A lovely book that shows true love doesn’t always run smoothly. I really enjoyed reading it and didn’t want to put it down. I’ll be looking for more by this author. Well done!

Bring tissues! Fran and Will were best friends aged 7, and become boyfriend and girlfriend as they got older. Will’s mum passes away and his dad takes him to live in Australia. 18 year old Fran is pregnant and Will leaves the country thinking she is having an abortion. Twenty five years on, Will is back….but both Fran and Will are keeping. life changing secret.

BOOK REVIEW: Before We Grow Old by Clare Swatman
Publication Date: January 19

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

T.I.M.E. Recommended Books By Genre | Contemporary Romance

CONNECT WITH THIS BOOK | T.I.M.E. SIMPLE LIVING TIP
When you are overwhelmed, just write down each thing you want to do... And begin one task at a time... ✨😎✨

T.I.M.E. Book Review: Such a wonderful surprise favorite read... All while discovering a new author for me! This story checks so many boxes for contemporary romance readers as it guides you thru first love, lifelong love, love lost, love found and second chance at love themes... Navigating the minefield of friendship and love that lasts over a lifetime of experiences... When love is the prize and the stakes are high, you may find yourself surprised (as I was) by the capability we can have to focus on the things that matter most, even in circumstances that tests love endurance... ✨😎✨

Pages: 348
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Sub-Genre: Second Chance At Love Romance
Time Period: Present Day + 25 years earlier
Location: England

IF YOU LIKE THIS BOOK THEN TRY…
Book: It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover
Movie: Flipped

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All my reviews can be seen at This Is My Everybody | Simple Living | Denise Wilbanks at www.thisismyeverybody.com

♡ Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. I voluntarily chose to review it and the opinions contained within are my own.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me an ARC in exchange of an honest review.

I knew I was expecting a heartache when I noticed the preface was written to a husband or a lover who has passed in the novel when their names matched. I loved the pacing of the novel, as much as I hate angst, I couldn't put it down. The shift in the times were a good touch to have flashbacks. My heart ached so much reading this, Definitely a read for those who likes having their heartstrings pulled. Would love to go back in time to experience this again

While the premise of the blurb sounded wonderful the first half of the book was okay but the last half i didn't enjoy one bit. I lost interest in the characters very quickly, and sadly I didn't really care for them much at all.

I found a lot of the situations were easily resolved, as soon as it was mentioned everything practical fell into place. For me this felt unnatural and I would have loved a bit of a challenge for situations.

The things I did like was:
-Fran and Will rekindling their relationship
-The bucket list
-Realising love was more important than the little things.

Thank you to Netgalley and Boldwood Books for the digital ARC of Before We Grow Old in exchange for an honest review.

This is a really touching love story about Fran and Will. Childhood friends from the age of seven, then a couple as teenagers and then they lose touch for 25 years! When they meet again is it really a chance encounter and will their love get a second chance?

Please don’t be mistaken into thinking that this is nothing more than a sweet love story based on the synopsis and the appealing pink cover. It is sweet, but bittersweet and it is an epic love story, but it also deals with some heartbreaking topics that may very well leave you reaching for tissues more than once. I can’t really tell you more as it would give something away that is not in the synopsis and I wouln’t want to do that.

This story is told by Fran and I immediately liked her and “got” her and could relate to some of the stuff she is going through.

There are a lot of secrets, both old and newer and how when we keep those secrets from our loved ones that can kind of lead to a domino effect. This is a heartbreaking, emotional story and based on the story I expected to be sobbing my eyes out, but for some reason I felt a little distant from the story, hence the 4 stars instead of 5. I read the story, but I didn’t feel like I was really “living” it like I had expected, until close to the end. Although it is a really sad story, there are many moments of pure love, hope and even some humor so I also got that warm feeling from the love and I smiled and even laughed a few times.

Overall this is an epic love story, but also a heartbreaking story. I highly recommend it, but I think it should come with a warning.

Fran and Will were best friends as children and then, at eighteen, and just when their relationship was getting more complicated, Will moved away. Twenty-five years later a chance meeting brings Fran and Will together again but with the scars of the past still painful, Fran is reluctant to get hurt again.

Before We Grow Old is a gentle story about love and loss with two main characters who seem to have had their share of personal heartache. Moving forward, and backwards, in time we get to know more about Fran and Will, the reasons for their separation and the sense of excitement when they meet again. However, whilst finding each other again is wonderful, they are both very different people than they were as teenagers but with gentle consideration they agree to rekindle their relationship and go forward together again.

