This was a nice follow up on The Light We Lost. Definitely need to read it before this one. It's almost 10 years after the death of Gabe and this book gets us caught up on Lucy's life and where her family is now. She meets Dax on a trip to Italy and starts to open her heart to love again. Some ups and downs along the way just like real life, but a good conclusion.

The Love We Found was a good follow up to book 1 - The Light We Lost. The Light We Lost was amazing. I cried like a baby. It was soooooo wonderful and difficult and beautiful and frustrating, and I figured there would be some of that in book 2. There definitely was, and while I Dax was ok as Lucy's love interest in this book, he was no Gabe. And, with a love as big as big as Lucy's was for Gabe, it is hard to convince me that Dax was really anything special. The author wrote Gabe as Lucy's big love so it is just hard to buy anything else. The book was good overall It was enjoyable to read and brought some closure to Lucy's next chapter.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for a digital ARC of The Love We Found.

Once again, I was pulled into Lucy's story. Jill Santopolo has a way of making you grieve with her characters and root for them to find joy. I loved how the setting was ten years later and we were able to see how Gabe's loss affected the family still. It was a well-done, emotional read, from beginning to end.

I did quite enjoy The Love We Found, however, I struggled a bit with the concept of being so obsessed (I honestly can't think of a better way to describe it) with someone who was essentially never more than a good friend with benefits. Lucy thinks and speaks about Gabe as if he was the absolute love of her life, yet they were never really a couple, and she married someone else. It seems that Lucy holds on to this idea that Gabe was a perfect man who could do no wrong. Putting all this aside, I did appreciate that there was a bit of mystery to solve, a new romance to enjoy, and real life divorced mom problems to contend with.

I loved The Light We Lost, and for so many reasons felt I could relate to Lucy’s story. So of course I was so excited to read The Love We Found! Ten years after Gabe’s death Lucy has a call that sends her on a path that revisits her choices after Gabe’s death, her love for him, and what life has been without him there.

While I loved the story, I did feel this was a touch slower than the first. I loved the kids characters, and how Jill Santopolo wrote those subtle differences that mothers notice in each of their children. I felt as though we could truly see the families sweet routine. I don’t know that this was the closure I expected for Lucy, but it did feel right, and I enjoyed seeing her ten years later! I’d recommend to anyone who wants to know how Lucy’s doing these many years later!

WOW. This book sucked me in and I could not stop reading! Picking up from the last book "The Light We Lost" we are taken back into the journey with Lucy and her family as she lives post Gabe and experiences the continued fallout from his death and finds the possibility of love again. The entire story is as if she is speaking to Gabe and I loved this style. You could feel her passion and love and all the emotions as her and her ex deal with the continued share of the kids and the secret they struggle to share. The writing is gorgeous and pulled me into tears as you can FEEL this loss the character is experiencing. Even if you didn't read the first book (you totally should!!) you can still dive into this one easily. Highly recommend reading with tissues! Thank you to NetGalley and G.P. Putnam's Sons for this ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I am so sad I didn’t love this! I loved the first book so much and re read as soon as I heard there was a sequel. Just didnt hit the same but the writing was still just as beautiful!

WOW. I absolutely LOVED this book. I really liked The Light We Lost but this one was even better, it dove deeper and really explored emotions, life’s journey and love.

*3.5 stars*

I remember the first book DESTROYING me so I was excited to see how she got on after Gabe. This was emotional but heartwarming. It was more s story of self discovery than a second romance but the romance we got was cute but wished it had been more. It almost felt too instant love once they did meet. I found this one to be quite slow and I was losing interest which some of that maybe due to my mood and life stuff going on. But it was sweet "recovery" story just not a ton to the plot. I didn't have me sobbing like the first one thankfully??! I remember being so mad at the ending to the first book so it was nice to get some closer.

A meaningful, heartfelt follow up to the book that shattered ALL of our hearts 10 years ago. It was difficult to enter back in to Lucy's world only to find she was still paralyzed by the loss of Gabe. But, it seems that Gabe was the only one that could bring her out of it, and he ultimately does when Lucy discovers the address hidden in his belongings. It felt like a weight off of the readers shoulders as well when Lucy finally opened herself up and began to truly start living again, even if it meant facing her deepest secrets.

Imagine my excitement and surprise when I saw this was the sequel to “The Light We Lost” by Jill Santopolo (which if you haven’t read that book, please do yourself a favor and have tissues ready 😭). With that being said, I went into this book with super high expectations and I if I’m being honest, I still enjoyed the first book better.

In this story it is ten years later, and Lucy receives a call from Eric Weiss (Gabe’s former editor), to commemorate the tenth anniversary of Gabe’s death. In doing so, Eric wanted some old photos that Gabe took to put into a new book to be published. While going through some of Gabe’s belongings that Lucy kept, she found an address in Italy with a drawing of a young boy on it, and she wasn’t sure why Gabe would have kept this address. With this new information, Lucy flies to Italy to do a little research of her own…

Essentially this book deals with what has been going on in Lucy’s life since the previous book, up to the present day. We learn how Lucy has coped with life, loss, grief, and secrets. I still loved Lucy’s character- but… I just feel that no book can top “The Light We Lost” (so that just might be a me thing).
The chapters in this book were nice and short (my favorite), and I was still left in tears 😭. In fact, I’m starting to think this is the only author who can make me cry ugly tears every time I read one of their stories. So for that, I definitely recommend reading this book (and The Light We Lost).

