This lovely debut, set in a hospice, is a heart-warming, life-affirming gem which had me fixed to the sofa for an entire Sunday. Full of wry hospital humour and the insights that seeing families at their most vulnerable must offer, NHS GP Peach writes a well-paced tale which is far from morose despite the setting. Her characters are believable and understandable, and if, like me, you have a bitch of an inner critic, her imaginary side-characters are spot on too. Looking forward to seeing more from this funny new author.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review!

cw: eating disorders; grief; death.

Love Life, is a quirky and thoughtful debut by Nancy Peach. It follows trainee doctor Tess and her complicated relationship with Eddie, the son of one of her terminally ill patients. The background of hospice care, while potentially stark, provides a solid backdrop for romance and relationships to develop. It is less of a light-hearted beach read and more of a curl up on your couch on a rainy day read.

Things I liked: I liked the characterization of both the heroine and hero. Their personalities and backgrounds made them three-dimensional, likable people. Her writing reminded me a lot of Jojo Moyes. The secondary characters were also great, and further added depth to the story -- especially Mary. I liked the build-up of Tess and Eddie's relationship, I thought the tension and the fighting were well laid out and real.

Things I didn't like: The book is mainly from Tess's POV, with the occasional vignette from Eddie's POV. I would have rather had a more balanced share between the two. It feels like an editor recommended Peach add some Eddie stuff in order to shore up some of the plot problems/potential issues with the character, versus getting his POV to make a more well-rounded natural story. I didn't love the Jane Austen narrator voice and could have had most of those bits cut out.

Overall, it is a good debut with an original setting and strong characters. I look forward to whatever comes next from Nancy Peach!

I really wanted to love this, but I was barely able to finish. My problem is with her, in-her-head voices, the snarky tv presenter voice and Jane Austen. They were amusing in the first few chapters, but it very quickly becomes too much of an annoyance and a distraction. Also, while the premise could be fun, the story seemed a bit too…..contrived. He wanted to be a vet, he loved animals; she has a cat problem and he’s fixing it! It’s as if she doesn’t trust us to get it, so she’s really hammering it in. Also, there’s a lot of unspoken backstory that I’d love for her to dive in; i.e. her bulimia. Lost opportunity to not explore the why, treatments, relapses, etc.

Love Life is a fine book, it just wasn't my cup of tea. This is, in all honesty, strange because I love every comparative author listed, plus tons of other romance writers out of the UK. (And obviously I love Jane Austen because I'm not a sociopath.) This book had a lot of potential, but it didn't seem to satisfy me in any meaningful way. I hate saying that because Nancy Peach is a talented writer. She's clearly a logophile (no shame here—you have to be one to be on NetGalley, surely), but the characters didn't resonate with me as much as, for example, Beth O'Leary's Tiffy Moore or Mhairi McFarlane's Georgina Horspool.

Tess was fine, but just fine. She was kind, vulnerable but independent, and loquacious when nervous (which is certainly a charming trait), but I felt like her character was otherwise inconsistent. As for the love interest, Eddie... I love a brooding man, I truly do, but it took *so long* to get to a point where I felt like maybe he wasn't just an absolute dick. I just wasn't thrilled with how his character progressed.

That said, Mary was precious, as were a lot of the other tertiary characters. The largest subplot of this book, Tess's mental health, provided the best bits. The inner voices' monologues were a bit verbose, but getting through them is worth it for the resolution. Obviously I cannot give spoilers, but the chapter in which Tess stands off against her own doubts was wonderful. It was easily the best scene in the entire book.

Other than that, the conflicts were pretty reasonable (as in no one felt blatantly in the wrong) and natural. The resolution was a little drawn out, but at least it was adequate. I just didn't love it, and I felt like the characters could have been better.

A wonderful read swept me out of my world into the characters lives.A book of romance of second chances.The author writes so well a book full of emotion and humor an author I will be following a book I will be recommending a book I enjoyed from beginning to end.#netball #love Life

I was SO excited when I got the chance to read this one early, but quite frankly, I got very disappointed from the moment I started reading. I'm sad about this, as I genuinely love the books that are published by One More Chapter, but this time around, I just couldn't get behind the inner monologues in Tess's head.

Tess has two voices in her head and one of those voices is constantly belittling her. This really took away from the joy I wanted to feel from this book. The authors overuse of adjectives also made this one very difficult to read.

*Thanks NetGalley and HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you the advanced copy.

