Nancy Peach gives readers a portrait of a complex character. Tess Carter faults herself for her partner’s infidelity, and the little voice inside her head (a talk-show host, of all things), doesn’t let her forget it. That same talk-show host reminds her in the first few pages of her experience with eating disorders and the fact that her dad left twenty years prior. Tess has a backstory, for sure, but the question is, can Tess overcome that backstory, find out who she really is, and learn to love herself so that she can find love? I like Tess as a complicated character—she’s real and relatable—and I appreciate the author’s attention to detail when it comes to bringing the hospice setting to life. I would have preferred (and I expected) a different voice to Tess’s inner monologue, but at the end of the day, all people are different, and some people live in their head more than others.

If there's ever a case of a book having a cover that doesn't match its subject, its this one. When I picked it up, I expected fluff. I expected a light and cheery romance. What I didn't expect was a story of loss and grief, which harmed my enjoyment.

But truthfully, I think my main problem was the pacing of this. Our characters didn't even admit their feelings until 80%. And even when they did, it was in an act of cheating. This slowness made it so hard to feel the chemistry between them, and removed what little had been there.

I also really disliked the seriousness of this, and how quickly it was brushed off. Our main character struggles with bulimia, but this is almost never addressed. On top of that, her inner monologs are incredibly rude and demeaning, and tore me out of the story every time.

After putting this one off for months, I'm not exactly happy I finally started it. It was another bland read, and one with more negative than positives.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review

There’s a strange setup in the book, where both Jane Austen and a scathing tv host comment on the main character, Tess’ life, throughout the novel. It doesn’t really add much to the story, and I wish it weren’t included. Because strip it away and this is an interesting story of a woman doing a rotation in palliative care who falls for the son of one of her patients while also trying to come to grips with her life. Tess is frustrating and flawed and comes across as three-dimensional. Overall ⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was an enjoyable read, and the main character was likeable (although I'm not sure how I feel about how her eating disorder was represented).

[This review contains spoilers].

The synopsis of Love Life describes our protagonist Palliative Care doctor Tess Carter as “no starry-eyed heroine”. I jumped straight into this book knowing nothing about it, and reading the first chapter, immediately picked up on the nod to Pride and Prejudice. I expected it to be a Bridget Jones-esque humorous read but things quickly turned quite sad when we learn our central character is bulimic.

I think this is a good illustration of the ways in which the story surprised me, but I do think it perhaps tries to explore far too many topics at once. We have palliative care, terminal illness, loss of a parent, absent fathers, eating disorders, and low self-esteem manifesting in voices in Tess’ head - all mashed in amongst a familiar will-they-won’t-they trope. Since we have so many themes packed in to one story, it felt like sufficient room was not given to fully explore them in as much detail as I would have liked.

There are a few times where I felt some of the language used about the men in the book was bordering on misandry – but the descriptions of Tess and her half-brother Jake’s fathers are offensive. Both are described as being “exotic” – Jake’s father is Jamaican, and Tess’ father Italian but descriptions such as “Mum clearly had a thing not just for exotic-looking men but ones with a tendency to leg it as soon as the babies arrived” and “Up the duff at nineteen by a Yardie who left me!” made for uncomfortable reading – there is a lot of information available about the racist connotations behind the word ‘exotic’ and I would recommend avoiding it as a descriptor for people.

The other thing that really bothered me was that Tess is suffering from an eating disorder and low self-esteem, seems to have some good people around her, and yet no-one has noticed or is helping her, and neither issue is properly addressed in the book. In a time where society is trying to reduce the stigma around discussing mental wellbeing, and given Tess seems to have been suffering for years with this, I was really disappointed that it was never fully addressed. Tess eventually is able to tune out the worst of the two voices in her head, but never seeks professional help, and we miss the dialogue where she is supposed to have spoken to Edward about this (we just get one line in the epilogue). This feels quite a significant element to have omitted particularly in terms of the key theme of self-love.

I also struggled with the pace a little as it started off slowly, and I think at times the voices of the talk show host and ‘Jane Austen’ interrupted the flow of things. Perhaps a conscious choice to show how they were affecting Tess, but it made the prose feel a little fragmented.

