Prepare yourselves because it’s gushing time! I absolutely loved this novel which is part love story, part mystery and just full of heart and soul!

Emma has a wonderful life with Leo, but that’s about to be turned upside down as secrets she’s hidden for years finally come out. As Emma had a brief stint on TV and is fairly well known in her field of work, journalist Leo is tasked with writing her obituary whilst she’s still alive - after all, who could know her better than her own husband? Except he soon finds out he doesn’t know her at all, and everything he’s ever believed is a lie - because it turns out he’s not the only love of her life…

Sorry to rave on but honestly I just love love LOVED everything about this - from the absolute desperate need to keep turning the pages and find out what was really going on, to the brilliant and unexpected plot twists which kept cropping up! Just when I thought I had it all figured out…well, I didn’t 🤣

Oh and the characters - what an absolute joy Emma and Leo were, so warm, funny, kind and in love. I loved how infatuated they still were with each other after years of marriage and a family, but that’s what made it even harder to keep reading and see whether they would make it!

But what this novel really brings is a lot of depth, emotion and insight - especially around motherhood and mental health illness. I certainly don’t want to give anything away but there are themes around being unable to have a child, postnatal psychosis and postnatal depression, and I think they were really beautifully done with tenderness and understanding. Honestly I spent half the book not knowing whether to smile or cry because it’s just one of those bittersweet stories that both breaks and warms your heart - can’t recommend it enough!

Unfortunately I never got into this audio book the main character grated on me such a shame as I was so looking forward to it. I have purchased the book though so am going to read it as I really did like the story line.

The Love of My Life is the story of Emma, a marine biologist and her husband Leo, an obituary writer. It's a combination of a love story and a family mystery and I loved the unexpected nature of that. It felt so fresh and original to read a novel that does not fit into one genre but cleverly brings a combination together. I loved the dual narratives from Emma and Leo and was completely drawn into both their lives. The book is partly set in London but also on the Northumberland coast and the author really brought that alive for me.
The audiobook is narrated by Imogen Church and Theo Solomon and sadly this was the weak point for me. Solomon narrates the character of Leo well but I found that Imogen Church really grated on me and was not the right choice to bring the character of Emma to life. After gaining the opportunity to listen to this audiobook I went on to purchase the kindle version of the book which is definitely a 5 star read that I would highly recommend. Unfortunately the narrator prevented this from being a 5 star listen.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to listen to and review this digital audiobook.

I’m sorry to say that though this book initially caught my interest I soon found I was struggling to pick it back up once I had put it down. I’d heard the author talking about it on a podcast and it had sounded fascinating, and the author was utterly lovely, but I just couldn’t finish the book. I’m sorry. I haven’t shared my thoughts on social media as I only believe in sharing the positive.

This book wasn't at all like I thought it would be! In a good way. It's not a traditional love story. I loved the voice actors who really brought this story to life. Rosie Walsh painted an astounding story of Emma and Leo who are madly in love and have a young daughter called Ruby. Emma has a dark/deep rooted secret from her past which haunts her everyday.

Can she ever be truthful with Leo, will she ever feel complete again. Can the love of her life forgive her and love her like she loves them?

This well paced story touched me and I thought about the characters long after I'd finished the audiobook.

Thank you to #netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to review this book. I'm looking forward to hearing more from Rosie Walsh. It was a pleasure to listen to 'The love of my life' I highly recommend it.

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan for providing me with a free copy of this audiobook!

As i listened to the first chapters I found myself really captivated by the story. Sadly after having finished it I can't say that I've liked it as much as I initially thought I would.. I felt like this story didn't really know what it wanted to be. There's almost three different books in one. I don't think authors should necessarily stick to one genre single genre just to better fit into a box but if you mix genres it should be done smoothly, here it isn't the case AND there is also a whole lot going on, maybe a bit too much..
I also didn't love the woman narrator, her male voices were a bit odd.

On the positive side, the characters were endearing and I was curious to understand the big mystery Emma was hiding from her husband, it kept me going! The story was also never boring and I do like a neat ending!
The beginning vibe was reminiscent of "Where'd you go Bernadette" even if it took a much darker turn..

Maybe not the book of the year but entertaining enough.