I struggled at first with the style of writing but got used to it. I liked the plot, the speed at which it came together, the characters and I like that it made me a little emotional and also made me laugh. I enjoyed the character of Tess.

What happens when life doesn’t go exactly as planned? Tess Carter has had it rough. After coming home from a shift at the hospital she finds her longtime boyfriend sleeping with another man and dealing with the issue of her father abandoning her, oh and the voices in her head. Tess has two voices in her head, one voice is a talk show host who constantly belittles and demeans her while the second voice is Jane Austin who provides a more positive voice. Tess runs into a guy she had talked to at a party one time years back that she had felt a deep connection with when he brings in his mother at the hospital she works at, which deals with hospice. Said guy is named Edward Russell who is described as having a big job and a posh voice and regal. However the charming guy from the party doesnt seem to remember Tess and acts a bit rude and cold. *also warning, the book discusses Tess and her issues with bulimia, just in case anyone wanted to know before delving into the story* Personally I just could not find myself enjoying this story and the two additional voices in the story that were in Tess’s narration were a bit annoying to read. Overall, this one just wasn’t for me but may it is for you.

*Thanks Netgalley and HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review.

While this book is described as uplifting and feel good I found it to be very serious and sad at times. Tess. the main character narrates the book with the assistance of two voices in her head. One voice is a talk show host who is demeaning and hurtful and I found him irritating and it made me sad how much it affected Tess. The second voice, Jane Austin is brighter and logical and actually quite funny. Being a person with Stage 4 cancer, the setting in a hospice was very personal and made me sad. Some romance books have a lot of comedy but this one only receives humour through Jane. Tess is an extremely likeable and believable character and I was routing for her the whole way. This isn’t a beach read or something to read if you want a light read but it is a good book. Thank you to One More Chapter and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

DNF, gave up on 20%.

Well someone got a thesaurus for Christmas and they’re not afraid to use it. I did not enjoy the writing style of this book at all. The authors overuse of adjectives (“stertorous Tom cat”, “incongruous in the semi silence”, “dismal portents”, “duplicitous roads”) made this a difficult read. And it has the air of someone trying to sound intelligent, by using longer words, but failing. The inner monologues in the style of Jeremy Kyle or Jane Austen didn’t add anything for me either.

It’s rare I don’t finish a book but the writing in this just made it a joyless endeavour. As a high school teacher I’ve struggled through some poorly written work that I’m not prepared to do it in my leisure time.

I really enjoyed this book!! It was so good and it made me laugh so many times! If you’re looking for a really uplifting read, this is the book for you

I loved this story about heartache ,second chances and lost. Great story and I loved the talk show and Jane Austen voices. A beautiful love story.

Soo british! Lol I did not understand half the lingo here. Also, for a romance book, it was so wordy. But still very cute!

Tess Carter is a trainee doctor, currently on rotation in a hospice caring for the terminally ill. She suffers from low self-esteem, occasional bulimia, and has recently found her boyfriend in bed with another man. When a new patient is checked into the hospice with terminal cancer Tess is astonished to see that the patient's son Edward Russell is no other than the young man Eddie she met at a party years ago and made an instant connection. Back then she had a boyfriend and never did anything more than kiss Eddie, but oh how she wished she had. Sadly, finding a lawyer called Eddie (last name unknown) in London is quite difficult.

Unfortunately, the charming, sweet, clever, funny Eddie Tess met back then has turned into a cold, judgmental man, who clearly does not remember Tess at all and challenges her every professional decision, probably because he is in denial about his mother's prognosis. However, as time goes on Tess and Edward find some middle ground and when a personal crisis occurs it is Eddie who comes to the rescue.

Part romance, part women's fiction (think Katie Fforde with edge, or maybe Susie Tate) this would have been a four star read if it hadn't been for the author's decision to give Tess two voices in her head: one a car-crash TV chat show host (think Jeremy Kyle or Jerry Springer); and the other Jane Austen. The chat show host likes to belittle Tess and make her sound like trailer trash, while Jane Austen tries to bolster her ego. I hated both of them and their interactions were very irritating.

Otherwise, the characters were engaging with real life problems ad the story was well-written, if a little predictable.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

I thought I'd like this book, I honestly did. However from the get go I found the inner monologue/voices in Tess's head to be annoying and honestly took away from the story for me. I found myself regularly skimming over parts of the book, finding it dry and uninteresting. The biggest kicker for me was the fact that for the majority of the book the characters were dating other people, and the build up of interest and infatuation between the main characters seemed entirely one sided, and not at all that convincing. I don't know, I just found this story flat and uninteresting, and I didn't even like the characters bar the cat and Mary. I know I don't like a book when at the end when everything is tied up in a nice, little bow and there is the magical HEA moment and I simply don't care.

