Jill Santopolo can't write a bad book! This was the perfect ending to a story I have carried with me for years. It was honest, heartbreaking, inspiring, and healing. Thank you for the opportunity to read this arc.

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The Light We Lost was such a beautifully heartbreaking story, I was so excited to see there was going to be another book! This one was also super emotional, I loved both of them!

The Love We Found is 10 years after, we learn how Lucy has coped with grief over the years. While going through Gabe’s belongings, Lucy finds a picture with an address in Italy. She decides to take a trip to Italy, doing research for herself.

This book was so emotional, although nothing will beat the first book, this was a beautiful story. Seeing Lucy overcome so much, make difficult decisions and finding love!

Thank you NetGalley, Putnam and Jill for the ARC!

Oh, I hate not giving a glowing review, especially when so many have loved this - but it wasn't for me. I did read the 1st book in the series, but it was SO long ago and I had a very hard time remembering - and then I knew why. I didn't love that one either. Lucy is just blah to me and her insta love in this sequel just didn't ring true to me at all. The spicy scenes felt off and kind of ick to me.

The Love We Found is the healing I needed from the first book. It took all the wondering of what happened to Lucy and her grief and tied all the ends together. Throughout this book Santopolo brought up how the choices we make about what's dealt to us in life is what is important.
It's so easy to get kicked down by life and all the negative that comes at us, but how are we choosing to move through it??

Lucy doesn't know if she deserves another chance at love. She has her hands full with a separated family and a huge secret all while holding on tight to ten years of grief. Th writing was a little awkward at times, the romance scenes felt a little weird.

I loved The Light We Lost so much, it brought so much emotion out of me and I think I went into this sequel wanting the same feelings to arise, so i felt a little let down. But still really enjoyed getting the answers I’ve always wondering about Lucy’s life.

I was so excited to see a sequel to The Light We Lost! This book was so deep and yet heartwarming. It deals with a lot over a 10 year period and I loved it so much.

Thank you to the publisher, author and NetGalley for this advanced copy.

I really wanted to love it. I enjoyed the others but this one just didn’t do it for me. It was super slow and a bit boring.

Release Date: March 18th
4.5 ⭐️
1 🌶️
I devoured this in under 24 hours. While The Light We Lost didn’t make me cry, this book wrapped everything up in a perfect bow. This story is filled with imperfect characters that are going through various stages of grief and the author handled it so well. The character growth shocked me and I grew to love Lucy. What a journey this has been. I loved every moment of it.

If you enjoy messy and painful romance, I highly recommend starting with The Light We Lost.

A special thanks to Jill Santopolo and Penguin Group Putnam for this ARC. While the review copy was gifted, all opinions are my own.

Thank you to Netgalley for this e-copy of The Love We Found by Jill Santopolo in exchange for a honest review.This is the sequel to her bestseller The Light We Lost and it does not disappoint.It has been almost 10 years since Gabe Sampson’s death in Gaza and after Lucy finds a piece of paper with an address in Rome, she is intrigued.. Lucy travels there and meets a young migrant from Syria named Bashirbwho Gabe had photographed.Wanting to honor and celebrates Gabe’s life, she enlists Bashir’s help since he is now also a photographer. Lucy gathers photographs and stories and also meets a doctor named Dax who works with migrant children.Divorced now from Darren, she hasn’t told her children that their youngest brother Samuel is really Gabe’s.Lucy must find a way to move forward and find a new life for herself while not forgetting about her past.This is a love story on many levels and also examines the power of forgiveness.Highly recommend.

Jill Santopolo puts crack in her books.

They’re beautifully written, the short chapters make it a quick read, and they’re so real.

I read The Light We Lost in 2022 and it was a five star read for me. I absolutely loved it so when I saw Lucy’s story wasn’t over, I was so excited to read more. The books picks up where The Light We Lost left off and takes us along Lucy’s journey of healing after spending years in an emotional prison of her own making. I won’t get into it to much because I feel like it would spoil book one, but if you want a realistic romance that you can also recommend to your mom, a NYC setting, and life after loss/divorce, this is for you.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this!
Rating: 5⭐️

Keeping this spoiler free for those that have not read the first book!
The Love We Found is the highly anticipated follow up to The Light We Lost. It has been ten years since Lucy had to make a life altering decision. In the past 10 years, she has changed and grown up in ways that she never could have imagined. Faced with more hard decisions, Lucy is thrown back into her past. But with those hard decisions comes a light at the end of the dark tunnel.

