A Ph.D. student Keisha who is giving beetroot juice to heartbroken people for curing it. She met a subject Clive who's heart was broken because of something that doesn't happen. She promised to help him. But she was so confused. There was another good soul George who a nurse in the hospital helped clive. There were more people who came to help Clive to know what really happened and why he is hallucinating many things. He believed there was a woman named Nancy in his life.

For Keisha, Clive was more than a subject. She and her friends - Lucy, Tess, and George helped in finding the truth about Clive. The story had something about finding love and finding lost love. Keisha and Clive have a scar, Keisha always remembers how this scar came and those moments whereas Clive doesn't remember how this scar came and it's memory.

I loved reading this book. something I liked in this book was. there are still kind people in this world who help without expectations that bring a lot of changes to life. In the climax of the story, we feel never it is too late to lead the happy life we yearned for. Each people who come into our life teaches us something.

Enjoy reading !!!

Keisha is 31, she's single and going through a 100 dates plan. She possibly suffers from OCD, and is now working on a research about Broken Heart Syndrome. It looks like when she's more invested into heart research, she is more reserved about her own heart well being. And under the pulse of her wrist, she hides a secret.
Clive is 79, had just lost his beloved Nancy, and agreed to participate in Keisha's research. Somehow, their spirits bond. Would this new bond help them to heal their wounds? Will Clive find the way to help her see that life without love is a glass half empty?
I decided to give this book a go because of the premise. However, once I started it, it took me some time to get to the core of the characters. I found them sort of contradictory at the beginning. But then the story picked up and it was an easy read.
The author developed some interesting characters and the pace is good.

Thank you Netgalley for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is an unusual love story between a 31-year-old woman and her 79-year-old test subject. Not a romantic love story, but a story that brings two broken-hearted people together in an unconventional and very fulfilling way.

Keisha tries to fix broken hearts…literally. She is working on her Ph.D. to find out if beetroot juice helps mend a broken heart. The medical term is takotsubo cardiomyopathy. The layman’s term is Broken Heart Syndrome.

Keisha has an unconventional habit of checking her pulse on average twenty-eight times per day. It’s a result of a trauma she endured at age 15. She has a structure to her life. The way she eats. The way she works. Not one for social interaction, she is resigned to the fact she will be meeting with this elderly man who has apparent memory issues. But what she finds is a camaraderie with a lost soul wanting to get some semblance of his life back.

Keisha’s subject Clive is found disoriented as the result of what appears to be a heart attack after claiming he has seen his dead wife murdered in their kitchen. However, there is no body, no blood, and no wife. Can this cantankerous and colorful man find a way to live his life with pieces of his memory gone?

Keisha and Clive are such a wonderful pair. They seem to understand each other from the first time they meet with their scars inside and out. Keisha comes out of her shell, and Clive finds a purpose to go on. Their stories are heartbreaking, but there is a wonderful happy ending.

As for supporting characters, George, Clive’s nurse, is a kind and supportive man who has his eyes on Keisha. Lucy is Keisha’s clumsy and absentminded roommate and colleague at work who needs to stay away from cooking altogether. And Tess who owns the local cafe and is Keisha’s Tinder matchmaker is trying a little study of her own to find love for Keisha by arranging 100 dates for her.

Overall, I couldn’t wait to find out Clive’s past and Keisha’s secret, and in the end, it was sob-worthy, but it all worked out. If you enjoy quirky characters with tragic pasts and a story that will heal the heart, give this book a try.

Thank you to Ms. Miller for giving me the opportunity to read this book with no expectation of a positive review.

I received an ARC from Bookouture through NetGalley for an honest review. Keisha knows the heart inside out medically but she has never been in love. Clive is 79 and is diagnosed with Broken Heart Syndrome when he wakes up in a hospital. But there is a mystery because what Clive says happened, no one seems to be able to prove it is true. When she meets Clive in her latest research project, things become interesting. The people in the story are very interesting and adds different perspectives, the storyline is intriguing, and the things I learned makes it a fast-paced, easy to read the book. I learned not only what the heart can do but also what the brain can do. The book will reveal all that Clive has gone through, what is real and what isn't, and the ending will bring it all together with a most satisfying finish. .

