people play the blame game and emotions are running high, people are hurting but out of the pain and hurt there can be happiness, new lives and a future even though different from the beginning a new life evolves, I am not sure if I am a fan of nest parenting but I am sure it suits lots of families. I loved this story so much and highly recommend it, Rachael Johns never disappoints and as always I look forward to her next one and looking forward to the subject it will be about.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for my digital ARC to read and review.

I've read several Rachael Johns books and Flying The Nest is my favourite by far. I loved the main character, Ashling and found the idea of nest parenting very intriguing. Flying The Nest is a wonderful Contemporary Australian story and I look forward to reading Rachael's next book. Thanks to NetGalley for my digital copy.

Flying The Nest by Rachael Johns was a busy read that kept adding multiple drama plots throughout the story, which had the tendency to cloud the original story that seemed to conclude early in the narrative. It had many plus moments and ticked numerous categories of topics that pique reader interests. However, for me, it felt like the main story ran out of steam and required an additional sub-plot that didn't quite fit within the existing story; a point only reinforced as towards the story's conclusion, it turned back to the original storyline to ensure closure to get the story over the finish line.

I liked the majority of featured characters, even the antagonist who played his role well. However, the placement of story arcs clouded the read for me overall and the elements in between were placed as if ticking off from a list.

Flying The Nest by author Rachael Johns was not a bad read, just a very busy read with multiple elements added for substance that didn't quite gel for this reader. I have read numerous titles by Ms Johns and often have been swept away by each storyline. Nevertheless, just because I wasn't swept away this time, did not mean I did not enjoy the read. I just found it too busy with too many apparent ticked boxes.
Review copy received from Harlequin MIRA via Netgalley

Rachael Johns has the ability to create empathy with her characters within the first page and I certainly felt that for Ashling Wood, two decades into what she thought was a good marriage, when her husband Adrian announced that he’d like to leave her so that he could sleep with other women. As it happens, what Ash thought at the time was a nightmare turned out to be a great opportunity for her to explore her own needs, wishes and dreams and become a truly independent woman.
Nest parenting, with each of them spending alternate weeks in the family home to care for their two children, teenage Saxon and ten year-old Payton, comes with its challenges for Ash, but she works her way through the issues that this changed arrangement present to her. It was interesting watching the way her relationship with her children evolved as the story progressed.
This story is well researched and beautifully crafted but I think it’s the imagination that has gone into creating this story that made it such a joy to read. I loved Ragged Point and its quirky cast of characters and could fully understand why Ash felt herself drawn there more and more as the story progressed. This was one of those books that I really didn’t want to put down and when life rudely interrupted I was less than impressed. It’s been an absolute pleasure to read and will definitely go onto my To Be Read And Read Again pile.

Flying the Nest is the second book I have read in the past 18 months or so by Rachael Johns. I particularly liked the previous book I read which I think was also through Netgalley, Just One Wish.

I found Flying the Nest started a little more slowly, is much more character-based and a deeper-dive into the inner thoughts of the main character Ashling who is caught unaware when her husband Adrian drops a bomb one morning before their daughter Payton's soccer game - he thinks they should try "nest parenting" (not a term I had heard before although I was aware of the concept, it's where the children stay in the marital home when the parents separate/divorce and the parents alternate and move between homes spending time co-parenting but no longer living together, maintaining their other residence when not caring for the children in the marital home).

We learned a lot about Ashling's minutiae of her day and her identity in parenting her children and being a wife, and how she had not really extended beyond this. She's stop-gap for everything and everyone (the Department of everything that everyone else does not want to do). Adrian is depicted (or at least I interpreted him) as a man-child who seems to think he has missed out on sewing his wild oats, because he has been married to Ashling- he might be able to find something or someone better or younger, and he thinks he'd like to give that a try which is ok for him, just not for Ashling. He's a cyclist and a podiatrist - I tried not to judge :-)

Ashling gets some space by spending her off-week at a cabin owned by her sister-in-law's boyfriend.

Once this book was mid-way through and Ashling began to find herself, it proved to be a nice read. It was a good family drama, with some mystery thrown in surrounding Dan, an intriguing local that Ashling meets. The interest between the two is tentative and a little uncertain, rather than something that was born of intense attraction. There were the invariable teething issues and tantrums with child-rearing, miscommunication and poor communication between Ashling and Adrian, who continued to confirm his man-child status for most of the book. There are some nice friendships for Ashling in unexpected places that reassures readers all of Ashling's choices and judgements about people aren't all misplaced.

Rachael Johns fans will like this I think. It's a different pace to Just One Wish and looks at different ages and stages within a couples' life. I would have liked a smidge more intensity between Ashling and Dan and whist not giving spoilers the wrap up at the end was definitely worth it and done beautifully.

