This is a well written story that held me captive and had me on the edge of my seat at times. I really liked the main characters, although Aimee was a touch irritating at times with her lack of real decision. The twists, turns and feelings of suspense and imminent danger had me rapidly turning pages and not wanting to put the book down.
I can't wait to read the next book!

Everything We Keep

Having been asked if I would like to read this book, I jumped at the chance.

Everything We Keep explores the devastation of loss, love and truths. The story is one of suspense, intrigue and mystery. The characters make the story so strong and take us on a real wild ride! Four stars from purplebookstand!

I was lucky to be provided with an advanced copy of this book and voluntarily reviewed it.

This book is about sudden loss and the ripples of devastation this can create. It also explores the meaning of expectation, trust and finding new love. The story breaks at a funeral. Aimee Tierney was meant to be at this church today for her wedding but instead she is here for her fiancé, James Donato's funeral. He is all that she has known since her childhood. However questions are at the fore - James has gone missing, but is he really dead? At this funeral she is approached by a psychic who tells her he is still alive.
Kerry Lonsdale's first novel is one of mystery and secrets.
Thanks to Netgalley for my free copy.

Suspend disbelief is my recommendation for Everything We Keep by Kerry Lonsdale. Coincidences and leaps abound. The love story is sweet and sappy. However, with a relatively sympathetic character at the heart of it, it makes for a quick enjoyable read. The one point that is of concern in this book is that a rape occurs, and it is covered up by both the victim and someone who loves her. That is not okay.

Read my complete review at http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2017/10/everything-we-keep.html

Reviewed for NetGalley

Thanks to Netgalley for the ecopy for my Kindle.
It was an o.k. book. There was twists and turns that keeps me reading, but I could have given a better review if there wasn't so much foul language and detailed intimate scenes.

This book was a page turner form the start for me . I expected to read Aimee's story about how she moved on after James' death and set up her business and had a nice life but this story was so much more. There was a mystery starting that became exciting and you was willing Aimee on to try and find James or move on. Aimee was stuck in time but after being approached by a strange woman at his funeral she couldn't let go of the fact that he may still be alive. That's when the book comes to life and you go on the journey with Aimee. This book was absorbing and I found it hard to put down. The twists and turns had you guessing. A very good read.

The story engaged me from the beginning, the dialogue sounded authentic for the characters, but the narrative could have been better.

I really liked Aimee and I thought she had an interesting career. I felt bad for her suffering the loss of her fiancee and was glad she had some true friends and loving parents.
However, there were too many coincidents & she had way too much good luck to be true. She gets a check that is just enough to start her own business with. She secures building for a restaurant without a problem because someone likes her.<spoiler> Her new business flourishes from the start in fact, she is able to take time off and fly to Mexico with her main employee without a hitch, then 2 gorgeous, artistic hunks are both madly in love with her in Mexico at the same time.</spoiler>
It was fun, escapist reading, but the twists and turns at the end were too over the top to be believeable. At times, I felt as if I was reading the script for a TV movie.

These books are part of a series of 2 books, third i believe to be on its way.
I read Everthing we keep and followed straight on with the second book everything we left behind. I would recommend that you have red the first book before starting the second as it does give you a much stronger sense of the story, and things from the first book are mentioned in the second.
It is quite difficult to write much a a review without giving too much away but i enjoyed the books, maybe book 2 more than the first, but the story does have some twist and turns and keep me page turning to find out what happens next. A couple of characters I found a little annoying. But generally and enjoyable enough read. Will probably read book 3 as there are still things which need answers!!
I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

You might have noticed that pretty much everything I've been posting recently is reviews, that's because I've had a backlog of ARCS building up and I'm finally getting around to reading them all, so I figured as these two are part of the same series, I'd do them at the same time! As Everything We Left Behind was scheduled for release, the publisher was kind enough to send me both books so I could catch up.

Sous chef Aimee Tierney has the perfect recipe for the perfect life: marry her childhood sweetheart, raise a family, and buy out her parents’ restaurant. But when her fiancé, James Donato, vanishes in a boating accident, her well-baked future is swept out to sea. Instead of walking down the aisle on their wedding day, Aimee is at James’s funeral—a funeral that leaves her more unsettled than at peace.
As Aimee struggles to reconstruct her life, she delves deeper into James’s disappearance. What she uncovers is an ocean of secrets that make her question everything about the life they built together. And just below the surface is a truth that may set Aimee free…or shatter her forever. 

So, Everything We Keep begins at James' funeral, on what should have been Aimee's wedding day and the book then follows the next year of her life as she tries to pick up the pieces and move on. She makes new friends, starts a new career, but she can't seem to shake James, told through a series of flashbacks to her and James' lives together and the present, we learn about his dysfunctional family and eventually that she was right to have questions about his disappearance.
Though this book has a few twists and turns and enough intriguing moments to keep you interested, there does seem to be a a lot of big subjects being thrown around in an almost flippant manner. One character is assumed to have disassociated fugue, yet there isn't much gravity given to what comes across to me as being a big deal.
It's much more of a character driven book than plot driven, with the story being second fiddle to Aimee and her supporting cast. Its a very long winded, winding story about Aimee trying to rebuild her life and get over James. There isn't much drama, but sometimes, it's nice to read something that meanders and lets you have time to process.