This is a truly moving story as we witness through the lenses of Keisha and Clive just how badly anxiety and loss can take hold of people’s life.

Keisha is researching how heartbreak can cause heart illness. I love that the book was written in four parts – with each of them beginning with a little note to tell about a chamber of the heart!

The way Keisha and Clive form an unlikely bond and give each other encouragement and support makes for a heartwarming read. The other characters, Lucy, George and Tess too play great supporting roles in this very unique story.

The story, the pace, the characters and the writing made this a lovely read.

In the end, this story underlines that each of us is imperfectly perfect and how, to paraphrase Ram Das, we are called to walk each other home!

The Missing Piece by Catherine Miller is a tale that will make the most cynical believe in love, with her skilfull and beautiful writing Catherine Miller weaves a story that may leave you needing tissues, it did me.
Keisha is a research associate attempting to rid the world of heart disease. She is also a woman who knows everything about the heart. Every single little thing, and she knows she will never give her heart to be broken, by anyone! Whether she will be given that choice is yet to be seen.
Clive, on the other hand is a 79 year old man who fell in love right from a young age. He threw himself in wholeheartedly and made his wife his life. When his wife is killed he ends up with broken heart syndrome and in hospital.He meets Keisha who is studying Broken Heart Syndrome for her latest project.
These two are the polar opposites but as they get to know each other they realise that maybe they are more similar than they think.The real question here is can he make Keisha realise that taking a chance on love need not be what she expects?
The story is told in alternating chapters by Keisha and Clive, we learn about both characters and we get an idea on their thought processes and that helped me understand Keisha and her reasoning. I empathised with her reasoning and felt like I needed to mother her at times.There is also a tiny sense of intrigue with them both. They had their own mysteries that were unravelled over the progression of the book.
The cast of characters are all great and really gave me a feeling that Keisha had a brilliant group of friends to rely on. This is a book that will stay with me for a while, a story of self discovery with a kindness that touches your very core.
Thank you to Bookouture and NetGalley for the copy of the book for my review today

Catherine Miller’s The Missing Piece is a brilliantly written tale that will break your heart, soothe your soul and make even the most cynical of us believe in love– just make sure you keep a box of tissues handy while reading this book!

Keisha knows everything there is to know about the heart after spending years studying cardiac medicine. Having spent most of her time poring over books and immersing herself in the latest scientific discoveries about the heart, there isn’t anything about this organ which Keisha doesn’t know. She knows that hearts break and that they do not always heal – which is why she is adamant that the one thing she will never ever do is put her heart on the line for someone to shatter and destroy. Love will simply not be a feature in Keisha’s life. She is perfectly happy without it – but it seems that fate might just have other ideas in store for her…

Unlike Keisha, seventy-nine year old Clive had embraced love at a very early age after meeting the love of his life at a tea dance as a teenager. Clive and Nancy had many happy years together until tragedy had torn them asunder when Nancy had been tragically killed. Clive simply cannot bear to spend the rest of his life without the woman he worships by his side. When he wakes up in the hospital he has been diagnosed with Broken Heart Syndrome and meets Keisha who is studying this phenomena for her latest project.

Keisha and Clive could not be more different, but as they begin to spend a lot of time together, they realise that they are not so different after all. Will their friendship make them realise that they need to forge forward and not let the past weigh them down? Will Clive teach Keisha that she needs to take a chance on love and experience the magic of meeting that special someone? And will Keisha, on the other hand, prove to Clive that it’s never too late for a second chance?