2.5 stars

The Love of my Life is kind of a mixture between Romance and Mystery/Thriller which made me want to read it. I have to confess, that some parts were hard for me since Emma has a rare illness that suddenly becomes serious. Her husband, who is an obituary writer, copes with this by digging into her past to be prepared for when it comes to writing her obituary. A bit macabre in my opinion. But he uncovers some secrets about his wife. This is when the story takes on!
I really enjoyed the audio version of this book performed by Imogen Church and Theo Solomon.
Thanks #NetGalley #Macmillan UK Audio for this copy

Wow this book had me hooked in from the word go and I could not stop thinking about it as I was listening! Sometimes you have mega high expectations for a book or an author and those expectations are not met, you hype it up too much for yourself and you’ve only yourself to blame. I had high expectations going into this since Rosie Walsh is one of my favourite authors of all time and those expectations were not only met but exceeded. This is, without a doubt, one of my all time favourite books of the year!

I loved getting to meet Emma and Leo and even though this book is about Emma and who she actually is, we get to discover an equal amount about both characters. If you love a character driven novel then you will love this one. Emma is so complex, we know she has a hidden past and we know that we may discover some things about her we might not like but you find yourself really getting behind her and empathising with her all the way. At the same time we have Leo who is suddenly prying into his wife’s past and going through her things, we should hate this invasion of privacy and this breaking of trust and yet you find yourself totally backing him and his decisions too because he is helping us as readers find out about who Emma is too-such a surprise!

But it is the writing and the crafting of this book that really blew me away. This is a book that leaves you with more questions than answers at the end of every chapter. You jump around in time and you jump around between Leo and Emma’s story and so you’re always waiting and wanting to find out more. To drip feed information so painfully slowly to your reader is such an awesome skill and one that I am in total awe of. I listened to the audiobook and it was great aside from the way the narrator pronounced the station Leuchars which unfortunately Emma goes to quite a bit in this novel. It bothered me but it definitely didn’t take away from my enjoyment of the writing.

This was the kind of audiobook that I stayed longer in my car to keep listening to, that I had to keep playing once I arrived somewhere just to see the fall out from a revelation that just happened. I loved every minute of it and although it wasn’t always a pain-free read in terms of the content, it was all worth it. I just loved the intricacies of these two characters and I adored the way this book was crafted and the story woven oh so carefully. I highly recommend it!

Readers in the U.S. have really been loving The Love of My Life. I get it. Rosie Walsh’s latest novel is full of twists and turns, and I never was fully certain where the story would go.

Because Leo's wife has had a brush with death (from cancer… the publisher blurb just mentions an “illness”), he looks into her past. He's an obituary writer and just can’t help himself from starting hers just in case. What he learns is that she’s not who he thought she was, and she’s got a whopper of a secret (or two! or three!) in her closet.

Where I struggled a bit was with the tone. Is the novel a slow-burn family drama? Or a domestic thriller? It felt a little like what you’d get if Anne Tyler and Lisa Jewell decided to co-author something. Comparison to either of those two writers is far from a bad thing, but I’m not sure they’d make great collaborators.

Chapters primarily alternate between the first person perspectives of the husband and wife, so the audiobook is narrated by Imogen Church and Theo Solomon. They both did a fine job, though even at 1.75x speed it felt longer than it needed to. I was eager to get to the end to see the plot’s resolution and also to move on with my life.

Side note that I’m adding in because if/when I look back on this review I want to remember something. The book ends with a fart. Yep, a fart. Despite the absence of laughs or really any levity throughout the entire novel, the story concludes with a character tooting (“breaking wind”) and blaming it on a moped. Alrighty then!

3.5 stars

My thanks to Macmillan UK Audio for the gifted advance listening copy to review via NetGalley. The Love of My Life is now available in the US and will be published in the UK on June 23, 2022.

This is honestly one of the most heart wrenching, gut turning, absolutely devastating books I've ever read.
Honestly, the thickening in your throat and the constant dry gulps to try clear it only make trying not to allow the feelings of those words on the pages of TLOML drip down your face.

As a parent, a partner, a daughter, a friend and foe of some; this is a traumatic and life altering dive. You are every single character involved in this story of life. EVERY. SINGLE. ONE! It's absolutely wondrous. A book of total surprise. Like TOTAL SURPRISE though.