I vacillated between 3 or 4 stars - I'm in the middle on this one.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for providing me a copy of this book to read and review.

Flying The Nest is an engaging women’s fiction novel from bestselling Australian author Rachael Johns.

Ashling Wood is blindsided when her husband of twenty years casually suggests they try nest parenting while she’s busy preparing the oranges for their daughter’s soccer game. Her first instinct is to believe Adrian doesn’t understand what the term means, but he’s clear, he wants a trial separation and feels nest parenting, where the children remain in the house and the parents move in and out on an alternate schedule, is the best solution for them all.
The adjustment is difficult for a heartbroken Ashling who misses her children, ten year old Payton and fourteen year old Saxon, when she’s not with them. Taking on the renovation of a friends seaside cottage in Ragged Point during her ‘off’ weeks is a welcome distraction, and though she is certain the arrangement will not be anything but temporary, as the house undergoes a transformation, so too does Ashling.

I can’t imagine what it would be like should my husband so casually and carelessly announce one ordinary morning that he wanted a separation (touch wood). My sympathy was definitely reserved for Ashling from the start, and even though she seemed stuck in the denial phase for slightly too long, I think Johns portrayal of her character’s emotional state was sensitive and believable. There was a brutal scene in the marriage counselor’s office in particular where I really felt Ashling’s pain, and I was glad she finally got angry at Adrian, and found the impetus to take charge of her life.

The community of Ragged Point is a delightful haven for Ashling. Johns deftly creates the character of a small coastal community, and it’s there that she rediscovers, and is able to nurture, the parts of herself that have been dormant while helping her husband build their podiatry business, and raising their children. I liked the development of Ashling’s relationships with Jedda and Dan, who are great supports, but also have interesting stories of their own that add depth to the story.

Written with heart, humour, and warmth, Flying the Nest is sure to resonate with women who need to redefine their lives, whether because of a relationship breakdown, children leaving home, or other change of circumstances. Ashling’s journey is not without its challenges, but it is ultimately rewarding and inspiring, as is this novel.

A gorgeous Australian chick lit story filled with heart break, humour and romance. I was 110% invested in Ashling’s life and how she handled the situation from the moment her husband brought up the idea of nest-parenting casually one morning while she was cooking eggs, a subtle suggestion about separating. He wants to sleep with other women after 22 years!!

Shocked by this suggestion thinking they were in a perfectly happy marriage, Ashling must absorb the idea of her husband having sex with other women, only seeing her children Payton and Saxon every second week, figuring out where on earth she would stay when it was not her week with the children and how she could convince her husband that this is not what he really wants.

Ashling struggles with all of this in the beginning and wonders how on earth she is going to get through this. What is her life without her husband and children as a family? What is she if she is not a wife and a mother all the time? Ash’s thoughts and feelings were totally relatable in her situation and I felt every bit of anxiety that she felt.

The chance of escaping to a shack in the coastal town of Ragged Point for a week turns into an opportunity that soon sees Ashling spend week on in Perth with her children and week off renovating the shack in Ragged Point. She soon makes friends with a local woman Jedda and becomes an active part of the community which brings to light a confident, independent and brave woman.

Then there is Dan, the good-looking single neighbour at Ragged Point who stirs up emotions in Ash that she did not know existed. Dan was such a delight and perfectly gentlemanlike and it was hard not to love his character and enjoy being part of the journey in him discovering a lot about himself too.

I loved the writing style and found it completely engaging like I was actually a friend of Ashling and she was telling me all her thoughts and feelings! I fell in love with my vision of Ragged Point and can envisage living in a coastal town similar to that.

Overall, I just loved this book, the characters, the realistic storyline and I look forward to reading more of Rachael Johns in the future.

This is a great piece of Australian chick-lit. Ashling, a stay at home mum, is stunned when out of the blue her husband Adrian announces to her he wants to separate and try out nest-parenting. They will take it in turns each week to live in the family home and look after their two children.
Ashling first must find alternate accomodation for her weeks 'off' and second must come up with a fool-proof plan to win her husband back and reunite her family. Having being a pawn in her own parents vicious divorce, Ashling is determine not to let this happen to her own children.
It was a great, light read and full of humour, heart break and romance. I thoroughly enjoyed this and am keen for a lot of my friends to read it too.
Thank you Harlequin Australia and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really loved that you didn’t need to be in a twenty two year marriage with two kids to be able to relate to Ashling Wood. She was relatable because she was a someone putting everyone’s needs before her own. Something women have been known to do for the longest time. I think that’s an important message that the book tries to get across – that it’s ok to be our own person and be selfish sometimes.