A fun and engaging debut romance.

Things I loved: Firstly, the premise! Tess is a doctor working in a hospice, and her love interest, Eddie, is the son of one of her terminally-ill patients. I adore the idea of a romance with a hospice as backdrop, as end-of-life care is all about love and respect—essentials in a good relationship.

I also loved the nods to Jane Austen. Tess and Eddie begin their relationships with their hackles raised due to a hasty and misunderstood exchange of words in a stressful situation, not dissimilar to Lizzie and Darcy’s unfortunate meeting at Netherfield. Tess even has an updated Mr. Collins (Simon Collins) and is internally hyper-conscious of the class differences between herself (working-class background) and the man she’s pining for (a rich lawyer who grew up in a Georgian manor house). Tess’s ‘inner voice’ even speaks as an imagined (if rather exaggerated caricature of) Jane Austen, and is referred to as such—though here Miss Austen, rather amusingly, faces off with the voice of Tess’s inner insecurities, a meanspirited Piers Morgan/Jerry Springer crossover called ‘the television host.’

Lastly, I really enjoyed Eddie. While he and Tess don’t hit things off initially, he never seems like a complete prat; we understand the high emotions he’s dealing with due to his mother’s terminal illness, and he always treats Tess fairly, even when she messes up or acts unprofessionally.

Some things that didn’t work so well for me: It’s pretty obvious this book is a debut. It’s a very good debut, but the prose is sometimes jerky or unsure, and the pacing could use some work.

An example: around the 50% mark, Tess recalls, unprompted, that Eddie (who she had briefly met once several years prior) had said he loved animals and thought about being a vet. In the next scene, Tess has a surprise problem with an animal—and Eddie, naturally, swoops in to save the day. This could have been a really good scene, but as written, it felt paint-by-numbers: we need the hero to do something nice for our heroine: quick, make him an animal lover and have him rescue an animal for her! If Eddie’s love of animals had come up far earlier in the narrative, to then lie low, half-forgotten by the reader, until the need arose, the scene would have been significantly more satisfying, calling back to something we’d learned about Eddie far previously and letting Tess know that he hasn’t changed so much from the man she met years before.

The majority of the book is written from Tess’s point of view. However, every once in a great while we’ll get a few paragraphs from Eddie’s POV. While I appreciated these moments, because Eddie is a cool guy and I like being in his head, narratively it felt awkward. There isn’t always a clear distinction between Tess’s POV narration and Eddie’s, and Tess’s POV is well over 90% of the text. If Eddie and Tess got more of a 50/50 split in their POV narration, it would feel much more natural.

The sex scenes are strangely abrupt, and gel awkwardly with the rest of the text. I love a good sex scene in a romance, but these fell flat for me.

And finally, Tess—while a relatable, smart, and fun character to follow, with some Bridget Jones energy—was unprofessional as hell. I really respect hospice care, and I wish that we’d seen Tess caring for or even thinking about patients other than Eddie’s mother, and doing a bit more to separate her romantic entanglements and professional life. Tess is threatened with professional repercussions in this romance, and honestly, she deserved them; it would have been significantly more satisfying to read if these repercussions were more to do with malicious gossip than actual misconduct.

OVERALL: I really enjoyed this book. I think there were some growing pains and road bumps, but that’s expected with a debut novel. I will certainly be keeping an eye out for future romances and romantic comedies by this author, and I will be recommending this title to all my romance-reading friends.

CW: Eating disorders prevalent in the narrative, end-of-life care

I was hoping Tess' voices were going to be more amusing. The book was well written and readable, but by no means hilarious.

Unfortunately this story wasn't for me. With all the talk of bulimia and end of life care etc, it was just a bit too gritty and the in the head voices were so frustrating and annoying that I couldn't keep reading past the half way point in the book as I found I was just getting annoyed worry trying to continue reading. I was hoping, given the description, that there was more light and fluffy, and Jane Austen like bits in in, but the execution didn't match the blurb

Tess and Edward meet when his mother arrives at the hospice where Tess works. It is not the first time they meet, but they both think the other has forgotten what they thought was a significant moment.

Edward has a girlfriend and has challenged Tess many times, so will they get a second chance to be together?