Unfortunately this one wasn’t for me. It was nothing to do with the writing , which in fact I feel was very good. I just struggled to connect with the characters, both of whom I found to be quite unlikeable. As a result of this I found I just didn’t care how they ended up. I loved the concept though, and would be willing to read further from this author with more likeable characters!

In Pernille Hughes' 'Ten Years', Becca and Charlie are forced to spend time together to fulfill the final wishes of Ally - Becca's best friend and Charlie's fiance - to spread her ashes via a bucket list.

Given their mutual enmnity, the pair decide to space out the activities to one per year. Ally - forever the planner and organiser, was the glue that held them together after they all met at university.

Over the ten years we see how grief affects both of them in different ways. Charlie, the 'yes man' who left his decision making to Ally is left directionless. While spiky Becca the actress, continues to struggle in dead end jobs hoping for her big break, misses her big cheerleader in Ally. Ally was her family.

Hughes weaves together a very slow burn romance, as the enmity gives way to a tenuous detente, then friendship, before love - one which Becca continues to push away out of guilt and can't let go of her pride to see Charlie is the man for her.

'𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐈 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐈’𝐯𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞, 𝐬𝐨, 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧’𝐭 𝐰𝐞 𝐛𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝?'

Swoon.

In Becca, Charlie has a the friend who will tell him straight. While for Becca, it's Charlie who becomes her cheerleader, supporting and encouraging her towards success.

This book tugged at my emotions, Hughes deftly conveys Becca and Charlie's grief, including the anger at Ally. Just when you think its going to be a tear jerker then the humour shines through. Then there is that clever little ending thrown in as the cherry on the top!

This book exceeded my expectations, handing an 'enemies to lovers' trope in a fresh way with wit and snark, pathos and characters that jumped off the page.

This is a book I loved so much I've pre-ordered my own copy and will buy the audiobook (if one becomes available!)

Thank you NetGalley, HarperCollins UK for the ARC.

*I received an ARC in return for an honest review*. This book follows the story of Charlie and Becca, two frenemies who begrudgingly agree to meet yearly to pay homage to Ally (Charlie's deceased fiancee and Becca's best friend) by accomplishing the bucket list she left behind. Together they battle grief, anger, guilt, resentment and evolving feeling as the years pass.

This book reminded me a little of People We Meet on Vacation in the sense that the MC's only intend to meet yearly. There are major time jumps where we catch up with what the MC's have been doing between meet ups. This was a true enemy to lovers where they absolutely did not get along. It took a while for them even to become civil with one another. I liked Charlie but Becca was slow to grow on me as she was quite brash. However, the author did a nice job of interweaving a little of their back stories so you could see how their childhoods effected their actions. All in all, I really enjoyed this book. It kept my attention and I was invested to see how it ended. I thought it was well written and and liked the UK slang woven throughout. I also enjoyed the England setting and that this wasn't "insta-love" we see so often in romances.

I really enjoyed how out of tragedy came something wonderful.

This was a delightful read, great underlying story of hope.

All in all really enjoyed this one!

Pernille Hughes "Ten Years" tells the saga of Charlie and Becca as they complete a bucket list designed by their late friend Ally.

Ten Years is very much trying to be a "When Harry Met Sally" retelling with a twist. The general tropes of from enemies to friends, will-they-won't-they, and a final big gesture are all sprinkled throughout. Because we only see Becca and Charlie for very brief moments in their lives, there isn't that much character development or chemistry built up. It's obvious where the story is going from the beginning.

Overall, it's a quick read and the publication date means that it will catch the eye of many people looking for a last-minute beach read.

I give Ten Years a solid four stars for keeping me interested throughout.

Thank you to NetGalley, HarperCollins UK, and One More Chapter for this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

An unconventional book about love and grief, relationships and growing into adulthood. The main characters are Becca and Charlie who are the best friend and fiance of Ally. As the story begins, Ally dies. Thrown together to complete her last wishes, their relationship is difficult, but both of them cared for Ally deeply. Told from their individual points of view, their story is revealed gradually. I loved the characterizations and how their story is told.
The book is short, but feels longer. It feels realistic and explores past and present relationships pretty thoroughly so that both come to self realization. This exploration makes for intense reading but also gives you food for thought.
Thank you to Net Galley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4610631605

Enemies to lovers is one of my favourite tropes so I knew I was going to love this book. This is definitely a book that touches on some sensitive topics but it still kept things light hearted at times. To me this story was incredibly emotional and it really reflected how different people deal with their grief. Beautiful story.

DNF
Unfortunately this wasn't for me and I could not finish reading it. It may juet be personal chocie but I wasn't a fan of the trope or the characters and so didn't feel connected to it at all.

This is an Enemies to Lovers romance book. To be honest, it is not my favorite trope. I like friends to romantic partners much better. I suppose that is why I did enjoy this book, because their relationship did evolve over time and they did become friends. (This is not giving anything away, since it is a romance book, readers already know that a happily ever after is in the horizon.)

This is the first book I read by this author, Pernille Hughes, and I like her writing style, the humor, her character development and excellent plot. While I was rolling my eyes at some of the discussions, saying "get over it and grow up", I do know that sometimes change only happens when it can be accepted and wanted by a person, so I do think the story is realistic.

I want to thank HarperCollins UK, One More Chapter, and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity of reading the advance reader copy. My review is my own opinion, not influenced by receiving the ARC.

Honestly, I was not sure if I was going to enjoy this book at the beginning of it. For some reason I had a hard time clicking with the characters. I am glad I ended up sticking it out because I actually came to enjoy the book! Definitely a more difficult start for me to do but overall it was an enjoyable novel.