This book had me yearning for a seaside shack to call my own. Her depictions of the beach in her backyard, the morning walks on the sand and cool nights spent around a bonfire had me daydreaming about packing up my Sydney city life and heading to my nearest coastal town. I loved that this book had that effect on me. New beginnings were possible and so much good can come out of every not so great situation.

I loved the women in this book so much! Jedda, Hailey and Ash, all at different stages of their lives, and so strong in their own ways. It gave such a powerful message that women aren’t their relationships with men, that they have their own lives as well. Hailey is a pilot, Jedda runs her own café, paper and raises her child on her own, and Ash’s husband leaves her without any warning forcing her to create her own life separate from her kids.

The only plot point I didn’t really think was necessary was the entire issue of Bill being his father. I personally thought that the Bill and him could have stayed friends and the story would still have worked. I liked the fact that Dan played a side character and giving him this issue to resolve just seemed forced. Besides that, I enjoyed him and his various exchanges made me laugh throughout the book.

I think the main idea to take from this book is to try not lose yourself in your marriage, your kids, your job, etc. Ashling discovered that she had, and watching her find herself again made me stop and reflect on my own life. I love when a book does this, because we can all do with a little reality check sometimes.

‘Despite what she said, I knew she thought I’d be an idiot to do any such thing, but I couldn’t just throw away over two decades of my life because my husband lost the plot for a while, could I? After all, we were only human. Everyone made mistakes.’

Aussie author Rachael Johns has gifted her followers with another ripper read! The stories Rachael writes are like catching up with friends for coffee and sharing all the news. On this occasion, sadly a marriage is under strain, yet the twist here is one of ‘nest parenting’. I have read another book that brokered this concept so I was keen to see Rachael’s take on it.

This tale is from the wife’s, Ashling’s, point of view and she is completely blindsided by her husband's nesting proposal. Dealing with the fallout of this news (and hoping to patch her marriage back together with as little impact upon her two children) Ash takes the opportunity to renovate a friend's seaside shack on her alternate week away from the family home in a desperate attempt to lose herself from the chaos reigning down. Rachael delves deeper still as she weaves a number of subplots throughout her story. Apart from the impact of divorce on both the couple and their children, she takes it that step further and allows the lead character to realise what this situation may present for her as a life lesson. I also appreciated her dabble into the gaming culture rampant among adolescents and the fallout of addictions. And then there is the cast of secondary characters who bring so many layers to this highly engaging tale.

I love the taste of Australia that is given through the fictional town of Ragged Point - from the beachscape, to living in small communities, to even the onset of a cyclone. At its heart, however, this story is looking at people and how they cope when life dishes out those unexpected hurdles -when someone’s seemingly ordinary day to day life is plunged into chaos. This is where Rachael is at her best - detailing the way people, much like you and me, deal with issues - and she does it in a most relatable and believable fashion.

Overall Rachael has written a very appealing book with an epilogue that will answer everyone’s wonderings about the future. Although this is a book about a marriage that may have outlasted its use by date, at its heart it offers much more than that. Yes, a loss such as that will affect people in different ways, however, it's about discovery and second chances and learning to find yourself and be true to that.

‘Life?’ It was my turn to laugh. ‘I don’t have a life without Adrian and the kids. I don’t even know who I am without them.’ ‘Then maybe it’s time you find out.’





This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. The quoted material may have changed in the final release.

I could have put this book down, but I didn’t want to. I read it in one sitting and my only complaint is that I wished I had started it sooner, so I wasn’t up to 2:00am. Thank you to Netgalley and Harlequin Australia for the opportunity to read it.

Ashling is a wonderful character. A woman who attempts to triumph over the devastating possible end to her marriage. She had the rug pulled out from under her, but she persevered, and her eyes were opened. Too often we become complacent in our relationships because they will always be there and so we don’t realise that not only is our partner unhappy, but we just might be going through the motions too.

For me the issues in this book rang true, the issues with never realising how her partner felt, the children’s reaction to the separation, co-parenting, nest parenting, marriage counselling, encountering a new love interest, the wanting to be a vindictive pain in the ass but still having to maintain cordial relationships with everyone, I have witnessed people in my life enduring all of these.

I liked that Rachael Johns gave Ashling a project to distract her because this is what women do, we have something truly horrendous going on so our answer is distraction.

As always, I enjoy Australian stories because you can “hear” the voices and understand the motivations so much clearer.

This is a well written, enjoyable read.

PS. Ashling is a far better woman than me because if my husband dropped that bombshell I’m not sure my instinct would be to go to soccer as a family….particularly while I’m cutting up the oranges.

