A true Enemies to Lovers story, here with a bit of a twist.
Becca and Charlie know one another well. But that doesn't mean they like each other.
They are only in contact because of the one person they have in common. Ally.
Becca's best friend, and Charlie's Fianceé.
Who tragically passes away, leaving them tied together via. bucket list of things she wants them to do, whilst scattering her ashes.
Over the course of ten years, we see the way their relationship changes, from that pure hate to questioning each other, revealing certain secrets, pushing each other away, while something stronger keeps pulling them together.
There are little twists along the way that give the story a little oomph, too,
This will be a good beach read!
Many thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collines, One More Chapter for an ARC in exchange for an honest review

Such an enjoyable read that had me feeling almost every emotion - I will be revisiting this and reading more from Pernille Hughes most definitely

Ten Years - Pernille Hughes


Becca and Charlie can’t stand each other, never have and probably never will, which is just fine by them. Yet they both loved Ally and now that she has died, surely they can just move on with their lives and not see each other again. However, it seems that even in death, Ally has other plans for them.

‘Ten Years’ is about grief, friendship and the true meaning of love, and was an absolute joy to read from start to finish. In fact I did not want it to end.

Becca and Charlie’s evolution is very convincing with the dialogue moving deftly between them both. This book is laugh out loud funny in places and desperately poignant in others but thankfully not in the least bit soppy. (When they make this story into a film, the actors are going to have a ball playing the main characters).

The storyline was not as predictable as I originally thought it would be and kept me guessing as to quite how things would work out between them. I also cared deeply about both characters.

Finally, I defy anyone reading this book not to rush out and buy a packet of Haribos immediately.

Thank you to HarperCollins and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review ‘Ten Years’.

I blitzed through this book over the weekend as I just could not get enough. Light and witty I enjoyed every second. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

If you’d not read some more accomplished books in this style then I’d think you’d love it, but I found this was slow, cliched and very formulaic.

It’s a nice enough beach read, but it’s overly long and didn’t fulfil its initial promise.

I also dislike that the female lead only seemed to have courage and power when successful, polished and uncharacteristically loved housework.

This was a great book.
lovely and romantic. A sad reason why they had to get together especially when they do not like each other.
A bucket list has been made and they need to do it for there friend but in doing so it means spending more time together. Surely that means love can blossom right?.......

This is a little bit of a slow burner for me. But once to got into the story then it was really enjoyable a lovely romantic nstoryline with great characters and leaves you feeling feel good inside.

This one really surprised me. Definitely a little slow to start, but as the characters grew so did my engagement with the text - mirroring the character's feelings for each other really well. The story is told and paced well, keeping believable, and is wholly engaging.

A really lovely story - highly recommended.

There is a quote by Oscar Wilde about living versus existing and I think this pertains to both Charlie and Becca after Ally's death. Yes, they both grieved but Charlie chose to move on versus Becca who utilized the woe is me attitude to feel that the world was against her and she had to exist in a place of lack of fulfilling her dreams. The bucket list was created with the intent of going along with what was taken away, but Ally always knew what would be the outcome. As in being truthful with each other and bolstered by friends and Valerie, Charlie and Becca became the successful, loving and happy people they were meant to be as together they made each other better. Time was truly on their side.

I wanted to love this but sadly it just wasn’t for me. I found it difficult to get into and considered DNFing several times because I found myself feeling bored when reading it. I was drawn in the blurb but found it to be too long and not engaging enough for a romance, with characters I couldn’t bring myself to route for.

There were some bits I did enjoy.
I liked the concept a lot and there was so much promise for a good story’s
I enjoy the enemies to lovers trope and more so the fact that that this was an enemies to friends to lovers, which was a bit different, but unfortunately there weren’t many other pros for me with this book.

Mostly I found it a bit boring and too slow. There was too much dialogue for my liking and it all felt too predictable and cliche. Most oddly, for a romance novel there wasn’t much actual romance. I didn’t particularly like any of the characters and wasn’t routing for them which made it more difficult to engage with the story.