Despite these issues, I did eventually warm to Tess and Edward and the romantic in me was rooting for them. The setting of a hospice was hard going but actually worked well for the story being told, and I also liked the supporting characters of Mary, Kath, Madeline, Dr Fielding and Morris the cat.
Thank you to NetGalley and OneMoreChapter for my copy of the book in exchange for this honest review.

TW: Grief, cancer, self esteem issues, mental wellbeing, bulimia.

An original setting makes this story stand out. It captures the ethos of a hospice and shows the positivity of end of life care. Tess is a believable character. Dedicated and driven, she puts others before herself. Her emotional life is battle-scarred, and this reflects on her lack of self-worth. Despite the emotionally sensitive themes, this is a positive story. The use of the inner voice is effective but emotionally draining for the reader.

Not a lighthearted read but relatable and ultimately uplifting.

I received a copy of this book from One More Chapter via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

Wow, did I hate this, I almost DNF'd this at one point. I honestly don't know what was good about this book. I didn't like the romance at all, they had 0% chemistry and neither of the characters I liked. The only good characters in this book were Mary and the cat.

Here's a list of things in this book that were unnecessary and could have been deleted:

- the voices in her head. They were the absolute worst: annoying right off the bat, and the more they appeared the more I thought they were unnecessary, especially since the things that were said were super problematic.
- the bulimia. It felt like it was just added to give the main character a "struggle" and it was not addressed later other than she stopped and also told the love interest.
- the dad. Again, why?
- the cheating. Obvious reasons.

The cover alone is beautiful!!!! I'll be purchasing this one to have on the bookshelf. Such a fun, quick read!

Love Life was touching and heart-warming women’s fiction and romance that revolved around Doctor Tess finding love, confidence and selflove once again. The story was about secrets, kindness, family, friendship, betrayal, bulimia, getting over self-doubt, not giving control to nagging inner voice, loving yourself, loss, grief and bereavement.

Writing was engaging, fast paced and emotive. It was written in third person narrative from Tess’s perspective. Setting of Bristol was interesting but most of the story took place in St Martin’s Palliative care facility. Plot was much more serious that I had imagined and also dramatic with two voices in Alice’s head.

It started with Tess struggling with betrayal of her last boyfriend who cheated her by sleeping another guy. That incident had huge impact on her emotional state and confidence pushing her towards darkness of bulimia. Only solace in her life was her job at St Martin’s as trainee doctor to be general practitioner. But when Edward came to St Martin’s with his mother dying from cancer, her work life was also turned stressful. Tess and Edward shared a past, a one-night stand but now Edward is different from how she remembered him. He doesn’t even recognise her and he is totally arrogant, cold and harsh. Tess’s decision about his mother’s treatment made things even more tense and affected her already unstable emotions and self-respect.

It was interesting to see how Tess would stand against the voices in her head, care for her patient and not giving into her feelings towards Edward at the same time, how she would learn to gain control over her life, and would learn to love herself again.

Tess was interesting character. She was kind, smart and lovely but she was also vulnerable, pushover and submissive. As story progressed, we know her more through her relation with her family. We see how the voices in her head started, why she had low self-esteem and it was sad to see her turn toward bulimia. I really felt for her.

I liked how her mother’s secret got back fight in her, reminded her of care free time in college and how it slowly boosted her confidence. I also loved her for her kind and understanding nature. I liked her for seeing things through her mother’s perspective and forgiving her.

The voices in her head I mentioned were of Jane Austen, the good voice and Jerry Springer like TV host voice, the bad and negative one. It gave depth and layer to her character. They were like devil and angel on each shoulder. At first, they were distracting and annoying but as story progressed, I got used to them and I liked Jane Austen’s logical and sensible voice providing voice of reason and support to Tess.

Tess’ development was great and I cheered for her when she conquered her inner voices. But at the same time, I couldn’t really wrap my head around her poor decisions and mess she created near climax.