I'll tell you straight at 85% in it didn't matter the outcome. It could have gone either way in numerous situations. It would not have mattered. It would not take away the height and depth and utter insight this book has given already. There is no taking away from that. It could only build. I obviously carried on and finished it of course. I couldn't not have. I still needed to know everything. I still needed the words to drink as if it water and I was absolutely dehydrated.

One more thing. This may be the only time I say I'm thankful I had the audiobook instead of the book first. I know first time in on paper would have absolutely ended me. I would not have been able to cope.
The narrator has done a marvellous job!

RW has hit such a fantastic high standard with this. I know it's going to be one that will be in my favourites forever more.

Truly one for all to read. One you must read in fact. Emotional, compelling, utter brilliance.
5/5

I’m afraid I dnf this after four chapters. The story didn’t grab my attention and the male and female voices used to narrate really irritated me. This was a shame as I loved this authors previous book.

Oh my goodness, this one packs a punch! This one gave me lots of feels (we’ll all the feels actually) but it does go to some dark places - there’s content warnings/potential spoilers that some readers might want to be aware of, so check out at the end for more info.

This book is like several in one, it spans many genres: it starts off as a romance, then moves into mystery/thriller territory and then into pure domestic thriller. The romance is handled wonderfully handled by Walsh as you follow the heartbreak that Emma and Leo experience as they struggle with the aftermath of Emma’s illness and her hopeful recovery. But then moves into mystery as Emma’s past and hidden life is so very slowly revealed and you’ll be wracking your brain trying to figure out the big reveal. (I’ll save you the bother - you won’t!) And then the domestic thriller as the big reveal is made and you follow the impact of it all. Wow!

You get 3 viewpoints in this: Emma and Leo’s (voiced by Church and Solomon respectively) - kudos to Church for such a powerfully emotive depiction of Emma’s struggle. You also get the viewpoint of another central character in this by way of diary/journal entries.

This is not an easy read/listen and it brought tears to my eyes in many occasions. But I think it was handled really well and the ultimate message of hope and forgiveness is what I take away from this. Brilliant!!

Thanks to NetGalley, the team at Macmillan UK Audio, and the author for the opportunity to listen to this review copy.

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⚠️Content warning/potential spoilers: there’s detail of mental health (specifically postnatal depression and postpartum psychosis), reference to suicidal thoughts and feelings, and the effects on those around the affected ⚠️

At first this book appears to be an intimate exploration of a marriage, from day-to-day mundane routines, to the special moments, to suggestions of an extramarital affair. Keep reading and you'll find you have been just as duped as the characters in the book; everything is not as it seems. Nearly every character has lied or been lied to for almost two decades.

After eighteen years of marriage, Leo finds evidence that his wife Emma is not who she claims to be, Certain biographical details aren't correct and, suspecting she has been having an affair, he starts to dig a little deeper. But Emma can't tell Leo the full truth about her past because she doesn't know the truth herself.

The book quickly becomes an exploration of consent, mental health issues and the unreliability of an unstable singular perspective. It's got some sad moments and some nice observations about married life. However, there were quite a few plot points that felt a little far-fetched and some of the decisions the characters make about their lives are unfeasible.

It was an easy read and the twists in the tale did make for a more interesting story than 'married woman has an affair' but each outlandish development conjured an image of the author rubbing her hands and saying 'Ho ho - they'll never see this coming!'

My favourite character was Leo because he was just as baffled as I was. I'll never read this book again BUT I have to hand it to the author - she did keep me reading. The characters were human, flawed and easy to sympathise with, and that is the reason I gave it 4 stars.

The audio version is sloooow! I listened to the whole book on 1.25 speed and actually forgot later on, it didnt feel too fast at all. Not sure why its so slow, it doesn't help build tension and I initially struggled to keep interest.

Once it got going with more speed it was a great read. It certainly has some good twists and turns which I really enjoyed!

Thanks Netgalley for the ARC.

My first audiobook so it took a bit of getting used to however that said what a great story. There were twists and turns that I never saw coming. This isn’t my usual genre but I really enjoyed it.

