This was a sweet, fast read! While the issues faced by Amy and Chris could have been easily solved by a straightforward conversation, where would the fun in that be? Instead, you get to enjoy the layers of teenage love (and angst), family dynamics, and the potential for a happily-ever-after unraveling one spilled secret at time.

Thank you to Lake Union Publishing and the author for making this book available. I also received this work from Amazon's First Reads.

The premise of this book is exactly what I like to read. Unfortunately, I found the writing overly simplistic and unpolished, and the storytelling tedious. The book could have easily been shorter had the writing been condensed and extraneous actions removed from the prose. The story itself is not bad. It's not a bad book. The characters are largely likable. It just isn't something I personally want to dedicate time to given the aforementioned issues.

The cover art is excellent. However, I'm thrown by the lack of mention of Olivia in the book's blurb. She's a major figure in the story, so the blurb feels like a lie.

I see I"m well within the minority of being critical of this book, which I'm not surprised by.

~2.5 stars

I enjoyed this romantic suspense novel, it has two strong female leads which is always a big hit for me! it is told from two points of views which is also another big hit for me, I really enjoyed this book.

First of all, thank you, Netgalley for the ARC granted. I have appreciated a lot. To start the review, I would like to say that the narrative is fluid, and compelling, You can read it in one shot, and still being immersed in the story. We have alternative periods of time in the narrative and it turns super clear to understand what had happened then and What is happening now. Jane Crittenden has built a credible and true world, But I have to be honest that, that kind of plot is not my kind of reading. To not give spoilers, but even, so to try to explain better, the main characters lives more than a decade separate by misunderstandings and understandings that, in fact, had happened between them and also with other character "friend" of them, which I consider terrible for the plot. However, it's exactly the kind of thing that use to happen in real life, and maybe that's the reason Why I ddin't like the plot more. Futhermore, I felt the ending a little bit rushed, facing the resolving of complex issues in an easy way, but I get what the author tried to say, and in the end, it was the best for everyone. What I'm trying to say is, it is great book for everyone who loves drama, relationship conflicts and also friendship issues, in a long distance kind of romance plot, You just have to read it and make your own impressions, just like I did. To conclude, A great start to Jane in the writing world. Hope to see more of her stories in the future.

When seventeen year old discovers she is pregnant, she writes a letter to her boyfriend Chris to let him know he’s to be a father. When he never responds, she leaves England and moves halfway around the world with her parents. Eighteen years later and now in New Zealand, Amy has built a new life as a successful baker when one day, Chris walks into her café and back in her life. Seeing him again brings up so many emotions and questions—why did he desert them, why is he back now?

I was drawn to this book after reading the synopsis, but this book was not for me. While the premise had be interested, as the chapters moved on I just got more and more frustrated at Amy and her friends for their actions (or inactions). I could understand her keeping things to herself at first, but as time went on, it started to become hypocritical for Amy to hold back her HUGE secret because she questioned whether she trusted Chris. I was probably the most frustrated when revelations on Chris’s life were revealed and Amy acted like a wrong party—as if she wasn’t doing the same thing (or in my opinion, worse).

I also struggled with how Olivia was introduced to the story. For me, her chapters started without explanation and further in the past than necessary so it left the reader confused where this part of the book fit into the overall story. This look into the past could have been done just as efficiently through flashbacks with Amy, especially since current day Olivia was not a vital for the story either.

The ending…with how messy this whole story was, the fact that everything tied up neatly with a bow was also frustrating to me. Amy lies for months but has no repercussions? I know this is a book, but it’s just not realistic at all. I personally almost root for a happy ending in books but this one just came about way too easily for me to enjoy it. I really wanted to like this book more than I have, but at the end of the day I don’t think I can give more than 2 stars. I hope others are able to enjoy it more than I did.