Edward was not likable at first. Tess’s memory of him five years ago and how he was now was so different. He was cold, harsh, and arrogant. I get it, he was struggling to accept his mother was dying and her cancer wasn’t curable but still forcing his mother and then lashing out on Tess for not continuing chemo was not mature and sensible thing. He failed to listen or understand reason more often in story. Just when I was thinking I get him, his action and reaction surprised me. Only Tess could forgive him for his words and what he did in the climax. His development was good and I liked him for trying to make things right at the end.

I liked secondary characters more in this book. Kath- Tess’s friend, Madeline – Edward’s sister, Jake- Tess’ brother, staff of St. Martin’s… they all were amazing and I liked them for pushing Tess and Edward in right direction.

Best part was the Tess’ time at hospice. I liked the way author showed the pain and suffering of cancer patients and their family, how staff at hospice work, how important job in palliative care are and how it can be emotionally difficult, stages of death, what exactly happens with terminally ill patients when they are near death and how staff handle it. Even though I didn’t like the inner monologues that much, it was realistic thing and it’s really common to have nagging inner voice.

Romance came much later in story. Edward had girlfriend and around in middle of story Tess too had boyfriend which made both hesitant and turn their love story dramatic. Tess’s feelings for Edward was clear from the beginning but Edward was hard to read making their romance uncertain and giving it ‘will they won’t they’ edge.

Twist and turns were interesting. Some were predictable while some were surprising. Climax was unbelievable. Like I said I didn’t like what Tess did. It was most foolish and out of character and I could see where things were going after that. I liked how they both confessed their feelings and finally talked like an adult with each other near the end. End was uplifting and lovely.

Why 3.5 stars-

I didn’t like that host’s Jerry Springer like voice. I get people have negative inner voices but things said through that voice was really extreme. I also didn’t like how much focused Tess was on her boyfriend’s betrayal. I don’t know why she couldn’t see her ex might not know he was gay until he betrayed her. So many things Tess thought or believed was just in her head and it was really annoying at some point. I also didn’t like all of sudden Edward was turned into vulnerable person, not for grief and bereavement but a person who also had negative voice and had self-doubts.

Overall, Love Life was touching, emotive, and enjoyable women’s fiction and romance with some interesting and realistic aspect.

I recommend this if you like,
character with eating disorder
good character development
Hospice setting
will-they-won’t-they arc
theme of self-love and fighting inner voice
great supporting characters

this one didn't work for me, unfortunately. i didn't like the characters, didn't love the thoughts in the character's head, overall it felt kind of disjointed to me and like it was trying to do too much. i admit i requested this purely for the jane austen mention in the synopsis, and that let me down a bit.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book provided to me through NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to the author and publisher for giving me the opportunity to read this book!

Love Life by Nancy Peach tells the story of Dr. Tess Carter and her chance reencounter with Edward Russell, who isn’t quite who she remembers from years ago. Tess is struggling with self-doubt after a failed relationship (finding her boyfriend in bed with another man!) and dealing with the anxiety and anguish that comes from failing at love and blaming yourself, when in reality you’re not at fault.

What a great read and I really couldn’t put it down! I found myself relating to Tess and knowing all about the little voices inside of us that sometimes try to tell us we’re not good enough or worthy, and really loved that by the end of the book she found peace within herself and self-love. The author did a good job of making many relatable characters and developing the relationships throughout the book. I would have honestly enjoyed a little bit more towards the end of Tess and Eddie’s relationship, only because it was so adorable to read how well they got to know each other and understood one another. I definitely got Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth Bennett vibes from reading this book, and I will definitely be looking for more books by this author.

Overall, I would highly recommend this book as I read it in about 1.5 days and just wanted to know how it was going to end!

Sorry not for me!

I loved the initial concept of the two warring voices in her head and I've always been a big fan of the E2L trope but this one fell short for me.

I found Tess unlikeable and needing to get with the real world. I like her care towards her patients but found her lacking in her own life.

Struggled to read it all but would consider checking out the author again!