I should have know from the title and cover this wasn’t going be the usual domestic noir I enjoy. The idea was certainty a interesting one, it just didn’t live up what I was expecting or wanted.
The book does have elements of domestic noir but it wasn’t dark enough for me, there wasn’t any real tension and it was it quite slow.
I found parts very boring I don’t know if this was cause it was in audio form but some chapters dragged on and on, I would be interested to read the book rather than listen to see if it was the fact I found both narrators voices quite flat. The story is intriguing for sure but I feel it is story that gets lost among all the details that are not really needed.
I found the characters too nice, a bit dull and just too perfect. I found Emma super annoying but again it could have been cause I wasn’t keen on the narrators voice.
I liked how the issue of PND was dealt with, the author handed it with care and give a true picture of what it can be like in my opinion. I also liked how the book swinged between present day and the past, the addition of the diary entries was a good way in moving the story along.
I think this book is more a love story than a mystery, love stories are not my thing, I think that should be clearer in blurb it’s sold more like a mystery in the manner of Claire Macintosh/Lisa Jewell type books where it is more a love story in a David Nicholls manner, so not quite fluffy chick lit but not anywhere near Jewell standards. If I had known this I might not have had such high exceptions.
I will admit I skipped chapters to get to the end, while I found the story to drag on it did pick up towards the end this brought what was a two star read up to three stars
Am sure many people will love this it just wasn’t for me. It could have been the fact it was the audio version I can’t comment on how it reads, I suspect it would be better though.
Thanks to NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for the ARC

3.5 stars
The Love of My Life is a novel with plenty of surprising twists and turns. The beginning is a little slow but really hooked me once Leo discovers his wife told a lie and dives headlong into the unknown by reaching out to people he didn’t know of but she’s been in contact with. Who is Jeremy Rothchild and why is his wife Janice missing? What does Emma have to do with it? You’d think this is a story about cheating but maybe it’s something else, I’m not saying more, my lips are sealed. In any case it’s not Emma herself but Jeremy who informs Leo about Emma’s history, and flashbacks to a time when Emma came into their lives show what Emma went through when she was in her twenties. The heart of the story is tragic and it will probably tug at your heartstrings too in the scenes set in the past.

I enjoyed the story but I was hoping so hard for a re-do of The Man Who Didn’t Call, this great impossible love story between a man and a woman, and being so different it didn’t entirely live up to my expectations. I loved her first novel so much and while there is definitely love in this story too, and an impossible, yearning love even, the love between the couple of main characters, Leo and Emma, isn’t what I call epic. When I think of a romance novel this isn’t what I’m thinking of and for me this falls more under contemporary fiction, a family history, drama.

So, apart from this novel feeling as a different type from her debut novel, my enjoyment was also tempered by the narration. The story is told in his (Leo) and her (Emma) voices and Leo’s voice was pleasant enough to listen to, the male voice was measured and calm but the female narrator stressed every other word in a sentence and I like audiobooks with attention to intonation but this was too much for my liking. I didn’t enjoy the other voices she did either, she gave Leo in her parts in the beginning a very deep and slow voice but that wasn’t how the other narrator presented his character. Also her child’s voice for Ruby wasn’t a young voice that sounded innocently cute or angelic, but rather annoying. I know several blog friends who love listening to audiobooks narrated by Imogen Church so I think it’s just a personal thing for me and if you’re interested in this novel you should not refrain because of this.

The plot was full of emotions, secrets and social issues that are rarely spoken about. The characters were fully developed. The twists and turn within the story seem so huge and yet with the way the story turned out, it seems that love conquered all. The way each character has a huge impact on each other life and yet in a very subtle way is hard to write. Rosie Walsh did it beautifully.

This story was narrated by Imogen Church, Theo SolomonThey did a wonderful job. The emotions which Imogen and Theo put into the characters truly brought them to life. The pace was good.

Thank you to Macmillan UK Audio and NetGalley for letting me read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I loved the man who didn't call so I was so excited to get approved for this audio book and it didn't disppoint. I loved the story, I loved the characters and I loved the naarrators who really did a good job on this book, I felt like i was right there with them. this was such an emotive listen and I cannot wait to get a physical copy of this book.

A Five-star experience for your soul. I adored listening to this story, the narrators did a great job of absorbing you into the story, making you feel Emma’s panic and Leo’s confusion. The way the story wraps itself up and reveals each part of the story, just as you need the next part. There is so much tragedy and misunderstanding in this story, but there is also so much love. I loved the pace of this story, and the end, there was so much, but its so beautifully done. I will be looking out for more from this author and also from the narrators as they brought so much heart to the reading.