I adored the main character Kerry Tucker alot. I felt like I could relate to them in lots of ways. J really enjoyed the storyline and the character development as well. It is a really feel good storyline guaranted to put a smile onyour face.

A great novel with just enough twists and turns to keep you guessing to the end. Very well written with excellent character development. Don’t miss it!

This book was everything I wanted it to be. It had me turned pages without even realizing. It was so good!

In this book where Kerry Tucker is one of the most unfortunate characters I have read in a long time, what she wanted more than anything was change. Things could not possibly get any worse for Kerry, so there was no time like the present for her to start over. Day after day, year after year, Kerry has been delivering the mail to her neighbors. Life has got to be better than this.

Kerry lives in a tiny garage apartment with very little prospects to change her living situation. However, her mother suddenly passes away and, although saddened by the loss of her mother, Kerry begins to see light at the end of the tunnel. She will move into the family home and hopefully this will one of a long line of changes in her life. Things do not go as planned for Kerry. Her sister Beth wants them to sell the home so that they can split the proceeds. This is not something Kerry wants to do. In fact, this decision and other decisions Kerry needs to make are increasing her stress levels.

Kerry soon learns that she is not completely without hope and very slowly her life begins to turn in a better direction, although some bad decisions still factor in her life. Watching the bad decisions fall off one by one, all while seeing where Kerry would go, and how she could possibly take over her life, kept me turning the pages of this engaging read. However, if there is a Murphy's Law example to be had, poor Kerry was living it. However, redemption was within reach and it was a pleasure watching Kerry work hard to achieve better and happier things for her life.

Many thanks to Bookouture and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.

I was gripped from the start with this book as Kerry Tucker sits dealing with finally living on her own after the death of her Mum, but the plans & safe walls she thought she had in place around her both start to crumble when her life starts to spiral. It was heart wrenching to read the flashbacks to an awful event that changed the course of her life, and the unraveling of a family secret that had contributed to Kerry's own family feeling like strangers to her. Her relationship with her sister, Beth, was written so well, you really get a feel for both characters as you start to sway between what you think you know from Kerry's perspective to beginning to see Beth in a different light. It's a touching, gripping & ultimately liberating book about family, trauma and community.

Love Louise Voss's writing, it's always a pleasure to read her books and although this one was different from her previous novels, I enjoyed it overall. Great characters, lovely story, humorous in places but moving too. I liked the dual timeline, and although I'm not keen on reading stories set around the pandemic, it didn't detract too much from my enjoyment!

Oh Kerry, what a terrible life you've led, your story truly moved me to tears as I walked alongside you on your journey but I was so pleased that you found your happy ending, a well told story indeed

I am actually having mixed feelings about the book.

Kerry is a forty something year old woman and is a post woman. She seemed to be living a happy life, having special once a month Sunday lunches with her sister Beth. Beth wants Kerry to move out of her apartment and try to live on her own. But Kerry has known a secret about her father since she was seventeen years old.

The writing was good but the story didn't really get into me. As you read the story on, you believe that Kerry was a loner and depressed young woman.. The story shifts between 1993 and the present day and I like the fact that the story was set during the pandemic time, which makes it more special to the reader. Overall this story worth 2.5 stars.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for the ARC. The review is based on my honest opinion only.

Kerry's life is structured, and a book published by Bookouture is going to be intense. This one was, and it also was intriguing. I could sense things as I was reading, and it was like something happened which made her this way.
She talked to people, but she didn't seem to make a connection to people.
A series of events happened, and it forced Kerry, to figure things out. She stepped out of her comfort zone, and find out some of the things she had always believed wasn't true.
She had decisions to make about her life, and she made them. Good things started happening, and it gave her the courage to follow where she was heading. Sometimes life, challenges us to change, and with the changes come a happier life.
Sometimes, it was confusing reading the book, but I realized it was that way because Kerry was confused, and trying to figure things out. That comes through in the book, which is one of the things I liked about this book. There were many things I liked, but it captured my attention and I couldn't put it down until I finished it, because I had to know if Kerry learned to live and what it was like.
II received an ARC from Bookouture through NetGalley.

One of these days I'll learn to read the fine print on a Bookouture cover. "Feel-good" typically means that it will shred my heart into a million little pieces. At least this one claims "heartbreaking feel-good" .... because a breaking heart can feel good???

Sadly, now is soooo definitely not the time for me to be reading this book. It may get to the "feel-good" aspect towards the end, but I'm not going to be able to make it long enough to find out and it's going partially read but unfinished onto the "maybe later" pile.

This book wasn't what i though, it was relatable in parts but also depressibg to read at times but i liked the book and it's take on life

This ARC was provided to me via Kindle, from Bookouture and #NetGalley. Thank you for the opportunity to preview and review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

Crafty characters in a light and enjoyable read.

4 stars

I don't really read a lot of contemporary. The writing is good but I felt quite depressed with the subject matter. The heroine is middle aged, has looked after her mother and lived in the garage annex. The whole thing is set during the pandemic and for much of the book didn't offer much cheer.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I loved the look of this book, the cover was really striking and looked like something I’d like to read. Kerry Tucker is the local postie who’s not only still grieving the death of her mother but, as we find out as the book moves on, is unable to come to terms with other things which have happened in her life. I really enjoyed this book, and even though she seems to be on the road to destruction I really liked Kerry Tucker’s character! I loved reading about her in her job, she obviously gets on with people really well and was so bright and cheerful. Not everything goes well in Kerry’s life though and as everything begins to fall down around her, she needs to re-evaluate her life, find out the truth and learn to think of herself.