Catherine Miller’s books never fail to take readers on an emotional rollercoaster ride they will never forget and in The Missing Piece, she has written an affecting and poignant novel about forgiveness, resilience, healing and moving on that is so compulsively readable that putting it down is simply not an option. Written with depth, humour, heart and sensitivity, The Missing Piece is a brilliant read about learning to trust, triumphing over the obstacles standing in your way and dusting yourself off after you fall off that horse and getting back up again that is inspirational, heart-warming and joyful.

A first class tale you will want to tell your friends and family about, Catherine Miller’s The Missing Piece is not to be missed.

I normally review thrillers for Bookouture but I couldn’t resist the synopsis of this one. I’m so glad I took a chance as right from the start the beautiful writing and the wonderful protagonist captured both my heart and my interest.

We meet Keisha a research associate trying to eradicate heart disease. She is sitting in a cafe, no ordinary cafe either think glitter bomb and unicorns, about to have date 39. With the date being a disaster she enlists the help of Tess the cafe owner to slip out the back and promises to fill her in the next day. Keisha is obsessively compulsive about checking her heart rate to the point she has had a flower tattoo placed on her pulse point for speed. She wants to know the effect of love on the heart but is yet to find it for herself.

Then we meet Clive who is not sure where he is or what is happening but assumes he has died and heaven is his allotment when in reality he is with a paramedic en route to hospital and the cardiology high dependency unit.

Told in alternating chapters the two are brought together when Clive becomes a participant in Keisha’s study on broken heart syndrome and the effect of nitric oxide found in beetroot juice.

All the characters are warmth personified from Tess and Lucy, Keisha’s friends to George the nurse. It sucks you in with their quirkiness and the humour just flows from the pages.

But it is the lovely Clive who will stay safe in my heart just as long as he doesn’t make me eat a pickled onion.

A book that is both heartwarming and heartbreaking in equal measure this is one read that will stay with you after you’ve turned the final page.

Thank you to Bookouture for letting me take part in this tour and for my copy of this book via Netgalley. This is the first book I have read by Catherine. I really liked the cover and the blurb so jumped at the chance to be involved in the tour.

The book follows Keisha and Clive as they strike up an unlikely friendship. The story flicks between Keisha and Clive.

Keisha has a lot of anxiety which is brought on by her past. She is such a sweetheart and has truly been through the mill. She likes regularity and doesn't like new places or people. I really wanted to help Keisha. I wanted to find a way to easy er anxiety and help her live rather than exist.

Clive's story was so heartbreaking. I just felt so sorry for him. It was also inspiring. Clive seems like he would make such a fantastic grandad. I'm glad that he makes friends with Keisha and her friends. He really does become like a surrogate grandfather to them. It's so sweet to see.

There was also a great side cast which involved Lucy, Tess and George. I loved all of these characters and would love to see another book about Tess.

This book was written in 4 parts just like the 4 chambers of the heart. I loved the little notes at the beginning of each part. The pace of the book was spot on. The beginning was slower letting us get to know the characters and then it really gripped me or the last half. I was unable to put it down. I really needed to see if this story had a happy ending.

This story will bring tears to your eyes but also a touch warmth in your heart.

First, I want to thank Catherine Miller, Bookouture and NetGalley for providing me with this book so I bring you this review.

The Missing Piece is a very creative story all about the heart written by Catherine Miller. This is not just any story. This is one that will make you think, smile, pull on your heart strings and an ending that is unbelievable!

This book is for Catherine’s brother Brian. She wants to know if you see him tell him to call her please. Thanks.

The graphic designer did a really cute job with the cover design. It was spot on and simplistic.

Right off the bat I knew I was going to like this book! Catherine named two of her main characters after music celebrities Keisha and Clive (as in Davis). Keisha cracked me up by how obsessive she was about taking her pulse. But what I related to more was her first date disaster from online dating. I have been there and have done that oh so many times! But oh she was just too comical and I couldn’t stop laughing. Who looks up the name of a band (a fake band) while on a date?! Yeah, you know when you have not met the one! NEXT lol!

Keisha and I are a lot alike in many ways. I too would think the worst of an illness or injury like Lucy had only to find out it is something simple.

