Oh my word. What a lovely book. Wasn’t sure I was going to like it at first but it grew on me and I couldn’t put it down in the end. The will they won’t they of Charlie and Becca with the help(?) of Ally. Oh how I was wanting them to get together. And meeting up every year showed how they’d grown and changed, or had they? A very original love story. I loved it

Thank you NETGALLEY and Harper collins for arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is an enemies to Lovers trope but with “A Night in December” feel. I couldn’t get enough of it I normally dislike enemies to lovers tropes but this this was genuine hate Becca and Charlie dislike rooted so deep in there history that when they starting feeling things they don’t know how to place it. Both characters are very flawed and damaged by the pain of loss and rejection from there own life experiences.

They are tied to each other by the death of Charlie fiancé and Becca best friend Ally who after her death has then going out and living the life she wanted for herself.

I love Enemy to lover books and so this is right up my street. I really enjoyed this book it was well written with a good storyline and well developed characters. It was both heartwrenching and heartwarming at times with the ability to lmake me feel sad and upkifted at the same time.

This is a beautifully written enemies to lovers story. Its has echoes of David Nicholl's One Day, which was what drew me to it in the sense that the story unfolds over a period of ten years but the relationship between the characters is founded around the death of a mutual friend which makes the story very different and poignant all the way through. I came away feeling as if they were friends of mine, so brilliantly are their characters depicted, from Charlie's inability to make any decision himself to Becca's feisty refusal to allow anyone close enough to really know her. There was a real sense of them maturing and growing over the ten years. From starting the book feeling as if the only way they would end up together was via some clumsy cliches and a lot of forgiveness and doortmatish behaviour on both sides, their relationship was perfectly nuanced and believeable and had me willing them on until the very last page. I loved it.

DNF 50%.

I rarely, believe me, abandon books even if I'm not enjoying them. It's something I don't like to do, because I'm always hoping for improvement as I go on reading.
Here, that's what didn't happen with Ten Years, in fact, the further I went with the pages, the worse things got.
I'll start by saying that the synopsis lies. Despite the ugly cover, the plot had captured my attention and I didn't think twice about requesting the arc. Imagine my delight once the book landed on my kindle....
When it comes to books where you cry, I'm always at the forefront, ready to dehydrate myself between the pages of a story that will make me suffer.
Which didn't happen here. I preferred to stop reading to avoid getting into reader's block, it's only February and I still have many books to devote time to.

This ARC was provided to me via Kindle, HarperCollins UK and by #NetGalley. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

Lovely characters and a delightful story

I adore second chance romances with every fiber of my being so thank you to NetGalley and One More Chapter for the ARC of this book. I wanted to like this book more than I did. This book was reminiscent of People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry and I was so excited to proceed because that is one of my favorite books of all time except it just ended up being so slow and honestly pretty frustrating. I already have a hard time getting behind "enemies" to lovers in contemporary romance and I just could not bring myself to care about Becca and Charlie and their love. I always gravitate towards a story about grief and its exploration but here, I was just sad that I couldn't get behind any of the characters or will myself to enjoy the drawn-out plot. There were so many unnecessary chapters, contributing to how the story just drags. Overall, I just wouldn't read this again and it didn't leave that great of an impression for me as far as second chance romance goes.

Thank you for sending me this book to review. I found it an enjoyable & engaging read. It follows Becca & Charlie over 10 years, from the death of Ally. Ally was her best friend & his fiancee.. Although the ending is predictable, the route to it isn't so much. This doesn't take away from the enjoyment of reading it.

I loved this book, it made me laugh and cry. The characters felt real and the main characters where good people with completely different traits. I love the enemies to lover trope and this is a good one.

I will be looking out for more Pernille Hughes’s in the future.

Thanks to netgalley for this arc in return for an honest review.

Ten Years was an emotional experience that I enjoyed, but perhaps not as much as I wanted to. The book was billed as a romance but after reading I see the romance as almost an after thought. And considering the reveal about Ally's intentions, I don't see how making the romance an after thought does justice to the story. I could tell there was mutual respect and friendship, but it wasn't until Cannes that romance took center stage, which was problematic for me for multiple reasons. 1) It happened almost 80% through the book with very little to support it before - I am all for slow burns, but it should still feel obvious and desired, not so understated 2) Becca felt like a completely different person now that she had experienced a modicum of success, and it was that new person that Charlie was interested in - this felt like it really sold Becca out, and I would have preferred to actually see that growth rather than jump ahead as much. All this to say, I really liked Hughes' prose and style, but I had higher expectations considering how much I enjoyed the read, and I felt that the characters fell flat and the plot felt forced.

I tend to really like books that span over the characters lives, even if downright turns me into an existentialist. Ten Years was no exception.

The book starts with Ally's funeral. Ally, Charlie's fiancé and Becca's best friend, had cancer and died way before her time. The book spans the years after her death, after they get a bucket list of sorts, of things she had wanted to do with either or both of them. I found this really beautiful, it wasn't a list of things she wanted to do by herself - she always included one of them, if not both. The bucket list forces them to be together and, eventually, they warm up to each other. They catch each other up on their lives and talk about Ally and experience new things together.

