An amazingly beautiful story of three friends and their lives, loves and losses. Olive, Elsie and Bree run a wellness centre but each of them is struggling personally. I absolutely loved this story even though parts of it were devastatingly sad. May’s writing is just amazing.

All We Have is Now is the second novel by Kaneana May . I really enjoyed her first novel , The One and I loved this one too.

The story is about 3 friends Olive , Elsie and Bree who open Healing Hands , a wellness centre . The story covers a period when all three of the friends gave great challenges and change. I don’t want to give away too much as I enjoyed how the story played out , not knowing what was coming . I really loved all three of the main characters and felt the main issues were dealt with well . I had a bit of a cry towards the end . Massive thanks to Harper Collins and Netgalley for a digital copy to read and review. Yet another fantastic Australian Author!

I loved this story so much be warned make sure you have a box of tissues at the ready because you will need them, Kaneana May pulled me into this emotional roller coaster so well, I was crying bucket loads and then I was pushing these woman along and feeling not happy with them and that for me is a great story that I am so engaged with the characters, good and strained emotions. I do hope that you pick this one up and get to know Elsie, Bree and Olive, I am sure you will enjoy it.

Three woman meet at a well- being retreat and their friendship is instant and grows Elsie, a counsellor, Bree a Pilates coach and Olive a nutritionist start a small well-being clinic Healing Hands in a small country town and five years on they feel the need to expand and find a beautiful federation house and move with high hopes a growing and being there for the community and each other life doesn’t always run smoothly though.

Elise is happily married to Frank and she have a stepson Jonah, she is kind and caring she is so good at what she does and her active craft classes are much enjoyed by everyone who attends but when tragedy strikes, Elsie struggles so much, and wonders whether she will make her way back to normality.

Bree is full of fun and love coming from a farm and great family with two sisters who are all different her youngest sister has lots of problems but Bree is always there for her and everyone who needs her and often puts their happiness before hers is it time to think of herself.

Olive needs to be in control, she is quiet and comes across shy but she keeps deep secrets that look like coming out when and old school friend arrives in town and is hired by Healing Hands, will this be what Olive needs to finally heal herself.

Beautifully written, this moving and emotional story shows what grief, heartbreak and love and friendship can do to people and families how no matter how friendships can crack a little they also can be pulled back together with love and hope. The ending had me cheering these beautiful woman on, I do highly recommend this one, I really did love it so much.

My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for my copy to read and review

I loved Kaneana’s first book and hoped that All We Have Is Now would be just as good. I wasn’t disappointed. I think it is actually better.
This story touches on a host of topics that are often difficult to deal with and through the experiences of the three central characters, Olive, Elsie and Bree, it explores them in a sensitive and thoughtful way. I felt that I was sharing the problems that each woman had to deal with and as they came out the other side I felt myself cheer.
Beautifully written, All We Have is Now left me feeling satisfied but longing for more. It is a truly gorgeous story.

All We Have Is Now by Kaneana May

Such a lovely book that sucked me in from page one. Then I must admit I read it very slowly for me, between everything going on in my life - supporting my partner through the loss of her mother and my children through the loss of their Nan, in addition to my own grieving and everything we needed to organise. And interestingly, the theme of the book deals with loss and grief, in a beautifully real way, so it was an interesting time for me to read it. It was a comforting hug, even if at times it felt a little too real! The characters are so real. All We Have Is Now is a beautiful portrayal of loss, friendship, connections, and business! I highly recommend this book.

Here is the description-

Healing others is their calling, but what happens if they can't fix themselves? A richly nuanced and empathetic examination of life, loss and courage from a talented new Australian author.

Health and wellbeing brought Olive, Elsie and Bree together. After five years, their bustling wellness centre is demanding expansion. A beautiful federation house nestled among the picturesque backdrop of their small town is the perfect place to grow their business. But they don't count on their personal lives getting in the way.

Practical and pragmatic, Olive keeps her past hidden from her friends. But when an old high-school flame shows up, the secrets she's worked so hard to bury threaten to tear her carefully constructed world apart.