Many thanks to NetGalley, Penguin Group Putnam, and the author for an ARC of this book in which I had the pleasure of reading. Publication date: March 18, 2025

I remember when someone gave me a copy of “The Light We Lost”. It was not something that I would normally pick up on my own but since it was recommended, I decided to pick it up, and of course I cried the ugliest of tears and ended up loving it. So imagine my surprise when I pop on to netgalley one day and here is the sequel. I am so thankful for the opportunity to be able to read this ARC of “The Love We Found”, a feel-good journey of life and healing with just as many tears but for different reasons. It was a perfect way to compliment “The Light We Lost” in a new light.

This was the perfect follow up to the light we lost.

Still heart wrenching and lovely and emotional and real like TLWL but we get to see Lucy at a different point in her life, post Gabe but still very much stuck in Gabe in a lot of ways. She’s truly only human and that was very evident following her entire story. (In the best way)

I loved this 10 year fast forward. I loved reading about Lucy’s relationships with her children and how insightful the children were.

Rereading TLWL and then reading this at this current time in my life brought up a lot of emotion, making me so happy, sad and everything in between.

I can’t say much else without spoiling it but THANK YOU Jill Santopolo for this sequel.

And thank you NetGalley for this arc, truly loved this one.

I’m going to be honest, the original book has been on my TBR for a long time, so when I was approved for this, I immediately read the first one so that I could read this one. And i definitely regret it.
This had the potential to be so good. I felt the authors writing was well done, but I could not get over how it felt like it glamorized the again and that you will get a happy ending if you have an affair. If I had read the first book prior to seeing the second, I would not have read it. Darren deserved better than Lucy. Lucy was a cheater who spent her whole marriage comparing her husband for the man that left her and running to him when he called. It was an unfair and awful depiction of what a marriage is. I really hated that the underlying theme was “have an affair, it will suck for a while, but karma and earth will align to give you your happy ending eventually”
I did like the authors writing style, I think it was well done, just felt the affair was glamorized and at times, trying to justify it which was so wrong.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher Putman Books for an advanced reader’s copy in exchange for a honest review.

The Love We Found is the sequel to The Light We Lost, which I highly recommend you read or re-read first. The Love We Found is a deeply moving emotional story about grief and loss. This sequel also explores secrets and the impact that comes from keeping secrets from those we love the most. I found this novel to be a quick read considering the short chapters.

When I saw the author wrote a sequel to a favorite book of mine I knew I had to read it. The Light We Lost was a great book and it definitely should be read before this one. I love the writing style where she is talking to an unnamed person. ( I don’t want to give anything away.) She tells the story of moving on with her life through her thoughts and feelings of her past. The characters are well drawn and she had me rooting for each individual one. The struggles and growth of her three kids after learning a long held secret was well written. Highly recommend!
Thank you to NetGalley and the Putnam Group for an advanced eGalley of the book. All opinions expressed are my own.
#TheLoveWeFound #JillSantopolo #NetGalley

Thank you to Netgalley for the free e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I'll be honest - I completely forgot most of the events that happened in The Light We Lost having read it back in 2020 but this is a worthy sequel to the story. It's poignant in it's depiction of grief all the while exploring more of Lucy's healing journey from the loss of Gabe. I loved this and I love the way Jill writes - it's captivating, raw, and honest.

Thanks so much for the review copy. I enjoyed this sequel a lot. I look forward to reading more books by Santopolo.

Thanks to NetGalley and Putnam Group for this advance readers copy, in exchange for an honest review. The Love We Found picks up 10 years after The Light We Lost and follows Lucy, who is still reeling from the loss of Gabe and navigating hers and her children’s lives. The Light We Lost is one of my favorite books and so, I had very high hopes for a strong sequel. It did not disappoint!

One of my favorite things about The Light We Lost was the narrative style of the book, with Lucy speaking to an unnamed person, who we later learn to be her unborn son, Sam; The Love We Found continues in this same narrative style, with Lucy speaking to Gabe, as she works through her complex web of emotions and tries to move forward in her life. I think this style worked so well in both novels and in this book, really helped the reader better understand Lucy; this is because not only was she sharing about the events in her life but, she was also working through her questions about life, her fears, her excitement, etc. One of my favorite themes in this book were the continued questions about fate and how our choices affect our lives— whether they do and to what extent. This type of introspective thinking and vulnerability is what separates this series/book for me from others that I’ve read.

In my opinion, this is one of the stronger sequels that I’ve read, with a consistent narrative voice, a strong plot, and characters that you remain invested in until the end. I was sad to finish this book but, know that I will definitely be returning to it. This book for me, was the right blend of emotion, swift pace, and depth for me and I know other readers will enjoy this one! I would definitely recommend this romance and contemporary fiction fans, especially those who loved The Light We Lost!

I never wanted this book to end. Storytelling and writing at its finest. I love the way the book is structured. It made be laugh and tear up and I was rooting for each character! Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.