I must firstly apologise for the amount of time it has taken me to provide a review of this book, my health was rather bad for quite some time, something that had me in hospital on numerous occasions and simply didnt leave me with the time I once had to do what I love most.

Unfortunately that does mean I have missed the archive date for many of these books, so It would feel unjust throwing any review together without being able to pay attention to each novel properly.

However, I am now back to reading as before and look forward to sharing my honest reviews as always going forward. I thank you f0r the patience and understanding throughout x

Jess cares for her bed ridden mother who has Huntington’s disease. When she meets Alec she tells him she can’t go out with him as she too has inherited the disease and doesn’t want to cause anyone else the pain and heartbreak she is going through with her Mum. But Alec is determined and comes up with a plan that they live day by day for one month.

This was a touchingly heartbreaking novel that I throughly enjoyed.

Oh this book has it all. A near perfect contemporary fiction that ticked all the boxes for me.
This story is about Jess and her mother Susan and their lives together and how they cope with a chronic illness. Jess is a young woman who has put her life on hold to take care of her mother and Susan wants more for her daughter. The mother-daughter relationship is absolutely beautiful and their dedication to each other was really really touching. I myself live with a chronic illness and was very pleased with the representation of neurological disease in this novel. Of course there is a beautiful romance alongside the mother-daughter relationship and I loved all the twists and turns in that journey. I think many people may feel frustrated with Jess’ decisions through this book but I understand her and her reasons for these decisions. It’s unbelievable that this is a debut.. I look forward to reading many many more books by this author.

What a fantastic debut novel. I loved everything about the book, there's friendship and fun and tenderness and depth all linked into a cleverly balanced mixture. The characters are so likeable you can't but root for them.

As another reviewer suggested, the medical aspect was handled with respect and light touch, making this novel a celebration of life and a five stars Emotional read.

Highly recommended!

When Alec asks Jess out, she knows it won't work. He may be charming and handsome, but Jess has rules. And the first? Don't fall in love. Jess has inherited Huntington's disease from the mother that she cares for. Falling in love would mean condemning someone to the heartbreak that she feels every day. Jess has learnt to keep everyone and everything at arm's length, but Alec is determined to break down her barriers. When she finally tells him why they have no future together, he proposes that they forget the future and live for the moment - for just one month. But as Jess begins to fall for Alec, she knows she has to end it. It's better that he is hurt now rather than heartbroken later, isn't it?

Gushy review alert, I loved everything about this read! The plot is incredibly emotional as well as beautiful and it was so easy to immerse myself in Jess' story. The characters are sensational as well and came to feel like friends, of course this meant I felt all their pain and emotions too.

As I started this, it was all too clear where Ewart was taking the plot and I prepared myself for the heartbreak I knew would be coming. Ewart has written a very powerful portrayal of Huntington's, it was informative, descriptive and Ewart captured the human reactions and emotions superbly. This plot thread alone would have been enough for me but add in the story of Jess and Alec and the read only improves.

The plot is pure perfection and, as I have already touched on, the characters only added to my enjoyment. They are all so likeable and I loved the differences between them, Ewart shows a real spectrum of reactions to what the characters go through in this book and it made the read all the more powerful. Jess in particular was a very special character and one I will remember for a long time.

'One Month of You' is the most emotional, beautiful read I have had the pleasure of reading in a long time. I adored everything about this stunning read and cannot recommend it enough.

Thank you to NetGalley and Orion Publishing Group for an advance copy.

An amazing beaytifully written love story which pulled at my heart strings. Once I started reading I didn't want to stop.
I'm looking forward to reading more by Suzanne.

This was so much more than i expected, i knew it would have touching elements due to the Jess having the disease as well as her mother. I loved the bond between Jess and her Mum, all the way through and even in the flashbacks they had a beautiful relationship. The bonds between Jess and the Carer was amazing also, someone who worked for them became part of the family. Alec as a love interest was amazing, he was so caring and willing to love Jess through everything. He was also so understanding of her position but he never wanted her to give up on the life she had. I really recommend this book.

What a wonderful and engaging read. That emotional connection between Jess and her mother was beautifully handled by the author as was the heartbreaking impact this devastating illness had on it. (* I confess it got so emotional I had to hug my mum really tight at several points during this story) . Alec was so lovely, funny, a little dorky and charming. I felt every bit of Jess’ struggle with the knowledge of what her future could be versus the growing feelings for Alec and the joy he brought into her life. Her rules and her logic might have been sound but I felt so sad at how much she was limiting herself. Some great friends and supporting characters in Debs and Olivia too. A really great debut from this author (5 ⭐️)

I became so invested in this book I couldn’t put it down. It’ll stay with me for a long time. Brilliant debut novel, I’m excited to see what comes next from the author.

A fantastic debut novel that I found hard to put down! One that will stay with me for a long time. Thanks for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Absolutely fantastic read. I have loved this and been completely unable and unwilling to put this one down.
This is a great read which I will be highly recommending.

Great debut novel, and a really good choice for a summer/beach/holiday read (whatever your summer holiday looks like this year!)

One Month of You follows Jess as she comes to terms with her mother progressing to a degenerative disease. As a result Jess has decided that she should not meet and fall in love ever again. And then she meets Alec.

Whilst the end result with the Alec is not a surprise, the journey there is really worth following. Jess has much to cope with, and watching her deal with this whilst also experiencing the joys of the beginning part of falling in love makes for a really good book.

It wasn't quite a 5 star for me as a couple of sections, particularly towards the end had some clunky writing. There were also one too many rejections of Alec for my liking - it almost became a bit mean.

However overall this is thought through romance, which is well written in the most, and stays away from any annoying stereotypes or clichés. Definitely one to add to your summer reading list.

