I have loved every book I have read by Amanda Prowse. She writes with so much passion that I can't help becoming a part of her stories. She is my go-to author when it comes to contemporary fiction, family drama, and emotional portrayal. When I saw that this wonderful author had written To Love and Be Loved I just had to read her book. Wow, she did not disappoint!
Merrin loves her fantastic life, surrounded by her family. She’s about to marry her true love, Digby but on her wedding day events do not go as planned. Heartbroken, Merrin moves away from her beloved family to make a new life for herself, returning only when circumstances require it.
Set in the fishing village of Port Charles, a small coastal place in Cornwall, England and told through alternating time periods, this is another brilliant novel that I can relate to and it is also deeply moving. It is a beautifully written story and I enjoyed the drama of a group of relatives - there is anger, happiness love, and sadness by the bucketload. The storyline is gripping and the characters are extremely credible, likeable and so well-drawn by Amanda Prowse. To Love and Be Loved certainly ranks very highly with me and I recommend it to fans and new readers alike. I know that books like this one make my reading days quite perfect.

I received a complimentary copy of this novel at my request from Amazon Publishing UK/ Lake Union Publishing UK via NetGalley and this review is my own unbiased opinion.

This book was a slow burn. I enjoyed the characters, and how they are portrayed. The story moved quite slowly for me, although at times I was confused by the timeline. There were too many POVs, fewer would have been better. Not a fantastic book but also not awful. If you love this author, definitely give this a go.

I will never pass up an opportunity to read a book by Amanda Prowse.
Her writing touches a chord with me and as I read the words I see the images and scenes before my eyes. This has got to be one of her best novels so far. The town of Port Charles is alongside Merrin and the Kellow family one of the lead characters. The final chapters brought the book full circle and explained the actions of Loretta Montgomery so clearly that you found yourself agreeing with the awful events she put in motion in the beginning.
A wonderful book that you can snuggle down with and forget about the rest of the world, that is until someone child comes looking for you to feed them.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me to read this book.

This is a wonderful love story about Merrin and Digby and I was cheering for Merrin all the way!! This latest book by Amanda Prowse was one of her best yet! You’ll need Kleenex! Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this early release in exchange for my honest review.

Lovely book based upon a girl and her family who have grown up in a small Cornish village. The characters are developed really well with the main character being endearing. Little slow to begin with but moves into a great story

Merrin loves her life in the little fishing village of Port Charles in Cornwall with her mum, dad and sister. She thought she had the world at her feet, but was dealt a terrible blow on what should have been the happiest day of her life.. She flees from all she has ever known, to heal her wounds and try to forget.

Can she ever forget, and leave all that she holds dear? All she has ever known and loved?

Once again, Amanda Prowse draws the reader into the book, so much so, that you feel you are actually there in the village in Cornwall. Her descriptive writing has you sitting on the cliff overlooking the sea, and knowing every nook and cranny of the village.

It's another masterpiece from the author!

Thanks to Netgalley, and the author for the Arc copy, in return for a true review.

I knew I would and I did! Love it that is! My goto author when I want a good contemporary read; this one was a lovely family drama set in the fishing village of Port Charles, Cornwall and Thornbury, a market town Nr. Bristol. In the interest of full disclosure I actually live in Thornbury so I was glued to the book. The descriptions by Amanda Prowse are so good you can see the places she is describing and the characters come to life on the pages. I particularly loved Merrin’s family. Proper salt of the earth people for whom family and loyalty means more than anything.

Briefly, Merrin has spent all her life in Port Charles. When she meets the man of her dreams she has her future planned until it is cruelty taken away from her. To escape the gossips she leaves and goes to work in a hotel in Thornbury. But she is still struggling to put the man she loved behind her. Years later, she returns to Cornwall for a funeral and her happiness at being back home makes her question her life choices.