4.5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I wasn't sure going into this newest novel by Rachael Johns whether I would be able to connect with the story never having been married or had kids, I wondered if I would really 'get' the whole nest parenting idea. But, I'm really happy to say that I loved this novel and connected with Ashling and her circumstances easily.

At the beginning I found Ashling a little hard to like, but she defintely grew as a person as the story went on. She found out who she was and discovered what she wanted out of life.

I disliked her husband Adrian from the first page and I kept worrying that they would end up getting back together, she really was much better of without him. Ashling is completely thrown when Adrian tells her he wants to try nest parenting, it wouldn't be my idea of how to share custody and it was interesting to see how they navigated the situation and the issues they had to deal with.

I loved that this is set just up the road from me, albeit a fictional town of Ragged Point, and completely understood how healing it was for Ashling to stay in the coastal village, as I moved to what was a coastal village 22 years ago in order to heal myself and have never wanted to leave either. I really appreciated how she decided to tackle the renovation of the cottage she was staying in and didn't give in to her need to continually worry about how her children were getting on when it was her husband's week to have them. In this way, she was able to make new friends and rediscover who she was away from being a mother and a wife.

Jedda, the owner of the Café in Ragged Point, was a delightful character and their meeting provided just the kind of friendship that both Ashling and Jedda were missing.

I loved Dan, Ashling's neighbour, what a great guy, and such a contrast to her soon to be ex husband, I wish I could meet a real life Dan. Dan's friendship and then relationship with Dan, was another piece that helped in Ashling's journey.

This was a really wonderful read and I was totally absorbed from start to finish.

Thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin Australia for a digital copy of this novel in return for an honest review.

I think I've read all of West Australian author Rachael John's standalone novels. She always offers readers interesting characters. They're very real and complex. We often meet them at a time their world has been upended and they're hitting rock bottom, but she ensures they are resilient. In short they're generally women I think I'd like.

I hadn't actually heard of nest parenting but - as the blurb says, the breakdown of her marriage comes as a huge shock to Ashling. It takes her quite a while to realise she's not been happy herself. Though not unhappy either, she just assumed life involved going through the motions and being there for your kids and husband - centring your life around them. There's a line late in the book when her husband suggests she's prioritising a possible new romance over her family, and she refutes this, saying she's prioritising herself.

It sounds wanky (nowadays) to talk about women's journeys of self-discovery but it is a common theme in Johns' books. Perhaps it's better to call it self realisation or if you're a fan of Maslow's famous hierarchy of needs and pop-psychology... self-actualisation.

It's an important 'journey' (god reality television has a lot of answer for!) however because in many ways the Ash we meet when this book opens is slightly annoying in her assumption that she'll win her husband back (by becoming more attractive naturally!). In fact, she seems intent on taking him back.... if he'll have her. 

On the surface this is about a woman feeling rejected by her husband. She takes solace in the fact she's a good mother and her children love her... at least until the separation. Of course, many experience Ash's sense of loss when they become 'empty-nesters' (rather than just having brief periods of time away from their kids). I know of some whose lives have centred around their families and they no longer know who or what they are without them 'there'. Of course this is often exacerbated if someone isn't working outside of the home or doesn't have hobbies outside of their family.

The old cottage by the beach as a retreat could be a little cliched but it isn't and I really liked the life Johns gives Ash there. We can see where things are heading professionally and personally for Ash but it's a pleasant ride. I very much appreciated that once Ash makes some decisions about her future, Johns avoids any temptation for her to prevaricate, despite her having to move outside of her comfort zone. 

I read this in an unplanned single sitting. I loved the support cast Johns offers and she gives readers the chance to reflect on a range of friendships and relationships. It's an easy read and Johns has a comfortable and familiar style of writing. I did feel it seemed a bit wordy at times—though I'm very verbose so a fine one to comment on that! However, I did delay reading it a while as anything over 400 pages sometimes feels as if it's too great a commitment. Particularly at the moment!

Ash is blindsided when her husband of 22 years tells her that he wants to try ‘nest parenting’. It didn’t help that Ash hadn’t heard of nesting, therefore had no idea that he was saying that he wanted to leave her. Even though Ash just wanted her marriage back the way it was, it seemed the best solution for their two teenage children.
I’ve heard of nest parenting before but don’t know anyone personally living that way. I imagine it would be good for the kids but obviously like everything, it all comes back to good communication and respect....of which Adrian didn’t have any. He thought the grass was greener on the other side but like most times it’s not.
I liked seeing Ash grow and get more confident in herself and it’s a reminder that women often get lost when they are so wrapped up in their families.

Another really enjoyable family drama from Aussie author Rachael Johns.
Thankyou to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy to read.