**Thank you to Netgalley and Amazon Publishing UK for the advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion**

Worlds Apart by Jane Crittenden is a beautifully written and emotionally resonant debut.
The characters are very well developed. I enjoyed each of them and each brought a unique perspective to this story.
The book moves along at a great pace, and Jane’s writing had me so hooked I was truly sad once I seen I was getting close to the end.
She certainly has a way of telling stories and this was a hopeful yet emotional tale.
I will be on the lookout for her next novel because this one was an unputdownable book.

"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."

Thank You NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

An enjoyable read about second chances in love. It is a story about miscommunications and secrets and follow single mum Amy and her teenager daughter, Bea. It is well written and will keeping you guessing until the end.

Writing a review for Worlds Apart is not easy. I was unable to put it down once I started it. I had my Kindle at the counter while I made dinner. I shirked duties at work. I was HOOKED.

But I'm also completely destroyed after reading it. There were so many miscommunications that kept Chris and Amy apart. None of them were contrived or cliche - they were ones that would happen in real life. It was just mishap after mishap and my poor heart couldn't take it.

They SHOULD have been together to raise Bea, but then again, if they had been, would Amy have started her business? Would Chris be as successful? It was the romantic version of The Butterfly Effect and I am not okay! Massive kudos to the author for pulling this off!

There were two issues that keep this from being a 5 star book:

1) The 1st person/3rd person switches in narration.
2) Being cheated out of the big reveal to Chris. I wanted to experiment his reaction!!


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

Thanks to NetGalley and Amazon UK / Lake Union Publishing for the ARC. I voluntarily read and reviewed this book.
2.5 stars rounded down
Miscommunication at its finest. And for no good reason. There were SO many opportunities for Amy to tell Chris the truth about what happened in their past, it got to be extremely annoying for me. While I generally enjoy a dual timeline, that wasn't the case here as I found the "then" chapters boring and too unnecessary. I will admit to having skipped some chapters for that reason and don't feel I missed out on anything. Can't say I'd recommend this one.

Amy has been living in New Zealand with her mother and daughter Bea for eighteen years having left England when she was 18 and pregnant. She had been unable to see Chris the father of Bea before she left so she sent him a letter informing him about the pregnancy and where they were emigrating to.
Suddenly one day Chris turns up at her bakery and is amazed to see her as she is to see him, she is not happy and still resentful he never contacted her after the letter especially as Bea constantly asked about him through her childhood. It soon becomes apparent that Chris knew nothing about the pregnancy and here for me I was so frustrated with the story line in that she just didn’t inform him of anything and let him unwittingly think her ex husband was the father.
The book moves from past to present with each chapter, it will become clear pretty soon why Olivia’s title is in the past chapters and not Chris.
An emotional tale of secrets and misunderstandings but one I couldn’t fully connect with. I did find myself rushing through some chapters and I couldn’t engage with the characters.
My thanks to net galley and publisher for the opportunity to review this book honestly.

This book was dramatic right out of the bat. You could immediately tell from Amy's anger/overreaction and Chris's lack of a reaction at all that he knew nothing about the baby; and Amy's mother/father PROBABLY had something to do with that. I didn't read past page 46, so I'll never actually know.

Since I could already guess this from the first 45 pages, the book started to feel like quite a chore to read. The writing in particular did something to my brain that I didn't really like. I unfortunately cannot explain it better than that.

I can kind of see how this could turn out to be an interesting story but I didn't stay to find out.

What a great read!
I really enjoyed the book narrated from the two differing perspectives and it was really refreshing to have a romance read with a twist.
I didn’t immediately like either Olivia or Amy but they grew on me as the story went along.
A great book and looking forward to what Jane writes next.
Thank you for my copy to read

3,5/4* This was not what I was expecting from the plot.

Sometimes the same plot takes a very different nuance with how it's written and approached, this is what happened with what I was thinking I would be reading and what I ended up reading for real.
The first thing I noticed was that in the quick scrolling of the summary the chapters had two names: Amy,obviously, and Olivia; my first thought while starting the second chapter was: why I'm I reading about Olivia? Who is she? And why are there no Chris chapter?
We get to know the facts from Amy's voice in the actual story timeline and slowly discovering what truly happened 18 years ago through Olivia's voice in the past timeline.
This is not a sunny book, there's a lot of misunderstandings and witheld informations, and little solace, so don't start this wishing for a whirlwind newfound love.