The second book picks up precisely where the first one left off, and this one follows more of Carlos' story and ties up some loose ends involving various characters and mysteries from the first book it also features a lot of flash backs to fill in the blanks and we learn a lot more about what happened to James. I would leave the blurb here, but spoilers! This is a 'true sequel' you literally can't read this without having read the first book.

This was told in much the same way and again dealt with large subjects without much gravity. Again this was character driven and they plodded along nicely. Everything We Left Behind alternates between Carlos and James, telling the whole story through flashbacks and present day. Like the first book, there is a lot of dramatic events unfolding without much actual drama or urgency.

If you're a fan of soap operas, you'll love these books. There are gripping stories, but some of the moments veer on the outlandish and wouldn't be out of place in Eastenders. (Has the whole split personality thought I was dead but I'm not thing been done on there before? I think it has!) I think these two books would be perfect holiday companions, they're the sort of thing you could lose yourself in whilst being sat by a pool or beach.

I would say that I would rather there were a bit of a cover redesign, they're both fine covers, but they don't match the story all that well, particularly the first one. The two girls aren't even the same!

I really enjoyed the unusual story line in this book. At times it was confusing to work out who was Carlos and who was Jamie but then I guess that's what it was about! Thank you NetGalley.

Compelling story with pretty good characters. The plot got a little confusing explaining how James went missing --there are a lot of details. It my interest and was worth the read.

Aimee loses her husband, she then opens a restaurant and keeps it going at the same time disinterested in men and anything else. The story opened slowly and continued at a very slow pace because it was totally focussed on a single character and the subject was restaurant, food and art.
It did not quicken the pace at all and maybe it should have because what was to follow was anything but ordinary.

For me the book was so so rather lukewarm.

Goodreads and Amazon review up on 15/9/2017. Review on my blog 6/10/2017. Also linked to my FB page.

I enjoyed parts of this book yet on the whole it left me underwhelmed. I found the main character, Aimee, a bit annoying and soppy and that has probably coloured my judgement. The loss of a loved one is devastating, yet her actions didn't quite convince me she was devastated, instead it just made me annoyed with her! I think the story line itself was ok, and the facts about James/Carlos and his memory loss were an interesting angle, but that wasn't enough to make me like the book any more.

Genre: Romance, Mystery, Women's Fiction
Steamy?: Mild
Cliffhanger?: Yes
Can be read as Standalone?: Yes but it’s book 1 in a series
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Stars

***COMPLIMENTARY COPY PROVIDED IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW***

Such an enjoyable read! First In the beginning, I had no idea what to expect and things felt kind of questionable. Then midway through it grabbed me and I couldn’t put it down. However, I felt the end created more questions and confusion than it solved. Over-all, it’s a very decent romantic mystery with a mild touch of the supernatural. Since this is book 1 in a series, I am looking forward to having more questions answered. Now… on to book 2!

This was just OK for me; not my usual genre and I really did not love it.

I really enjoyed this book, I did go from reading to audio to reading again with this one but it was a great story and I am looking for to reading the rest of the series.

Aimee and James were the perfect couple. They’d been best friends since childhood, and their relationship was strong, with Aimee wholeheartedly supporting James’ dream of opening an art gallery and continuing to paint. James’ mother did not approve of wasting time, and was actively discouraging this, forcing James and his brother Thomas into her family’s furniture import business. Several weeks before James and Aimee’s wedding, James went on a business trip to Mexico, expecting to be back with time to spare. Instead, his funeral was held on what would have been their wedding day.

Reeling with shock and pain, Aimee left the service, and was met by a woman who told her that James was still alive, and handed Aimee a business card. Still stunned, Aimee made an effort to rebuild her life, continuing to work at her parents’ restaurant until they let her know that, unfortunately, they were closing it down and retiring. At loose ends, Aimee re-read the business card, and went to the woman’s house, hoping to get an answer on James. The woman, named Lacy, told her James was still in Mexico, but Aimee fled, refusing to believe he would willingly stay away from her. As Aimee pulled into her driveway, Lacy was sitting on the porch, holding the wallet Aimee had dropped in her haste to leave. When Aimee looked inside, she noticed another business card, this one for a resort called Casa del sol.

I enjoyed the mystery running throughout – is James alive? Where is he? Why is he there? I really liked Aimee’s determination to learn the truth, whether or not she liked the outcome. The strong support from family and friends kept Aimee going, from the opening of her café to her impromptu trip to Mexico. This was a story with many twists that easily kept my interest, and I am looking forward to the next book in the series.

An enjoyable page turner for a debut novel. The book opens with Aimee attending her fiancé's funeral on what should gave been her wedding day. James has gone missing during a business trip to Mexico, his body found months later. At the funeral, a stranger tells her that James is still alive and this idea becomes an obsession, even though she is starting to rebuild her life she has to know the truth.
What follows does get a little far fetched at times and the coincidences come thick and fast but it's a quick and easy read and I liked the ending.
My thanks to netgalley for this copy.

I cant say this book moved me - except to distraction at times. Aimee buries her fiancé on what should have been her wedding day - or does she? Aimee mourns her fiancé whilst managing to attract every other man for miles around and even enjoy the flirtations. It fee ls to me like two not very well connected story lines and a few extras thrown in as the author thinks up new ideas. The `dissociative fugue is by far the most convincing idea of the book, it is predictable in the extreme.

Engaging right from the start, I was pulled into the lives and the mystery surrounding the characters from the start. Perfect for a quick summer read, with memorable characters and plot line that contained an unusual medical condition that kept it compelling.