Bree is the fun-loving one, although family tensions lurk behind her free-spirited facade. The reappearance of her troubled sister Winnie brings Bree's priorities into sharp focus. Will she have to shelve her own happiness to save her sister?

Kind and maternal to all those around her, Elsie's role as the practice's counsellor comes naturally. But when tragedy strikes, her world tumbles down like a house of cards.

With everything they've built in disarray, their friendship is on the line... #amreading #bookstagram #allwehaveisnow #netgalley @kaneanamaywriter #aussieauthors

All We Have Is Now is Kaneana May’s second novel following her well-received debut, The One in 2019.

All We Have Is Now unfolds from the perspectives of Bree, Elsie and Olive, colleagues and best friends who run a wellness centre, ‘Healing Hands’. The success of their business has allowed them to relocate to larger premises where Bree, the life of any party, is a Pilates instructor; Elsie, happily married and newly pregnant, provides counselling services; and pragmatic Olive, a dietician, runs cooking classes.

While the centre is thriving, Bree, Elsie and Olive come under increasing personal stress and I quickly found myself invested in their stories. May skilfully develops complex, distinct characters whose behaviours and attitudes feel authentic. With her concealed past, I found Olive to be the most intriguing figure, while Elsie was the most sympathetic given her circumstances. It took me a little longer to warm to Bree, but I loved the depiction of the close, but not uncomplicated, friendship between the three.

May addresses a number of themes in the novel, such as friendship, family, love and romance, but it’s her exploration of grief that is especially thoughtful and sensitive. Each of her main characters are forced to find the courage to confront some difficult realities about loss in order to move forward with their lives. Though bereavement is not something that can be, nor should be, compared, Elsie’s is particularly heartrending given its immediacy.

There is a special sort of thrill in being familiar with the setting of a story. All We Have Is Now is primarily set in Wingham, which adjoins my own town of Taree, so I could easily envisage both the house in which the centre operates and the characters movements around their environs (the author herself is a local).

Thoughtfully crafted, heartfelt and poignant, All We Have Is Now is a pleasure to read.

Friends Elsie, Olive and Bree run a health and well being business together and it’s time to expand Healing Hands. They find the perfect place, a beautiful old federation house, with lots of treatment space and endless possibilities.

Olive Atkins is Healing Hands dietitian, she sensible, practical and has everything under control. But she has a secret, she hasn’t told anyone and including her two business partners.
Bree Vandenberg is Healing Hands Pilate’s instructor, she’s single and flits from one man to another. Her younger sister Winnie has a habit of disappearing, her parents worry constantly about her, she turns up on Bree’s doorstep, and will her parents have their hearts broken again?
Elsie Parker is Healing Hands counsellor, she’s kind, compassionate and a caring step-mother to Johan and married to painter Frank.

The Three owners of Healing Hands are all very different, when tragedy strikes, what will happen to their friendship and will their business survive financially? All We Have Is Now is well written story and I cared about Olive, Bree and Elsie, it’s an emotional book to read and it made me cry. It’s about life, relationships, family, secrets, loss and finding a way and courage to carry on through really tough times.
I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review, I'm very keen to read other books by Kaneana May and five stars from me.

I absolutely loved All We Have Is Now, it’s a thoroughly engaging read which dwells on some particularly heavy emotional issues and the messy everyday complications of life. The characters are so realistic they come to life on the pages and you can’t help but feel for them.

Our three principal ladies are Olive our Dietician, Elsie our Counsellor and Bree our Pilates Instructor, they are uniquely different and interesting women. The ladies are business partners in a wellness centre called ‘Healing Hands’ and they are also best friends, they’re moving their business from a tiny commercial shop and relocating to a beautiful house built in 1902.

Life is not perfect as we follow Olive, Elsie and Bree as they encounter sorrow, grief, love and complicated family and romantic relationships. The women’s friendships are strained at times but we see how strong these friendships can be and how important it is to have others to help you through the tough times.

Beautifully written and if I may add Kaneana May is an Australian author to look out for.