Review:
4.5 stars
I loved The Light We Lost so much, so when I heard about the publication of The Love We Found I was absolutely thrilled! This simply did not disappoint. There is just something about Jill's writing that sucks me in. Her characters are reliable, their lives are messy, they make bad decisions, and great decisions. I am drawn to the characters in a way that makes me connect to them and feel their emotions so profoundly. Both books in this duet are highly emotional. They are high stakes. They are real. And they are absolutely fantastic. I would read about their lives in 10 plus more books if Jill wrote them.
The Love We Found publishes on 3/18 and is an absolute MUST read!!! I would suggest pushing it to the very top of your TBR!
Thank you to NetGalley, Jill Santopolo and Penguin/Putnam's Sons for this ARC of The Love We Found in exchange for an honest review.

When I found out that Jill Santopolo was publishing a sequel to The Light We Lost, I literally gasped with excitement. That novel is one of my all-time favorite, five-star books, and The Love We Found didn't disappoint!

The story takes place ten years after the death of Lucy's love Gabriel, and everything that came after. If you loved the first one, and no doubt you will if you love books that tug at your heartstrings, you will definitely adore The Love We Found!

3.5 rounded up / The Love We Found is a follow-up to The Light We Lost. You really need to read that one first & I'll admit I had mixed feelings about it too. TLWF was a quick read with short chapters that kept my interest. I didn't expect so much focus on Gabe in this book, and I think that's where most of my frustration was. It was like you could see her happy ending in the distance for half of the book, but she just wasn't getting there fast enough for me. I appreciated Darren's story line, but it also frustrated me. I guess I spent too much of this book waiting for the other shoe to drop (because you could tell it was going to happen) instead of getting to enjoy the good stuff.

I was SO excited for this long awaited second book. I've loved all of santopolo's releases since 'the light we lost' and the love we found was no different. So much emotion. Loved.

The Light We Lost was such a good book and I loved that we got to see Lucy's story continue. This story picks right off with Lucy's heartbreak of losing Gabe in The Light We Lost and dives into her heartbreak and struggles of life and family. Lucy takes a trip to Italy to help her find some closure with the loss of Gabe and this trip brings another love into her life (Dax). In The Love We Found, Lucy is working through some difficult decisions having to do with family and love and it was a wonderful read to see how everything turned out in her life after the 1st book had such a sad ending!

Thank you Net Galley and publisher for an advanced eARC of this book!

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. All opinions within this review are completely my own.

I loved this novel. I do think you should read, THE LIGHT WE LOST, first so that you get the full story. The author did do a good job of reminding readers about details of the first book without retelling the whole thing, but I do think reading the first one before reading this one is important. This is a story of starting over, new beginnings, and growing, changing, and learning as a person. Saying much more makes me nervous about giving spoilers.

The only thing I would complain about is that the intimate scenes between Lucy and Dax were too graphic in my opinion. I understood the first time, but then it became too

"The Love We Found" is Jill Santopolo's follow-up to her hugely popular "The Light We Lost" and takes readers on another journey with Lucy, ten years after the conclusion of the first book. After finding a mysterious address in a box of Gabe's things, Lucy sets out to explore a piece of Gabe's past while balancing the challenges of motherhood, including the dilemma of whether her son Sammy should know the truth about his father. This sets off a chain of events that helps Lucy to find love again and to move forward from her grief.

I really enjoyed this novel and found it brief but uplifting. The dynamic between the children and their parents felt very authentic. The spicier portions were also tasteful but romantic and sweet. I loved Dax as a match for Lucy, though it did feel like they fell in together VERY quickly.