This book was set into four parts. Part 1 The Right Atrium The right upper chamber of the heart that receives deoxygenated blood from the vena cava. In other words, it is the start. Part II The Right Ventricle The right lower chamber of the heart that pumps deoxygenated blood to the lungs. In other words, it’s where we start to revive. Part III The Left Atrium The left atrium receives oxygenated blood from the lungs. In other words, it’s the point at which we start to recover. Part IV The Left Ventricle This is the thickest chamber of the heart, responsible for pumping oxygenated blood back to the body. In other words, it’s the beginning of a journey.

Catherine made both Keisha and Clive very special and unique characters. The more you got to know them the more fascinated you were by them. Needless to say you can't help but adore them and their quirks. Never have I come across a pair like this.

Every aspect of dating and the heart was put into this book! Even my favorite speed dating! Yes, I even tried that too!

Catherine’s ending of this book I didn’t see coming! I was very shocked to say the least! However, we really do find out why the book is called The Missing Piece!

The Missing Piece by Catherine Miller is a piece of contemporary fiction with some quirky and endearing characters.

The book has short chapters alternating between the perspectives of Keisha and Clive. Keisha has a clinical voice. Her deadpan observations about her surroundings and the people with whom she works and lives, results in a humorous read. On the other hand, Clive is a cantankerous, old man learning to be his old, jocular self after losing his wife.

Both have traumatic pasts. The story unraveled their pasts and simultaneously allowed me to know both personally.

However, I liked Keisha more than Clive. I could relate to her more. This is because The Missing Piece describes the anxiety that Keisha suffers from extremely well. Much of the book is a slow burn, focusing on how Clive and Keisha lead their lives, and how Clive is getting back to normal life. This slow pace helped me realize Keisha's struggle with anxiety and her need to maintain strict routines in her life. I could understand her insecurities and her fear of tasting happiness once more.

Further, the friendship between Clive and Keisha is refreshing to read which later develops into fatherly affection for Keisha on Clive's part.

Among the secondary characters, I liked Tess the best. Moreover, I felt the romance in this book to be a hasty affair. I was more invested in the mystery of what happened to Keisha and Clive than in Keisha's romance with George.

The mystery of the protagonists’ past is not revealed until the very last. Besides, the climax is emotional.

To conclude, The Missing Piece by Catherine Miller is a good book. I was just expecting more.

Many thanks to the publisher for my copy of the book via Netgalley.

This was very sweet and a cute and easy read. You have to feel for Clive...what a tragic life event...how do you even begin to move on in life from losing his one true love?

This definitely brought out the box of tissues and was a very enjoyable read.

Clive and Keisha tell their stories in this touching novel of secrets and hope. Clive is a subject in Keisha's research into broken heart syndrome; he's an ahem mature man who found his wife Nancy dead on their floor. Or did he? She's got some mental health issues and has given up on love. Except she keeps trying to date. And what about George, the male nurse she's worked with? Keisha seems, in addition to her anxiety, to be on the spectrum and that adds a lot to her character. Clive's life story is well done and will keep you guessing. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. This has good storytelling and a mission of sorts- to make you believe in recovery from heartbreak both physical and psychic.

Thank you NetGalley, Bookouture and Catherine Miller for gifting me an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!
While working on a research project as a P.H. student, Keisha, meets seventy nine year old Clive. He’s a subject in Keisha’s project studying takotsubo cardiomyopathy, Broken Heart Syndrome. Last night Clive’s childhood sweetheart turn wife of decades passed and suddenly his heart gave out and he finds himself in the hospital diagnosed with Broken Heart Syndrome.
This was such a sweet, heartfelt story about learning to let go and take the leap. If I;m honey, this isn’t necessarily a book I’m going to remember now that it’s finished. The book wasn’t bad or great, just good. And sometimes, you just want to read a good book!