It’s not a short book but it finished all too quickly for me. I wanted more. The full gamut of emotions are on display here love and hate, truth and deception, trust and mistrust, laughter and tears, life and death. I’m not a weeper when it comes to books but I’ll admit to a tiny tear at one point in this one. It was just a lovely read. If you like a good family saga then this is definitely one for you ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

To Love and Be Loved by Amanda Prowse is a lovely romance that begins with tow young people in love. The rich family's son and a fisherman's daughter. They decide to marry. His mother insists on a wedding her parents cannot possibly afford so she pays. It is uncomfortable, but Digby is the prize and Merrin keeps her eyes firmly on him. Getting to the church is a party with half the community participating, the rest waving her on. When she gets there, tragedy strikes: the vicar comes to tell her that her groom is not coming, the wedding is off. She cannot believe it. She calls his house, where his mother won't let her speak to Digby, but reassures her he has changed his mind and the wedding is off. She can't stand knowing that everyone is looking at her, talking about her. She leaves town and begins work at an inn, only about three hours away. She works hard and gets promoted. One day even meets a man . . . Miguel, the best looking man she has ever seen. She likes him but she knows it is not love. It is good for now though. It's been several years, but she takes him home when her sister is to marry. Everyone loves him. Everyone but her. Life goes on . . .

Families are so complicated; no one knows this better than Amanda Prowse, and she can get it onto paper. Relationships between siblings, between parents, between lovers . . . Lies are told, some of them turn out not be lies, just secrets. Villains turn out to be not so bad. She has them all in this wonderful story. The romance, actually takes up little space, just the important space. The relationships, the deep hurt that Mirrin felt. These things are the story. It reflects all of us, our lives, out relationships. Our stories. I was a lovely book.

I was invited to read a free a-ARC of To Love and Be Loved by Lake Union Publishing, through Net galley. All thoughts and opinions are my own. #netgalley #lakeunionpublishing #amandaprowse #toloveandbeloved

Amanda Prowse’s books have seen me through life changes, job changes, trials and tribulations. This was a comforting read during the turn of the year with lots of changes going on and it was so nice to have a familiar writing style at the end of a long day to get lost in.

This is a family drama set against the beautiful backdrop of Cornwall (Port Charles) and Thornbury, near Bristol. Amanda uses careful research and her own knowledge to create stunning realistic settings that will make you want to explore them. She creates characters that you are compelled to love (and sometimes hate!) and brings unique and refreshing storylines into their lives to create the contemporary domestic dramas that we’ve all become quite hooked upon.

There are bittersweet moments, incredible emotional chapters and scenes, and just the right amount of humour injected in at various points to balance this book into the well known style that we have come to know and love from Amanda.

4.5 ⭐ Raw, emotional journey.

Gosh, I loved this cast of characters so much, and the complicated situations they lived and loved through.

Merrin was the main focus of the book, although several chapters are spattered throughout from another person's POV. Anyway, I loved her (most of the time!), and felt her pain as her grief dredged up some old emotions of my own. It sucks when you relate with a character because of her tragic circumstances. 😑

Bravo to Ms Prowse for giving her readers a kaleidoscope of feelings to trawl through. The bitter with the sweet, and hilarious moments alongside profound heartache. Although I wished so many parts of the story didn't play out the way they did, that's not a true reflection of life, is it? At just Merrin found closure in most avenues of her life because many of us don't.

NB I received an ARC of this novel (thanks, NetGalley!).

Amanda is one of my favourite authors & i absolutely loved this book. She is such a lovely lady too.

Simply one of the most beautiful pieces of art I’ve ever read. The attention to detail in very sentence made my heart swell with love for the little Cornish village where the Kellow girls live. Every village has to have gossip but when poor gorgeous Merrin becomes that gossip she runs for the hills with us as the reader following her along the way.
I am a huge fan of Amanda’s stories and her heart pours into each of them. The love Amanda has for her stories is evident throughout her latest master piece. I could not put it down. Thank you

Amanda Prowse is one of my favourite authors, and I automatically pick up and read her books without reading the blurb first because I just enjoy the way she writes and this latest book is no exception.

This is a lovely story about family, love, revenge, heartbreak and acceptance, with likeable characters and a beautiful setting.

Recommended for romance and women's fiction lovers.

I just love all Amanda's books so when her latest one came out I had to find a quiet spot in my house and open my kindle! All housework etc goes out of the window......Take away leaflets come out of their drawers! I am not cooking!!!

To Love and Be Loved by Amanda Prowse was just an amazing emotional book. I loved it.........Amanda has always written her books with so much love and they're always beautifully written from beginning till the end that will have you gripped from the first page till the end. You may need tissues!