Nicely written with a strong sense of emotional connection Before We Grow Old is a poignant and bittersweet story about taking a second chance on love, about finding a soul mate when you thought they were lost forever, and about coping, as best you can, with everything that life throws at you.

I am a sucker for a bright, feminine, sparkly cover and that’s almost certainly what drew me into this romance. Branded the love story of the year, I had high hopes for it and I can certainly say it brought the tears!

Fran and Will met when they were just seven years old and realised they were made for each other as they grew up. But when they were 18, Will’s family go through a devastating tragedy and his father uproots them to Australia, leaving Fran behind. 25 years later, Will is back in the UK and he has found Fran again but he has a secret to tell her. Fran also has a secret and is unsure about falling in love with Will all over again but could this be fate at its finest?

I loved how Fran could see the boy she’d always loved in the face of the middle-aged man, who she literally bumps into in a cafe, 25 years later. It’s almost like she has kept the memory of the details of his face all that time and they’re finally right there in front of her again. I know what it’s like to love someone so completely that you’d know them anywhere and that’s exactly what Fran and Will have.

There is a strong theme of time and making the most of it while you can. The concept of time changes as we go through our lives and both Fran and Will reflect on this constantly. During our youth, time stretches on and on but as you get older, it flies by and we often only realise this when we don’t have very much of it left. I won’t go into plot details in order to avoid spoilers but the book really inspired me to live in the moment and not to waste a single day of my short life.

Before We Grow Old is a heartbreaking and romantic novel that puts life and love into perspective and encourages readers to fully celebrate both of those things. There were certain aspects that didn’t quite ring true to me, such as Will’s ex-wife’s apparently instant, complete acceptance of the enormous changes to both her and her daughter’s lives. However, overall it is a thoroughly enjoyable, emotional and thought-provoking story of family, eternal love and life affirmation.

Sitting in a cafe during her lunch break one day Fran bumps into a blast from the past. Will, her best friend and then boyfriend from the age of 7,. They haven’t seen each other for 25 years after Will and his family moved to Australia.
Can they make their relationship work a second time? Or are there barriers and secrets between them that could ruin things for them?
I was drawn to both these characters, I loved reading about them and how their friendship developed both when they were younger and now as they try to rebuild it.
I felt their heartbreak and hope as the story unfolds, there were times where I was frustrated with them and just wanted them to be honest with each other. I laughed and cried with them.
At one point I was reading whilst sitting in a hospital waiting room and the tears were pouring down my face and I was trying so hard not to sob out loud!
Clare really made me feel I was there with them.
Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this title and thanks to Clare for once again creating a great emotional read

3/5 stars

This is a second chance romance and I liked a lot. Although there is romance I would also say there is a lot of other stuff that emotionally was so much for me. The ending is a little bittersweet but with a lot of learning. I was not expecting the way the book evolved but not in a bad way but it also makes you think about life and decisions.
Worth reading it just wasn't for me.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me an ARC in exchange of an honest review.

Clare Swatman is a new to me author but when I read the synopsis, I'm a sucker for second chance romances so I thought I'd give it a go.

When I started reading Before We Grow Old, I thought it was just a sweet second chance romance but it turned out to be 'I'm not crying honestly, there's just something in my eye' kind of book (which I'm not mad at). There's joy, there's sadness and a good dose of the awws too.

The story is told from Fran's perspective, starting when Will comes back into her life after twenty-five years, interspersed with memories along the way.

Fran was a character I rooted for. A single mum, working a job she doesn't particularly like to pay the bills. She thought she was happy but merely going through the motions until Will came back on the scene and I enjoyed watching her grow through the story.

I would have liked maybe to have seen some scenes from Will's point of view, just because I feel we didn't get to know him quite as well, but of course, that's just my opinion.

Before We Grow Old is a sweet yet poignant novel that will take you on an emotional rollercoaster.

Oh my word, what a story, so emotional and extremely well written, I must admit to reaching for the tissues on several occasions but at the end? Well I sobbed buckets but I'm so pleased I read this book, well done!

One of the things I like most about NetGalley is discovering new authors and being able to share them with all of you when I do. This is the case with this one! I hadn’t read anything by Clare Swatman but I was happily surprised with this one!

The story follows Fran and Will as they rediscover love and friendship 25 years later. It was an emotional ride, filled with love but also forgiveness, second chances and seizing opportunities.

I def recommend this one to anyone looking for a story that will make you both smile and cry a bit!