Thanks NetGalley and Amazon Publishing UK, Lake Union Publishing for providing this book as an ARC in exchange of an honest review.

Poignant, touching, raw, and REAL: I loved World's Apart for the portrayal of family and love, and relationships from all their messy and wonderful angles. In World's Apart, becoming and being a family is not a linear process, nor should it be. As the reader follows Amy, Chris, Olivia, and Paul through their parallel and interweaving stories, they see echoes of their own imperfect relationships and friendships...at least I certainly did. Thank you to Jane Crittenden for the delightful and powerful glimpse into her protagonists' worlds, both in England and New Zealand.

Utterly beautiful tale of love in all its forms told against the intricately described landscape of New Zealand. The characterisation were wholesome, flawed and utterly real. A truly wonderful tale. Thank you!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Amy moved to New Zealand with her parents 17 years ago because she was expecting a daughter. She tried contacting the father but he ignored it so she realized she was on her own. Now he appears seventeen years later as if that didn’t happen, still charming and handsome as ever, as if that didn’t happen. The more Amy interacts with him the more she wonders what secrets have been kept both from her and from him and a lot of it stems around their friend Olivia.

I tore through this book! It was such an addicting story and I wanted to see what happened. I also loved that the story took place in Auckland, a city I’m familiar with and have enjoyed visiting, so it brought back good memories. The characters were well-written and it felt like I was in their environment. Very happy I got to read this book ahead of time and can’t wait to see what the author writes next! Highly recommend this book.

A lovely debut about the secrets we keep and the beliefs those secrets turn into, even when we don’t realize that they’re secrets at all. We meet the protagonist Amy as the sole parent to a teenaged daughter, after the father and love of Amy’s life, Chris, left her pregnant and alone. But as the story goes on we realize that’s not at all what happened, in a web of missed connections and miscommunications that jump between the young couple’s last weeks together and Chris’ re-entry to Amy’s life years later. Full of humor and heart, this novel shows us how different “happily ever after” can look from what we expect

This gorgeous book whisks you to the other side of the world, to a waterfront cafe in New Zealand... and then back to the UK, 18 years before, where Amy and Chris first met. The power of first love with all its faltering, shy and unsure moments is captured brilliantly by Jane Crittenden. Likewise, the way that, even as so-called grown-ups, unfortunately we continue to miss the right moments to speak the truth and put things right.
I was rooting for her characters and so invested I wanted to reach into their world and help straighten out the tangled strands of Amy and Chris's love story. But the course of true love never did run smooth and there are plenty of surprises and twists in store for our star-crossed lovers. You're kept guessing until the very end in this lovely debut about forgiveness, families, mistakes and misunderstandings. Worlds Apart takes us on a journey around the globe but centres on the fundamental emotions that forge - and sometimes thwart - our most important relationships.

What happens when everything you thought you knew about your past—and the great lost love of your life—turn out to be all wrong? Jane Crittenden explores that question in this dual POV, dual timeline debut about second chance romance. I loved the complexity of each character, particularly the protagonist, Amy. You can’t help but root for her happiness even as the life she’s built begins to unravel with each new (and surprising) revelation from her past. But each twist is matched only by the book’s huge heart. It’s a love story, but it’s also a beautiful story of family, friendship and forgiveness.

This book transported me to New Zealand a - country it's clear the author knows well. I loved experiencing it along with the characters! The book has a then and now structure, so we gradually discover the secrets that led to the main character's situations in a very satisfying way. I was rooting for Ivy and Chris to reconnect after so many wasted years, but it was hard to see how this could happen - a sign of an excellent romance, because who wants it to be easy?! The author made me care for her characters as well as to despair and worry and celebrate right along with them. A highly enjoyable read, and I can't wait to read Jane Crittenden's next book!