The book is pretty short, and it's a quick read, but I did feel like the last 20% or so was more rushed than the rest of the book. There's a messy conflict included that just felt a little too "convenient" for a city as big as New York, but I was willing to suspend my disbelief to see it through to the conclusion. I also questioned the whole notion that Lucy and Darren would not have had a very detailed predetermined plan for how to handle Sammy's paternity, since therapy is mentioned numerous times in the book, and that just seemed like something that would always be a consideration for parents in that situation, but again, I'm willing to suspend disbelief there since characters don't always make the choices that we might in reality.

The one piece that was left unresolved was the relationship between Darren and Courtney, and that was disappointing, as I liked Darren and felt for him deeply, given the circumstances of both of the novels' plots. Courtney is also introduced as a very empathetic and likable character in a role that's often easy to fill with an unlikable character. I was rooting for them to tie up the ends and move forward, but there was a hint that maybe that wasn't going to be the outcome. This left me wondering whether there would be a third book in this series, which I'm not sure is necessary.

Fans of "The Light We Lost" will find this to be a satisfying and hopeful next chapter in Lucy's story. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the advanced read.

When I saw there was a sequel to The Light We Lost, I immediately requested it. I also felt the need to reread that one before starting this one. Given it's been a few years for me, I'm glad I did. It was so wonderful to revisit that world with everything fresh in my memory. The original story was such a beautifully written and touching story of a romance that simply broke my heart. I was hoping The Love We Found would put it back together. I would say it is a book of healing for Lucy but so much is still happening in her life. It tells how she dealt with all the aftermath from the first book. I'm working hard to keep this review spoiler free but there was definitely fall-out for Lucy to handle in this book.

I like the way the book was narrated- - as if she's talking to Gabe and telling him what has been happening to her. She has to find her way out from under the guilt she buried herself under to be able to find happiness and ultimately love again. In a way, this book is about Lucy's recovery and how she learns to forgive herself and live again. It's beautiful in its own way and I really did enjoy it. I'm so glad the author decided to write it. So many times I feel like a followup book takes away from the original story but not in this case. I actually liked it and felt like it complimented it and was a solid followup. No book will ever top The Light We Lost for me though - - it will remain one of my all-time favorite books - - tear-jerker and all.

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book early. I voluntarily chose to review it and the opinions here are entirely my own

WOW...what a wonderful read. I really enjoyed this novel. I did not want it to end. I did not read the first one, but I certainly will now. This book takes place 1o years later and how they all got on with life. I do not want to reveal too much, but READ IT. Thank you NetGalley for the advanced copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

It's been seven years since I read 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗪𝗲 𝗟𝗼𝘀𝘁 and I still tear up thinking about the ending. I never expected Lucy and Gabe's story to continue but 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗟𝗢𝗩𝗘 𝗪𝗘 𝗙𝗢𝗨𝗡𝗗 is an emotional sequel that brings closure for the characters and readers who loved them.

Author Jill Santopolo beautifully narrates this audiobook, vividly bringing Lucy's first-person story to life. When I saw she also narrated the first book, I immediately bought it. I rarely go re-read books, but for this touching duology, I'll make an exception.

Thanks to Putnam Books and PRH Audio for the copies to review.

A beautifully moving and EMOTIONAL love story about Lucy, a divorced single mother of three in her 40s who is working on a tribute show for the ten year anniversary of her dead lover, Gabe. Told through Lucy's eyes as she addresses her thoughts to Gabe, we follow her to Italy where she tries to track down the meaning behind an address on a piece of paper she found among a box of Gabe's old belongings.

The author does an excellent job writing about female friendship, the challenges of co-parenting, family secrets, finding love again in middle age, grief, loss and SO much more. While in Italy Lucy meets Dax, a doctor working abroad, and shares a memorable day and night with him before she heads back home. I really loved the second half of the book when Lucy and Dax finally find themselves both living in New York and trying to find a way to meld their lives together.

Amazing on audio narrated by the author herself, I gobbled this book up so quickly. It will definitely be a favorite of the year for me! Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital and gifted finished copy and @prhaudio for a complimentary ALC in exchange for my honest review!!

Steam level: some open door scenes, mild details