Ally Walker,age 22,”was the best”, her lifelong friend, Becca, stated in her eulogy. Ally was an adored friend,fiancée,and daughter. When she met Charlie in college,it was love at first sight. A huge problem for Ally, was the obvious dislike between Charlie and Becca. They couldn’t stand being in the same room together. They reluctantly united to help Becca through her terminal cancer. This is a story of confronting grief,and how it changes you as a person. Becca and Charlie must separately become independent of Ally’s influence on their lives. This is also a story of redemption,and becoming the adult you were meant to be. The story is a little slow to develop but unfolds nicely as the years pass for the characters. I received an Advance copy for my honest review.

I do not even know where to begin. This is a relatively short story, a tale of love and survival told through a few distinct and memorable days in the lives of the main characters, BJ and Charlie, spread over 10 years.

But this is also one of those books that come back at you, haunt you long after you finished them. Showing another angle, another similarity to life. Such raw emotions are shining through the pages written by Pernille Hughes! Love, grief, passion, hurt, empathy, caring, friendship - Hughes is a wizard of words. Every feeling she shows comes from deep down, every word she uses has a purpose. She explores the meaning of love from all angles: a mother, a friend, a fiancé. It is not a light story even if it looks a light book. But it is worth every minute spent reading. I literally could not put it down.

I wanted to enjoy this title more than I did. The elements were there, but it was more of a grief-heavy experience than a romantic one. I did not finish this book, but I would be willing to sample from the author again.

The concept of this book was percect for me and although I thought the characters had good chemistry, I didn’t enjoy it as much as i’d hoped. I think this is a “its not the book, its me” situation because the writing was good, but I didn’t feel any connection to the characters. Will probably try other books from the author, though.

Becca and Charlie have known each other since university and have hated each other the entire time. Their common link was Ally. Ally was Becca's best friend and the woman that Charlie loved. Now that Ally has died, they can go their separate ways and never see each other, Except for Ally's bucket list. Ally's mother gave them the bucket list and said that Ally expected them to do the things that she longed to do but was unable to do as her life was cut short. They feel obligated to compete the list even though they do not want to be together. They decide to finish one item on her list each year on the anniversary of her death. This is a good book that I recommend,

e-arc provided by netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

"some days i feel i've lived more than one lifetime, so couldn't we be right for each other this time around?"

some of my favourite things to read, in no real order: messy women with messy lives, all-consuming grief, that narrow line between hating someone's guts and not being able to picture a life without them. you can imagine why i devoured this book in two sittings.

personally, i wouldn't classify this book as a romance, no matter what the synopsis says. the romance only happened around the 75% mark, meaning the development of it was quite rushed in my opinion. if the characters had met more than a couple times a year it would've been a bit more believable, but as it stands, it's only there because They Were Meant To Be™, never mind the 10 years of mutual hatred and the fact that most of their meetings ended in a fight.

that aside, i just adored how this book tackled grief. losing a loved one, be it a best friend, a fiance, or a child, is never easy, and the pain sticks around for far longer than feels necessary. the author portrayed it incredibly well, never shying away from the uglier side of the grieving process while showing that healing is possible.

all in all, i thoroughly enjoyed this book, despite its few flaws -a middle that dragged somewhat, bickering that got a bit too repetitive, and a romance that just didn't captivate me as it should've. honestly, i would've been happy if becca and charlie just grew closer as friends and learned to put their decade-old grudges behind them, though i can see the appeal of a good second chance story, too.

Thank you NetGalley and Harper Collins UK, One More Chapter for the chance to read Ten Years and leave a review voluntarily.

Becca and Charlie have seemingly nothing but a dear person in common who’s recent death leaves them both reeling. They expect to go their own ways when they learn of a last request that keeps them in each other’s lives for a decade. What starts out as a duty to their loved one becomes a friendship and something deeper.

This was a heartfelt and emotional story. The author captured the depth and emptiness of grief and the open questions of moving on beautifully. This is well written and charming in those regards.

I had a hard time connecting to the characters as it doesn’t take a true enemies to lovers arc and they bickered til the bitter end. I also didn’t connect to the ways their childhoods impacted them, clearly holding them back but addressing fits and starts.

The pace of the story was slow for me and the chapters were long. I really didn’t enjoy the last chapter and the revelation Valerie made. It seemed underhanded and deceptive.

The book is intrinsically about bereavement and grief and the ways that different people deal with it whilst not losing the love for the person who has died. Overall 4 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I unequivocally LOVED this book! I much prefer protagonists who aren't perfect, who have flaws and who don't always behave the way they should, and this book has that in spades. Charlie and Becca are really relatable characters; I occasionally wanted to shake one (or both) of them, but their backstories made their behaviour understandable and I never lost sympathy for either of them - I rooted for them to get their sh*t together and fall in love all the way through. And it's actually funny! I've lost count of the romcoms I've read where laughs have been few and far between. This one hit the spot for me.

The grief aspect of this story is handled beautifully. I also really liked the way they come to realise that each has changed and matured over the course of the story, and that while they might not have been right for each other when they first met, they have grown into the sort of person the other one needs by the end of it.

Highly recommended, particularly for anyone who loves a romance that isn't twee or cookie cutter, with an impossibly perfect heroine.

I thought this was going to be the classic “ships in the night” type book but I was supposed by how sad this book starts off and I feel like it fails to gain any kind of momentum for a long time. I feel like this book would be enjoyed by anyone who liked Normal People. Unfortunately, I was just not the right audience for this one.