Thanks to Net Galley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Goodness! All the feels with this wonderful book!
I haven't read such a charming, funny, romantic, heartbreaking and uplifting story in ages.
Huntington's disease and its painful realities run through the heart of this book and the author handles Jess' mother's daily efforts and deterioration so sensitively.
An easy five stars for this book and its fabulous characters! I'm completely in love with Alec!

Thanks so much to NetGalley and to Trapeze for the opportunity to read this advanced copy.

This is the kind of book that makes you think. Not just about the kind of devastating illnesses some people have to live with, but what this means for their families and people around them. To be able to navigate this scenario with such credibility and still leave the reader with hope is a testament to the skill of the author. A gorgeous, funny, sweet, and heartbreaking novel that I will definitely be recommending.

The moment I met you is such a poignant yet uplifting read that will stay with you long after you have read it!
The frightening speed that can change the whole course of your life in just a second! The long term ramifications, the survivor guilt, the loss of opportunities, lives changed irrevocably, flashbacks, nightmares and a sense of loss!
Elena and Harry are holidaying in Mexico when they are caught up in an earthquake, Elena is trapped underground with a fellow traveller Alex and during their time trapped they open up to each other and develop a bond so strong that lasts well after their rescue! Harry sustains life changing injuries from the earthquake and needs Elena now more than ever asking her to be his wife once he comes out of his coma! Elena had to make decisions that change her life forever! Ten years later an anniversary documentary is being made and wounds are reopened and truths uncovered, will this lead to happiness ever after for Elena, Harry and Alex, a second chance of happiness?? I would love to see a sequel to find out what happens next!
Thank you netgalley for this early read.

Whether through an increased and welcome awareness of gender politics, or simply the evolution of female narratives in fiction, there’s been a maturation in the modern love story, from the neuro-diverse and unironic bewilderment of Marata’s "Convenience Story Woman" to the exacting, solipsistic musings of Dolan’s "Exciting Times". All have quite rightly earned their place in the canon, yet there will always be an enduring appeal to the more traditional form of love story as presented in Suzanne Ewart’s wonderful debut One Month of You which, distinct from these previous examples, wears its heart unashamedly on its sleeve.

At first glance, the story appears to be heading in the same direction as its contemporaries. Jess, its central character, is a modern, independent woman who has carved out certain rules for life designed to hold her at arm’s reach from the perils of love. So far, so cynical. But what we soon learn is that Jess’s rules have been made not out of a sense of choice so much as a sense of psychological necessity. This is because Jess has inherited the gene for Huntington’s disease, an illness which she has watched devour her mother and which now presents as an ever present time-bomb in her own future. As she gradually witnesses the painful changes that take her mother from ebullient, sharp and fun-loving to a reduced bed-ridden shadow, Jess decides that she must protect both herself, and any potential partner, from its cruel and inevitable legacy. When a one-night stand proves to be more affecting than she plans, however, Jess is forced into ever more painful decisions.

Amongst the many impressive elements in this novel, the thing that resonates throughout - perhaps surprisingly - is its celebration of life. The co-players in Jess’s world, the humdrum antics of her office job, and the revisited memories of happier times growing up, spring from the page with a vitality of detail. And it’s in these moments that Ewart so cleverly portrays both the triumphs and the poignant shortness of our universal existence. If it’s a cliche that we never fully appreciate what we have until it’s gone, the success of this novel is in never making it seem like one. Throughout, sentimentality is eschewed for wit and tenderness, as well as Jess’s bloody-minded determination to protect everyone she loves, including herself. The fact that this self-preservation potentially comes at the cost of her happiness in the now is what gives the novel its dramatic thrust with a truly page-turning quality. The simplicity of the prose belies its psychological depth, and whilst her choices along the way often come with teeth-gnashing frustration on behalf of the reader, you never feel manipulated. This is equally true of its secondary characters who are drawn with a flair and roundness sometimes lacking in other stories of this genre and who add to the portrayal of the novel’s thoroughly believable world.

Ewart’s assiduous research into Huntington’s itself is both admirable and yet relayed with a considerable lightness of touch. This allows both a specificity to its details but also a universality that will resonate with anyone who has experienced the decline of a loved one, or who has faced off illness themselves. It is also a very interesting and under-reported disease to base her story upon, which offers a considerable education to the reader without ever appearing preachy.

A very worthy winner of the eHarmony Write Your Own Love Story competition, it is clear that Ewart knows her market and her genre intimately, and whilst the denouement of the novel is not entirely a surprise, nor does it ultimately matter. Rather, the journey is all, and what a satisfying journey it is. Emotionally authentic in its rendering, wonderfully controlled in tone, voice and characterisation, this is a deeply moving gulp of a read and a wonderful foray into womens fiction at its best. Thoroughly recommended.

My sincere thanks to NetGalley and to the publishers, Trapeze, for providing me with the ARC in return for an unbiased review.

A fantastic book. Emotional. Heart wrenching and strangely uplifting. A book that will break your heart in all the ways possible. I'm still reeling from emotional journey the writer took me on. Full review will be published in my local newspaper.

This was an emotional read but I loved every minute of it. Beautiful and mesmerizing and full of wonder and loss and love. I adored this book, and am writing this with a lump in my throat.

Ah this was simply beautiful. A take on moving on with a difficult health diagnosis. Jess finds out she's tested positive for Huntington's disease as she watches her mum fade away from the same illness. To protect those around her she has a strict no dating rule. Enter Alec. Who happens to be everything she would want, and more. A difficult subject handled sensitively and passionately with lots of smaller characters to keep you entertained along the way. Poignant, thought provoking and insightful.

I received an advance copy of, One Month of You, by Suzanne Ewart. This is a very intriguing book. Knowing you have an incurable disease, and then falling in love was not what Jess planned, but it happened.