This author writes very sensitively about love and loss. It's quite a slow paced book but very moving and written with great heart and sympathy.

Loved it! Just the sort of intelligent romance for when I want an easy read. Really entertaining, heartbreaking at times and also filled with joy, would happily recommend this book!

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for the advance digital copy of Messy, Wonderful Us by Catherine Isaac.  This was a story about Ally, her family, and her long time friend Ed.  Ally is single and Ed is married.  Ally and Ed venture off to Italy together to search out a person of interest to Ally.  The story picks up pace once this begins.  Ally and Ed experience ups and downs with each other and those close to them.  This is a story of love, friendship, family, and regret.

A beautiful compelling book. Messy Wonderful Us is one of those rare reads which spans romance, intrigue, thrilling twists and history. It’s perfect. Even better than You Me Everything.

I'm not crying, you're crying...

Oh this book... THIS BOOK!!!!!!!!!!

It utterly took me by surprise how much I was moved by this story. Messy Wonderful Us is a book about the messiness of love and how it shapes our lives. It's about the things we do for the sake of family, for the sake of best friends. It's about the dark undercurrents of love and the joy of it. 

The story primarily follows Allie who sets off on a trip to Italy in an effort to uncover certain truths about her deceased mother's youth. She doesn't tell her father or grandparents where she is going because she wants to protect them from what she may discover. Accompanying her on the trip is her lifelong best friend Ed who is, inexplicably to everyone who knows him, taking a break from his marriage to the love of his life, Julia. 

And that's about as much of the plot as I'm willing to give away because this is one of those books that gently unfurls its stories to you. The book ingeniously interchanges its point of view between three characters in a manner that is extremely appealing and made me turn those pages as fast as I could. I was completely invested in trying to figure out how all these different viewpoints would come together and together they did indeed come to reveal some surprising twists and turns. 

The ending is a little too convenient and high on melodrama but then again I also burst into tears at the very last paragraph so..... *wistfully shrugs* 
Basically it's just supremely satisfying and despite the utter mess. And I mean MESS that is these characters' lives!!!!! They are terribly flawed humans who do some dodgy things in the name of love HOWEVER as a reader you just can't help but be invested in their stories and root for their happy endings. 

I was so surprised by how much I loved this. Don't you love when the right book comes along at the right time??? Messy Wonderful Us definitely came along at the right time for me and I'm rating it a very positive four stars and would recommend it to people who love emotional family dramas. 


*An e-copy of this book was kindly provided to me by the publisher, Simon and Schuster, via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*


There are a few trigger warnings that I want to give could be construed as plot spoilers so do not read any further if you wish not to be spoiled for some of the major plot developments of the book. 
Physical and emotional domestic abuse, implied sibling incest

I really enjoyed the last Catherine Isaac book so was thrilled to see she had another out and better still it’s as good as the previous one. Allie is a great character, single but a real family woman and very close to the dad who raised her from the age of 6, she has a job is passionate about and overall is happy with life. When she stumbles across an old letter she can’t get the contents out of her head even though she’s warned to forget about it. Ed is her best friend from way back, highly intelligent and with a very successful career, happily married and appears to have it all, so why is unhappy? They travel to Italy to uncover the answer to Allie’s past and try to work out just what is wrong with Ed. This story has secrets in abundance, brilliantly revealed drip by drip, fantastic locations and a very deep chemistry between the best friends. It’s wonderfully told by Catherine Isaac and I highly recommend this book.

Full of family drama, secrets, summers of love, beautiful countryside, fabulous characters and feel good vibes this is one not to be missed from and chicklit fans summer reading.

Wow! I read it in one sitting. It’s a roller coaster of emotions which will have you laughing, sobbing, smiling, hoping, loving! Allie is a grown-up, you know, a proper grown up with a responsible job and everything! But when she accidentally uncovers what may be a secret, what maybe a huge secret she knows she must investigate further. So off she heads to Italy. And you will feel the sun, smell the herbs, taste the wine and have your heartstrings tugged like crazy 
If you only read one book this year, let it be this one!

Wow. What an amazingly heartfelt novel! I knew by reading the synopsis that it was going to pull on the heartstrings but when I started reading it it was quite a bit more emotional than what I thought it was going to be! The location was idyllic and sounded so beautiful and I really related to the characters - more than I initially thought I would actually! I haven't read many novels by this author but I'll definitely be on the look out for more in future!

Another fab read from this soon to be must read author, a great rom com with touching characters and a great thread pulling the different narratives together.

Firstly I would like to thank the author, the publisher and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book. I thought I knew what to expect after reading the synopsis but nothing prepared me for the emotional roller coaster that followed, The descriptions of Italy were so perfect I felt I was there with Allie and Ed and I could feel the sun on me and taste the food and drink. I couldn't put it down and I thought the ending was superb, I will be recommending it to everyone I know.