The book moves at a great pace, and it caught my attention early on with Kerry’s lovely character and held my interest throughout. There were times when I found Kerry didn’t really help herself with some of the things she did, but this didn’t make me dislike her, I found myself empathising with her and wanting to help her instead. The storyline is quite hard at times, there is talk of mental health issues, alcoholism and grief to mention a few, but they are all dealt with sensitively. The storyline switches between Kerry’s individual problems, and whilst this sounds complicated, it really isn’t and the story flows along beautifully!

Filled with secrets, personal battles and family dramas, Kerry Tucker’s storyline pulses with emotion. It’s heart-breaking and heart-warming in equal measures. Will Kerry ever learn to live – read the book to find out! Loved it!

I always associate Louise Voss with psychological suspense and crime fiction and have read and enjoyed a couple of her books in that genre. I was intrigued to see the blurb for this book describing something completely different.

In some ways this was a fun book to read. Kerry is a likeable character, who at first comes across as quite light-hearted and funny. She's happy with her lot, getting up at the crack of dawn and delivering the post round her local area. She's always been happy living in her small, self-contained converted garage at the bottom of her mum's garden. She doesn't have a huge social life, however she does get out from time to time when her friend manages to persuade her.

As the book moves on, it doesn't take long to realise Kerry isn't quite as happy as she outwardly appears. Her sister, for one, is the complete opposite of Kerry. She has a husband, children and a nice house and sometimes Kerry can't help but think that her sister looks down on her.

As Kerry stumbles through one mini disaster after another both at work and at home, her life begins on an ever downward spiral. She's harboured a secret about her Dad for many years, she feels a little betrayed by her mum, and still misses her very much. And all the way through we, the reader, get the feeling something bad happened to Kerry when she was younger that she tries to block out and put behind her - but it won't go away.

There is a mystery to solve, battles to be fought, fears to be overcome, revelations from the past, so that you never know where Kerry is going to take you next. There are some dark and intense scenes towards the end of the book when Kerry relives her past, which makes for an emotive read when you realise the long-lasting effect it has had on her life so far. I found this to be a real page turner of a book which I enjoyed very much.

Overall a good read, very different from her previous psychological thrillers and when she used to co-author with Mark Edwards I have read them all.

It was a well written book although I did find parts of it a bit slow and depressing, mainly the characters were well developed and it did keep me involved in the storyline but I think I prefer her thrillers.

Thank you to Netgalley and Bookouture for this ARC.

As a postwoman in her small British hamlet, Kerry Tucker is - arguably - one of the most well-known women locally, and yet she suffers from debilitating loneliness. In her early forties, Kerry has backed herself into the life of a recluse once she is off the clock.

Following a day of grueling postal rounds, Kerry returns to her sad, converted-garage flat and drinks herself into oblivion, before rising at 4:30 am to begin the cycle once again. Trauma in her past and her inability to break out of this cycle constrict her to this state of limbo, until circumstances cause her life to spiral out of control and force her to make choices.

I enjoy stories of damaged, quirky characters, and how easy it is for them to create a facade that masks inner pain and loneliness. We are very much inside Kerry's head, and that is not always easy, but I found this an enjoyable read as we follow Kerry cautiously crawling out of her shell.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy - all thoughts are my own.

The cover definitely does not reflect the tone of the book, Kerry, the main character is quite depressing, she brings little warmth to the story I feel. It also feels dated already having a story set during Covid times

"Kerry Tucker Learns to Live" is an emotional roller coaster of a book set in the Salisbury area. At the start of the novel Kerry is struggling to cope with the sudden loss of her mother, and frequently turning to the bottle for comfort. This starts to impact on her work, especially as she is a post-woman in a rural area and so does a fair amount of driving. As the story unfolds we learn about Kerry's relationship with her sister and the traumatic events of her teenage years which have had such a huge impact on her life.

As the title implies, Kerry gets her act together and resolves the historic issues which have previously held her back. There are many lessons in the story around assumptions, seeing beyond outward appearance and living life to the full. A great, if emotional, read.

Thanks to Net Galley and the publishers for the opportunity to review this book.

Could Kerry's life get any worse? I read this book in a day because it became a race to see if there really was a way for Kerry Tucker to learn how to live and I'm happy to say that she does, but boy is it a bumpy road! We're introduced to Kerry shortly after her mother dies in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. Kerry works as a postal carrier for the Royal Post and loves her job, the life she had carved out for herself, and thinks she's doing ok. Her sister, Beth, disagrees and thinks Kerry should break free from her hum-drum life and have more fun. Kerry, despite disagreeing, ends up doing just that after a series of misadventures force her to critically think about her life and what she really wants.

I honestly couldn't stop reading this book because it seemed like it was a never-ending disaster, one after another, and I just was fascinated that so many things could go wrong in the span of a few weeks. I felt so bad for Kerry, but cheered with her village as she came into her own. I hope the author writes a sequel because I'd love to see what Kerry ends up doing with her life.