I’m sure some people will really love this, but sadly not a read I participatory enjoyed. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I couldn’t put this book down and got thoroughly carried away with Becca and Charlie’s story. I felt that despite the ending being fairly obvious from early on, the way Hughes set the characters up in the early chapters made me want to see how they could possibly end up together. I liked the idea of the annual challenges that forced them together. I’ll look up Pernille’s previous books now.

I’m sorry but I found the book very depressing, the plot slow and the characters unappealing, so did not finish this book.
I had expected a romance but Ten Years is more a book about dealing with grief, and not for me.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advance copy in return for an honest review.

It could have been a good book, but there was so much drag that it was hard to finish. Of course you know where it's heading from the very start, but it took way too many detours along the way. The book could have been half the length and not lost a thing.

A touching, beautifully written and romantic book. I really enjoyed it and it’s stayed with me a long time after finishing it.
It’s very reminiscent of David Nichols or Jojo Moyes and if you like their style of books, I’d definitely recommend.

This book is a love story in so many different ways. Romantic, platonic, familial, introspective.

I loved watching Becca and Charlie grow into themselves and through their grief, as well as watch their relationship change from one of distrust and disdain to one of genuine friendship and respect for each other.

Becca and Charlie have always had two things in common: their general dislike of each other, and their love for Ally. Becca’s lifelong best friend and Charlie’s fiancé, Ally has bound the two reluctantly together for years. But then Ally dies. And the two plan to go their separate ways forever - to handle their grief themselves without ever having to see each other again.

But a year after Ally’s death, they both receive an email from her, asking for one last favor. Ally wants the bucket list she never got to complete finished - and she wants them to do it together.

Unable to stand to be around each other for long enough to complete them all at once, Becca and Charlie plan to finish one list item a year until they’re complete. But the forced time together also forces them to communicate - about their grief and the ways they’ve handled it. About Ally. And about the roots of their scathing relationship. And over the course of the decade, they find their paths colliding again and again - and find that it’s become something they’ve both looked forward to.

Arghh so I wasn’t expecting a bittersweet sad story. Charlie and Becca lost their fiancée and best friend (Ally) respectively to cancer in their mid twenties. She tasked them with her bucket list that they were to do together after her death. Each task was meaningful to her and for them. They could not stand each other so each task was problematic for them. Their constant bickering and arguments were tiresome after a while. I’m aware it was supposed to make me think it was love brewing but I didn’t see it. The romance was a bit off to me and I didn’t see them as a couple. And as a romance I was expecting well more romance to be honest. Though I loved the locations represented. Overall, it was an okay story.

I have to state that elements of death and grieving can be triggers for many so please take the time for yourself as you read this story.

I received this ARC from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

I struggled to get through this one. The beginning had me feeling down (which made sense considering it started at a funeral), but the nastiness between the two leads turned me off immediately and made it hard for me to like either of them through the rest of the story.

Thank you to Net Galley for an advanced copy of this book.

Really enjoyed this delightful story of love and loss. Charlie and Becca meet yearly to perform a variety of tasks which always include a scattering of the ashes of Ally., Becca's best friend and Charlie's fiance.
Drama, tears, mishaps, misunderstandings, disappointment, joy and much more all bring something special to this story. Loved the characters and the plot...a little predictable but nevertheless a good read

I'm glad I made it past the off-putting prologue (on the third attempt), as this was a sweet book, although I did find both the MCs frustrating, especially towards the end and the silly reasons for not getting together / overblown argument etc.

I also found the whole one activity a year jump from the letter a bit random and the title didn't seem to align with the timeline which confused me. All in all an easy beach read.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC copy.

This book was a rough one to get through. It was a very slow start and even at the end I was not convinced the characters were in love. I appreciated the discussion of grief and believe that part was done well. I just found both of them very unlikable which left me rooting for no one. I love the twist on the typical enemies to lovers book this author introduced but it fell flat for me.