✨Thank you to the author, netgalley and Boldwood Books for an eARC of this book in exchange of an honest review. All opinions are my own.✨

Before we Grow Old is an emotional rollercoaster of a love story and is beautifully told by Clare Swatman.
I love how Will and Fran’s story is told through a duel timeline so you aren’t given all the information at once. In the past (set 25 years earlier) we learn how the met as children and how their friendship blossomed into an intense young adult relationship. I loved dipping in and out of this section as it reveals how both characters used to be and gently gives slivers of information that piece together to create a whole picture – like a jigsaw where the past and present stories come together. The present events are a little more tense. Both will and Fran have something they seem to be hiding and I enjoyed the mystery aspect of this. It created tension with the story and I was desperate to get to the bottom of it.
Both will and Fran are gorgeous characters that you root for from the beginning. Both have made mistakes in the past but they are realistic, flawed and human! I have a 13 year old and I think Clare Swatman nailed the parent/young teen dynamic so well too.
It’s difficult to speak about any of the plot without ruining the little surprises but being part of will and Fran’s past and present journey just took me through so many emotions. Their love story is one that will stay with you and the heartache in this story is well balanced by joyful, uplifting events too.
Check it out! And it is currently 99p on Kindle (at the time of publishing).

Before We Grow Old tells the story of Will and Fran, best friends since the age of seven until Will moves away. 25 years later, they find each other again with many secrets to tell. I found the story to be a bit predictable, yet unbelievable. I am glad that I read it, but I wish it had a bit more depth.

BEFORE WE GROW OLD by CLARE SWATMAN

When Will and Fran met at just 7 years old. The bond between them was instant and strong.
For 11 years, the two were inseparable, until at the age of 18, Will disappeared.
25 years later Will and Fran come face to face once more and back into each other’s lives. Their attraction is still overwhelming, but they both have secrets hidden that need to be told before they can move forward.

I started this book thinking it was going to be a heart warming romance. It did indeed tick those boxes, but was so very much more aswell.

Will and Fran’s story is emotional and complex. There is joy and laughter but also sadness and heartbreak.

This is a story of second chances, forgiveness, true love and learning to live for the day.

Clare Swatman writes beautifully and deals sensitively difficult topics

An emotional and beautiful story.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

With thanks to #Netgalley and #Boldwood for a digital arc of #BeforeWeGrowOld by #ClareSwatman.

I found this novel difficult to read . I found the character’s deceit unpalatable and despite the sad situation of the story I found it convoluted and really struggled to get to the end. Fans of Clare Swatman’s previous novels may enjoy this novel more than I did. Thanks to Boldwood Books and Netgalley for an ARC of this novel.

⌛📃Lovely but bittersweet tale of 2nd chance love & loss😢

Marvelous read but terrifically poignant. This tale of a soulmate lost and recovered for a second chance is much more. Couples and families come together and reconfigure as loved ones are lost, some permanently, others for a while. But family and loving connections, in sickness and in health, bring hope and renewal even when dark days hit.

I could not stop reading! It's frequently baldly frank about the fragility of life. But there's fun, excitement, adventure and a feeling of progress and accomplishment as the main couple works to complete their bucket list, drawn up when they were teenagers and abandoned for over 20 years,

I have to say, the kids in this book, Kieran and Elodie particularly, were uplifting influences. I can't think of many novels I've read where a young teen is such an ally and support for a parent crippled with grief. And young Elodie: out of the mouths of babes ...

This author knows how to warm the heart even while spinning a sad story!

Thanks to Boldwood Books and NetGalley for sharing a complimentary advance copy of the book; this is my voluntary and honest opinion.

'Hurting you was a regret. Not loving you. Never that.'

Will and Fran met when they were 7 years old and became friends and then lovers. After they lost touch at 18, they reunited again after 25 years.

My main issue with the story is that I found it hard to believe the MCs could have have let so much time pass before they reunited. Will's reason to seek Fran struck me as a bit egoistical and also Fran's secret was HUGE..I could not wrap my head around all the drama and at times it felt like too much.

However, through it all the writing was good and engaging. Each chapter left me wanting to read more and the final chapters were just perfect.

A story full of heart that explores grief, familial dramas and the frailty of life. Definitely a great read.

Thank you netgalley and boldwood books for kindly providing an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review

This book broke me.
I started reading it thinking it was going to be all roses and girl unlucky in live. I was totally wrong and the book had me sobbing in the last four chapters. We firstly meet Fran, a single mother to Kieran. Their bond is so cute and made me feel all warm and reminded me of my bond with my parents. Fran hasn’t had the best luck in the world when it comes to get love life, but all that is about to change when she bumps into her childhood sweetheart, Will, in her local coffee shop. Throughout this book we learn so much about the characters and their past, learning reasons for their actions in life. The book teaches us to not waste a second
This book is a beautiful life story. I highly recommend it to fans of One Day, PS I Love You and Me Before You