Unfortunately, I had to put this one down, however I'm sure the book was suited to many others and that it was appreciated as deserved.

Learning to love by Sheryl Browne.
A lovely feel good read. I loved the story and characters apart from Jonathan. I also didn't like Sally. I didn't trust him or her. I loved Sophie and how she was. I loved the ending. 5*.

Tragedy and charity: a recipe for happy families

I enjoyed reading this book. It is a sweet character-driven romance with a large cast of interesting characters, from harried mother Andrea and her unsupportive husband/fiancé/boyfriend Jonathan to awkward neighbour David and his uncommunicative son Jake. The author has a talent for large casts, to not only keep them straight, but imbue all of them with life and heart.

I loved seeing the families blend together and especially how Ryan grew up to help Jake deal with the recent upheavals in his life. The best parts of the book were as they all adjusted to living together as an large but wonderful family. I was less enamoured of the love triangle subplot and the cheating undertones, no matter how despicable one party is. In particular, I felt the triangle could've been dropped entirely. There was enough going on, both plot-wise and relationship-wise, without it.

The romance at the heart of the book felt natural, even if the two of them were by turns clueless and terrible at communication. The end felt like a 'well-finally' for all involved, including me.

Andrea is a teacher but thinking of giving it up and starting up her own business - she is also mother to a toddler by her fiancé Jonathan and has two teenage daughters plus and eccentric slightly senile mother - talk about having to juggle your life!

Things do not seem to be going so well with Jonathan and she arranges to meet him at a restaurant to have dinner but he doesn't bother to turn up and to make matters worse while she is there her house burns down!

Now she is homeless with 3 children and a mother and so when her new neighbour David offers her a roof over her head she is moves the whole family in. David is a GP and coming to terms with living as a single parent with his son when suddenly his life is completely chaotic but gradually David and Andrea start to form a real friendship......but where is Jonathan in all of this!

A lovely story with some great fun moments and characters and a lovely read for the beach

This was a lovely contemporary romance with a dash of suspense and mystery.
The protagonist, Andrea Kelly, takes multitasking to new levels. She is working as a teacher, is planning to open her own business, is looking after toddler Chloe, is a loving Mum to teenagers Ryan and Sophie, and is caring for her slightly senile mother, Dee. And then there's her partner, Jonathan, who is Chloe's father. When their home burns down, it isn't Jonathan by Andrea's side helping to pick up the pieces, but her new neighbour, David, who has just moved to the village to take the post of local GP. David opens his home to the entire Kelly clan although he has enough to deal with himself. He is still getting used to being a single Dad to ten-year-old Jake and their father-son relationship is strained.
The characterization was brilliant. The children were very well drawn and their behaviour believable. The family dynamics and the interactions between the characters were hugely entertaining. I really enjoyed the small British village setting with the community spirit and the quirky inhabitants who provided more drama and exciting subplots. Yes, this was predictable. But it was a lot of fun! Great read if you're looking for something heartwarming with real characters and a feel-good factor. I'm slowly working my way through Sheryl Browne's books and haven't been disappointed yet.
My thanks to ChocLit for providing me with a copy via NetGalley.

Learning to Love is an extremely well written book. I enjoyed the story with all the dynamics between the characters. I loved the small town setting and enjoyed the author's style of writing.

Juggling a romantic relationship with three children and an aging mother in the initial phase of dementia isn’t easy but, somehow, the heroine in “Learning to Love”, Andrea, handles it all with aplomb.
In the beginning the hero – a widower with a troubled ten year son - seems cold-hearted and indifferent but we soon realize that he’s hurting and he’s really a very caring and sensitive man, that immediately becomes the knight in shining armor for the heroine when her house burns down. The realization that he’s in love with Andrea happens too quickly and it was quite a surprise (I felt the same awkwardness when we’re told that the heroine had fallen in love with David).
In the midst of family dramas, financial crime and some extra interferences they find time to bond, with the help of some of the family members, namely Dee, Andrea’s mother, and Ryan, her eldest, who turns out to be a lovely character.
I liked the main characters, regretted that David lost his tortured edge too soon; I guess mature women will identify themselves with Andrea’s struggles of raising three children and caring for a beloved fragile mother who, despite her dementia, is often sager than others. There’s a cast of secondary characters quite interesting too and an appealing small British village atmosphere.

This story starts off on a negative note. Although I am sure it lightens up, I could not finish it.

It is always uplifting to be reminded of the good that can come out of tragedy. Certainly, losing your home to fire is a huge tragedy. Learning to Love by Sheryl Browne explores that very thought, as Andrea thankfully has her family but nowhere to go after the fire. The rallying around her by the small town is heartwarmingly realistic. Help comes in the oddest of place at times when we need it the most.

This family drama has tissue needed times as you read but also cheering for them moments, too. I appreciated the author’s style of not romancing the trauma this family went through while showing how Andrea and her two older children grew as individuals and as a family while working together through it all.