This was a gentle, whimsical story that had its share of twists and turns, but it worked. I had read a book by this author before and really enjoyed it so I figured that this one would be up my alley too, and it was.

Keisha is doing her PhD, studying "broken heart syndrome". This is close to her heart, no pun intended, because of what happened with her dad. She meets Clive, one of her participants, and they click straight away. I loved the relationship between these two people - both of whom were eaten up by guilt and quite mixed up. Then there was the lovely George, who made the story all the nicer, as did Tess.

All the various pieces of the puzzle swirled around for a while and I was wondering how the story was going to come together, but come together it did and even though there were a few little bits and pieces which I wish were explained a little more, I was pretty happy about how the book ended.

4.5 stars from me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture.

‘The Missing Piece’ by Catherine Miller is the most uplifting and heartwarming book of 2020.
A tale of anxiety, broken hearts, friendship and learning to trust again as we join Keisha and Clive on their intertwined journeys. Keisha is a student of cardiac medicine and in her latest research project, she is researching ‘Broken Heart Syndrome’. Clive in an elderly participant in the study. While Keisha is fearful of finding of finding love, Clive is broken hearted having lost the love of his life. Now, they must negotiate their pasts and fears while continuing to live life to the full.
Each alternative chapter is narrated by either Keisha or Clive and this provides the reader within an insight with the character’s thinking and actions. We have a chance to understand their thought processes and also to empathise with their actions – for me, this was a particularly good idea with the character of Keisha, if not for the insight, I think that I would have easily lost patience with her constant ‘pulse checking’ but the compassion of the author and explanations, helped me to understand her reasoning.
Clive’s lifestory is a mystery and we learn this within the early chapter of his story, meanwhile it is also evident that there are unknown elements of Keisha’s past and the vague hints dropped by the author, add an element of intrigue to the story.
Such a beautiful and captivating story and well rounded main and supporting characters. Definitley one of my favourite books of 2020 and a read that I heartedly recommend.
A huge thank you to Netgalley and Bookouture for providing me with an ARC of 'The Missing Piece' in return for an honest review.

I found this book hard to relate too. It seemed quite unbelievable and 2 dimensional. Overall underwhelming because it tried to achieve too much. It was a cute concept however.

Just finished reading

The Missing Piece - absolutely charming. How do you know what the missing piece to your puzzle is unless you let someone in? Follow at Keisha & Clive as they go on a journey of self discovery- beautifully written

Out on the 28th October 2020
The Missing Piece by Catherine Miller is an engaging and appealing heart-warming story of two people who meet under unique circumstances.
Keisha is a 31-year-old PhD research student studying the effects of beetroot in healing Takotsubo Cardiomyopathy, aka Broken Heart Syndrome.
She knows how her heart works, but the one thing she doesn't know is how to use it to fall in love. The secret tattoo on her wrist is a reminder that the most reliable way to protect your heart is never to let it feel in the first place.
Seventy-nine-year-old Clive is Subject number five in Keisha's latest project. He was seventeen when he met Nancy at a tea dance. Last night, Nancy was killed in a violent attack. Suddenly, he is on his own and has woken up in the hospital, diagnosed with Broken Heart Syndrome.
Can Clive show Keisha that until you've loved, you haven't lived? And can Keisha help Clive to see that it's never too late for a second chance?
I liked the characters of awkward loveable Lucy, big-hearted George, Clive's nurse and Tess of the glittery unicorn shop.
A lovely story revealing the value of real friendships and how a little kindness can make such a difference.
Passionate, warm and emotional, a delightful read which I would highly recommend.
I want to thank NetGalley, Bookouture and Catherine Miller for a pre-publication copy to review.

If you love Sheldon in Big Bang Theory or Don Tillman in the Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion then you will love this book! The main character Keisha has similar personality traits and finds it hard to adapt to new situations.
She meets a participant for a study she is doing and he changes her life in a completely unexpected way.
I loved this, I only wish all the characters in the book were real so I could sit and have a coffee with them!
This is a must read!