This book was actually a bit better than I expected after seeing previous reviews/ratings on Goodreads. I don’t know that I’d really consider this book a romance, although it does have that element. It deals with a lot of serious issues in an interesting way. I felt it was a bit overwritten towards the beginning, but that seemed to change as the book went on. The inner voices the main character hears is unique and creative, but maybe just a bit silly and unnecessary. The tone of most of the book doesn’t necessarily fit the silly inner voice angle, especially as the main character is supposed to be in her right mind. Overall, I enjoyed this book, but am probably glad at the bad reviews I read beforehand as it kept my expectations in check.
Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollind UK for providing me access to this eARC for my honest opinion!

This made me think the main character had a mental health problem with a voice narrating everything. DNF


***********I received an ARC for my honest opinion.*********************

Dr. Alice Carter is on rotation in hospice when Edward Russell comes barrelling through the doors, his mother having just been admitted. One glance and she's knows it's him, remembers every detail about the one night they spent together 10 years ago. Unfortunately for her, he seems to have no recollection whatsoever. Navigating end-of-life care is already difficult enough without the added complication of seemingly one-sided feelings.

Despite the serious and sometimes dark plot of the book, I enjoyed this story. Not going to lie, the first chapter was hard to get through and I wasn't sure I was going to be able to keep reading, but I'm so glad I did. Alice and Edward both have their fair share of baggage and we see them struggle quite a bit at the beginning. As the story progresses we see them come to terms with some things and overcome others, but not everything is wrapped up in a tidy bow at the end (although I would say it's an hea). Love Life is sweet and real, raw in some places, but ultimately it's hopeful.

I liked this one. I didn't LOVE it, but I definitely liked it. I enjoyed the storyline and felt that the book itself was very well written. I had never heard of this author before reading this book, honestly, and I wasn't sure what to expect. However, I think they did a pretty fine job and I am interested in reading more.

After taking a little while to get used to the weird 'game show host' and 'Jane Austin' internal monologues I was starting to like this book. But the more it went on, the more repetitive it became, this book was a good 150 pages too long for me.
There were lots of things I didn't like about this book.
Firstly, the two central characters were so unlikeable it was difficult to root for them and their relationship. There was also no chemistry between them either.
Secondly I felt this book just went round and round in circles with the 'will they/won't they' troupe.
And finally I really disliked the internal monologues. It just didn't work for me. Especially the fact that there were two different internal monologue characters - the host and Austin. Why there needed to be two I don't know. Neither of these monologue characters added anything to the plot either.

I didn't find this book cosy or romantic or funny - and some of the language was a bit derogatory at times, and made it uncomfortable to read.

Nancy Peach created a cute little world that really draws you in in her novel Love Life! Great and easy beach read.

The premise of this story is very interesting. It's a romance, but it deals with, hospice and so it's not that fluffy story you would think it was. The story deals with a lot of serious themes, but it has a romance mixed in it. I liked Tess, but she has a lot of issues she needs to deal with, as well as the Edward. The two voices in Tess's head is an interesting concept, and I liked it once I got used to it. I could totally see this being better played out on the tv where we can physically see the conversations. Overall it's not a bad read, although if you are looking for a fluffy feel good read this may not be the story for you.

The thing with this book is that I am very intrigued with the premise. It is a love story, but there is also a lot of emphasis on the female main characters struggles with mental health. I could relate to her on a lot of different things that I usually do not do in books. But unfortunately, I still did not like this book. Her inner voices were a bit too over the top for me to find them believable. They were very frequent but could stop for an entire conversation, in situations I would imagine some comment from tour inner voices would be present. I mean talking to people can be very anxiety inducing and I would imagine that they would have something urgent to complain about. Instead, they often appeared right after these longer conversations immediately. So, I was not too impressed, but I would have finished this cook if it was not that the PDF was unreadable on my phone. I will stop requesting ARCs in PDF format after this. I have requested previously and have found all but one fully readable in the Netgalley phone app. But seriously if you are going to put out ARC you should make sure that it is possible to read in the Netgalley app. I was not impressed enough by this book to sacrifice my eyes hurting to finish it and DNFed 50 % in.