This latest book is set in a small fishing village in Cornwall where Merrin's family is very well known. as they own a biscuit factory family and live in the Palladian Clifton.. Merrin feels she has to get away form everything around her and she decides to leave the village. However, six years has passed and she has a new life away from everyone, When, tragedy struck's and she needs to go back and she has no choice. Merrin realises when she is back that she missed the madness of her family and the closeness of the village. She needs to make a big decision and decide who she is and what she wants from life!!

What does her future hold and where?

Is she willing to move on and be truly happy or stay?

Only Merrin can decide this!!!!

WoW, this book is a big roller coaster and will have you sitting on the edge of your chair, it did me! I loved it. This latest book made me think of my past, then again..........only You can change it!!!

I highly recommend all Amanda's books they are superb reads and she has become one of my favourite authors.

Big Thanks you to NetGalley and Amazon Publishing UK, Lake Union Publishing for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

With thanks to #NetGalley and #AmazonPublishingUk for a digital arc of #ToLoveAndBeLoved by #AmandaProwse.

I always get a bit excited when a new Amanda Prowse book is released. So I was keen to dive into this beauty and once more lose myself in Amanda’s charming and alluring writing.

Merrin fled her hometown
and her close knit family, after her wedding day went disastrously wrong.
Some years later, and having built herself a successful life far away from home, tragedy strikes and Merrin is forced to return to the place that broke her.
Once home, Merrin realises what she has been missing, but before she can truly come home and rebuild her life, she needs to come to terms with the past and make peace with the ghosts that haunt her.

This is a wonderful story of love, family, friendship, loss, strength, second chances, forgiveness and finding home.
As always Amanda writes with such beautiful words, that flow effortlessly through the pages.

An utterly captivating read.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This story follows Merrin after the devastating fall out of being left at the alter. Merrin can't stay in her small town so moves away, leaving her family and everything she loves behind. We follow Merrin as she deals with loss far away from home, and watch her long slow recovery towards acceptance.

This was a really beautiful story about learning to love yourself again. It was a really easy read and really made me want to visit Cornwall. I've read a few Amanda Prowse books now and always go for them when I'm wanting a romance read. They are really easy to read but she makes you feel intensely for the characters.

One particular quote of the book I loved was 'Drink Tea. Sit in the sunshine. Celebrate the good. Don't dwell on the bad'

Merrin was all set to marry Digby the love of her life but he stands her up at the alter. Humiliated and ashamed she makes the decision to leave the Cornish village she was born and brought up in as she knows she will be the talk of the village and can't bear the shame.
Merrin only returns for her sisters wedding 6 years later and finds that people are still pitying her so leaves as soon as she can. It's only when her beloved dad passes away that she returns again but this time the longing to stay wins and she finally goes back home to stay
A heartwarming story of a family's love and forgiveness

Amanda Prowse has once again woven her magic and created a spellbinding character and a village I just wanted to live in myself.

When Merrin’s life does not turn out how she was expecting, she runs away from the family that she loves, leaving behind her childhood friends and the place she she thought she would always call home.

Merrin stole into my heart. I felt her pain and her anguish at the cards she had been dealt. I also felt a sneaking admiration for her sister, Ruby, because she was the one left to pick up the pieces.

The author provides a real gem of a twist to this story, but I am not going to spoil it for you. What I will say is that you never really know what someone else is going through.

I must mention one sentence in this book which really brought home to me what a prolific writer Amanda Prowse is –
“Telephone calls that spilt love down the wire as if it were liquid gave her some reassurance”

No one says it more movingly or succinctly than Amanda Prowse!

Amanda Prowse has a beautiful way of bringing life to her books with emotion, real characters, and stories that I get invested in!

After a wedding day that didn’t go as planned, Merry leaves her small hometown and family to restart in a bigger city. But like many stories go, her hometown draws her back. She is forced to face her fears of how people will react to her and her situation. The story explores the emotional journey after a traumatic experience, and it brings the reader into the intimate moments of Merry’s life. This is a slow-burn that will wrap you up in its words and refuse to let go until the end!

Merry is what this story is all about. I loved her character development, and how much I connected with her! The small town atmosphere felt perfect for the story, and I loved how the descriptions brought the place and the people to life!

I would highly recommend this one for readers that enjoy stories focused on character growth and emotional journeys!

I am a huge Amanda Prowse fan. That being said I was disappointed in this book. I didn't much like Merrin and found her to be to self centered. I am anxiously waiting for Amanda's next book..