It was easy to see where this story would go with the kindness shown by David Adams. He is not the perfect knight riding in to save the day but more of an everyday person who sees a need which he can help. It is wonderful to see how this turns out to be a help to him too. I won’t even comment on Jonathan the absent fiancé except to say Ms. Browne has given us a character you just love to dislike.

It is a stand-alone novel that with have you shedding a few tears, wanting to laugh out loud at times but also wanting to high five in victory the characters a few times too. Not your average romance but a realistic, honest and marvelous one.

My second Sheryl Browne book (after THE REST OF MY LIFE) and I liked this one even more. Possibly because I more easily related to the heroine, a mother of three struggling to balance work, children and relationship, and trying to find her own identity by opening a “second-chance designer” dress shop. Her live in boyfriend (not husband, as the synopsis says), the father of her youngest child, has become a little distant and emotionally unsupportive, and then on date night he stands her up, leaving her sitting alone in a restaurant. And to top off that misery, when she finally gives up waiting and goes home, her house is on fire and her children are across the street with the new neighbor, surly taciturn David, and his unhappy son, Jake.

Of course once she starts getting to know David, he's not just surly and taciturn, he's actually a man overwhelmed with grief and guilt over the death of his wife, and unable to get through to and connect with eight year old Jake, who will barely speak to him. Both Andrea and David are wonderfully written characters, as are all of the kids, and Andrea's mother, Dee. There's a lot of witty and amusing dialogue as well. There's also a lot of internal monologuing, which I love. The narrative alternates between three viewpoints, mostly Andrea's and David's, but we also spend some time with Andrea's friend, Sally, who becomes a pretty integral character in her own right. The children, both Andrea's and David's, are also well defined and help drive the story forward rather than just being plot moppets.

The romance between Andrea and David builds up slowly and realistically. The attraction is there from the beginning, but of course neither is looking for a relationship. Andrea is already in one, anticipating a proposal any day while wondering why Jonathan has become a little distant and distracted. David is a widower, trying to put back together the pieces of his and Jake's shattered lives.

Occasionally I felt the editing was a little lacking, with a sentence here and there that stumbled along a bit awkwardly. But overall the story drew me in and I quickly became emotionally invested in the characters and their lives. A sweet and heartwarming story.

Learning to Love,  Sheryl Browne

Review from Jeannie Zelos book reviews

Genre:  romance, women’s fiction

I hadn’t read any od Sheryl’s novels before but this sounded fun, and its published by ChocLit, and I’ve found from experience that they publish books I enjoy so “click Request”....

Its a great fun read, moments of almost slapstick humour, entwined with some incredibly subtle comedic interludes.
Drama abounds right from the start when poor Andrea gets stood up by Jonathan, and it widens out into a story filled with humour, drama, neighbours that are helpful one moment and snide the next, and kids that were just so wonderfully written.

I love so many things about this book, poor Andréa, doing what so many are, trying to run a home composed of teens and toddler, partner, elderly parent and keeping a full time job going too.
Its a small village, one of those where everyone soon knows everything that’s happening – and a few things that really aren’t!
I got really irritated with her fiancé to be, Jonathon, he was an odd sort, not really supportive, and at times I wanted to scream at Andréa “ask him what/where/why” when he was being evasive.

The kids were brilliant, toddler Charlotte, teens Sophie and Ryan, and David’s ten yr old Jake. They spoke and acted as kids do, bickering one moment but helpful the next, eye rolling, ever empty stomachs in the case of the lads – reminded me so much of my own kids at that age.
I loved the way Ryan took Jake under his wing, and didn’t let things pass from David, helping but guiding him too.

The way the locals rallied round after the fire was good too, even down to the clothes donated that some of which was just real jumble....yep, that happens.
I enjoyed the way they were always in and out of each others lives, the way Dee, Andrea's slightly batty mum , and Eva, one of the more senior residents of the town were always bickering.
Good too to see a teen that’s in a wheelchair, who’s still a typical teen, not some sanely type, and living a normal as can teen life. She was a great addition and as a wheelchair user myself I love to see all types represented in books, not just the able bodied.

The way the story unfolds is perfect; it’s got romance but not Just romance, there’s 
drama and mystery, lost dogs,  modern day family life with all its chaotic stumblings, a snippet of small town life, all the dramas and incidents that make a story so real. Add in the mystery that’s fast gathering pace and I was wondering just how it would all work out. There’s a surprise too that I didn’t see coming, and I so felt for all involved.

The only criticism I have its that its all happening in a very short space of time, David goes from surly to perfect, from disliking everything to in love, Andrea goes from being – well maybe not “in love” but certainly still trying to keep up her fragile relationship with Jonathan, and then suddenly its all David, and he’s front stage in her thoughts. All that happens over just a few days....but there’s so much packed in that it’s a small thing and easy to ignore.

Stars: Five, a fun, engrossing read that made me laugh at times and tearful at others.

ARC supplied for review purposes by Netgalley and Publishers