If you are on a hunt to find a book about friendship, family, love and sadness then Kaneana May's second novel, All We Have Is Now is the book for you.
It is based on the close friendship of Elise, Bree and Olive. We follow their relationships with friends, family and partners. Amongst their feelings of happiness, loss and grief.
The three of them form Healing Hands, a blooming health wellness centre. After buying a house to support their centre needs all seems to be going well. Until each one of the women suffer through some sort of ordeal.

The characters grew on me and I rather became attached to them. I felt their happiness, their laughter and their pain. When they were in pain I wanted to reach in and comfort them. I think I had a deeper connection with the book as I could resonate with some of their hurdles. I love that friends and family rallied up to be supportive of each other.

The setting where the book takes place, Kaneana describes sounds like paradise. It makes me want to take a trip up to the middle north coast just to absorb the environment.

Also I never had a book which made me crave food before. So I ended up making a Lemon Meringue Pie 🥧 which I ate mostly by myself. Bonus points to Kaneana.

Thankyou to Netgalley, Harlequin and Kaneana.

Thank you Harlequin Australia for a copy of Kaneana’s second book in exchange of my honest review. I loved the one and was hoping that Kaneana would bring out a second book and I am so pleased that she did

I really enjoyed getting to know Elsie, Bree and Olives stories and getting to know them personally. This book reminded me of the private practice mixed with sweet Magnolias and I loved that! I really enjoyed reading from each of their points of view throughout the whole book.

This book is a tearjerker so you will need tissues at times. The story line really worked and had me begging for more, I hope that one day there is a sequel to this story and we seem more of these lovely ladies lives

Thank you to Harlequin Australia for the copy of Kaneana's second book in exchange for an honest opinion. I was so impressed with Kaneana's debut novel The One last year and I must say her writing has stepped up another notch with this great Women's Fiction novel.

Olive, Bree & Elsie are partners in a wellness retreat called Healing Hands and work together so well in their various disciplines however they all have their issues behind the scenes. Olive is dealing with her parents especially her mother who is showing signs of Alzheimer's, Bree has a wayward sister who lobs on her doorstep and Elsie is in a second marriage dealing with her husband's ex-wife and his son while desperately trying to start a family herself. All are not without the hurdles they need to jump over but their friendship keeps them together.

This novel kept me interested from the beginning and Kaneana's writing showed so much more depth this time with the 3 points of view and their complexities, it will appeal to readers of female friendships and womens fiction. Loved it!

This is just one of those easy to read, heartwarming stories that resonates deep within.

Kaneala May writes beautifully about friendship, grief and love, and the lessons that come with each of them.

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The story line follows three friends, Olive, Bree and Elsie, who run a wellness centre together. Each are faced wirh individual challenges that inevitably lead to realising the importance of friendship, support and time.

Olives character is the one that keeps the reader turning the pages, and Bree is the one that makes you laugh. Bit it was Elsie that truly gripped my attention. My heart broke with hers before slowly piecing it back together.

Loved this book by new to me author Kaneana May.
Olive, Elsie and Bree came together through their interests in health and well being, so much that they formed a business partnership. Their businesses is growing but they all have their personal issues. All very different but all have effects on each other.
This was a wonderful story and I could feel each woman’s personal heart ache. With many layers covering loss, grief, addiction, pregnancy, older parents, new and old loves it all wove together beautifully. I felt it was all extremely relatable and loved the characters.
One I highly recommend.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy to read.

Olive, Elsie and Bree move their growing wellness centre into a larger place and must navigate the ensuing changes and challenges in their lives. For Olive, it's her secret past surfacing in the form of the wellness centre's new masseuse. For Elsie, it's her role as stepmother and soon-to-be mother. For Bree, it's the sister who blows in and out of her life and causes trouble wherever she goes. Achieving wellness will be harder than any of them ever realised.

I'm always hungry for a novel that explores the varied and fascinating relationships between women and this certainly delivered. Olive, Elsie and Bree felt like real people to me. I could easily picture running into them on the street. May has a history of making me ugly cry (see her previous novel, The One!) and All We Have Is Now was no exception. Definitely park yourself beside a box of tissues when you pick up this book. A thoroughly satisfying read.