We know right away that Becca and Charlie can't stand each other, but what I've also appreciated from the beginning was the realism of their bickering. They didn't like each other, never did, and they were bound to hurt each other - especially because they were grieving. I never faulted them for their errors, for the hurtful things they did. They grieved and, because they knew they could never be together for long, they spanned the items of the list - this prolonged their grief longer than it was healthy, I thought. But it was a nice reason behind the whole "ten years" thing, even if I found it a bit weird, because they had more friends in common. Oh well.

I appreciated that Ally was never an active character in the book. Honestly, I don't think I would have liked her. Charlie realizes later on that all the serious partners he had after her death were too much like her (and, consequently, too much like his mother) and if she was anything like them... I simply wouldn't have liked her. Even in death, she seemed manipulative, with the bucket list and trying to make two people that didn't like each other stay together. Maybe she was right, and I loved Becca and Charlie's chemistry, but she did not know that.

The one thing I loved about this book, the plot itself, was the thinking about death in the way that it's basically life's interruption, especially from cancer. Charlie was Ally's fiancé, they had planned their future, but the future was never in question, was it? They were never forced to look at the flaws in their relationship, there was never a place to talk about their problems. They focused on the disease, on what it meant, on her death, and nothing else. Which makes a lot of sense, to me. And Becca realized she had put Ally on way too high a pedestal, thinking her perfect when she wasn't. Death prevented Becca from growing up and coming to terms with the flaws of her best friend - she could only do that years after, after her friend's death had messed too hard with her life.

Overall, I really liked this book. I couldn't put it down. We see these characters grow up, change their perspectives and going after what they want or not. The main thing I didn't appreciate was not having closure on their relationship - Becca and Charlie deserved more spotlight on their own story. That and the fact that Charlie kept finding partners. I understand that this was a plot device for him to grow up, to make him see something important, but it kept rubbing me off the wrong way.

I loved the idea of this book and was totally sucked into it right away. My review is my own opinion. When Becca’s best friend, Ally, dies she and Ally’s fiancee Charlie are given tasks to perform yearly from her bucket list. These two are arch enemies and both are strong characters that I cheered for throughout the story. They are lost without their beloved Ally to guide them. Becca is one hot mess provides plenty of fun and laughs throughout. I loved it!! Well done abs I look forward to reading more by this author.

This was my first book by this author and I enjoyed it very much. It had a lot of sadness and despair, but also hope and love and growth.

Having fairly recently been widowed and carried out a bucket list I laughed and cried at this book. So true to form and an aid to moving on and getting on with life.
A good read

real rating 4.5*

Thank you to the publishers and netgalley for this arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

I really loved this book. The synopsis really intrigued me as it is exactly the sort of book that I enjoy and it didn't disappoint! I loved the development of each year and seeing them grow and interact with each other. I could not put this down and can't wait to read more of the authors works.

Becca and Charlie both love Ally, but they almost hate each other. After Ally's death everything changes, because Ally had some wishes that has to be fulfilled even beyond life. And that means that Becca and Charlie has to work together. Over ten years their relationship changes into something new, fresh and beautiful.

Becca and Charlie are like oil and water, yet opposites atract. Their relation is very dynamic and the reader is happily immersed into the story of finding themselves and each other. All the feelings are realistic; grief, loneliness, anger, hate and of course friendship and love.

Very enjoyable read.

3,5/5

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me an E-Arc!! 🥰❤️

The blurb of the book really intrigued me, and it did not disappoint!! The super emotional start to this wonderful story really sets up a quick read (I read the book in one day) that’s really enjoyable. Ten Years isn’t my usual type of book but I really enjoyed Charlie and Becca’s banter!! I really connected with them both, particularly Charlie, he seems really lost but is brought back to life by Becca throughout the book. I love the use of the enemies to lovers, forced proximity and will they, won’t they tropes.

My only issue with the book is the ending!! It’s too short!! I wish there was more!! 😭😭

If you’re looking for a genuine contemporary love story, this is totally for you. Give it a read, you won’t be disappointed.

I did enjoy this book. I liked the development of Becca and Charlie and it didn't feel like a year had passed each time they saw each other. The ending of the book was very obvious from the start but it was still enjoyable. I did find myself getting a bit annoyed with Becca towards the end because she seemed to be making dramas for herself when there didn't need to be any but I could understand it from her family background. Overall an enjoyable read

I tried very hard to get into this and to give the characters a chance to grow, and change. But in the end, I just couldn't get into the story, nor the characters. I found the first few chapters the only ones that I could actually see Becca and Charlie as somewhat likeable/sympathetic characters. I found Charlie to be ok, if simply boring, but I just couldn't stand Becca. Most of all, it was the idea that they were supposed to fall in love and be endgame that I just couldn't and still can't see.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book. A shared friend and yearly tasks to remember their friend. Is love possible after a few years? Brilliant believable characters couldn't put the book down. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for letting me review this book.