Member Reviews
I loved this book and it's inspired me to make a list of 12 things to try in 2023.
Haunted by grief following the sudden death of her best friend Hannah, Celeste is just plodding through life, doing the same things day in, day out.
When Hannah's partner Vik finds a list of resolutions that she'd written, Celeste decides to work through them herself to honour Hannah.
And with each one, she learns something, feels stronger, happier and more open to living again. And with that openness comes true happiness.
A beautifully moving story with a wonderful cast of characters and a heartwarming message.
This is a lovely, heartwarming Christmas story.
I loved the idea of doing a new year's resolution each month.
It was predictable it places, but I still really enjoyed it
Set between London and Ireland, Celeste is honouring some of her friend's wishes. Although set at Christmas, this is a tale about loss, friendship and making a future for yourself. A great selection of characters that add depth to the story.
A charming story full of emotion. I loved the idea of Celeste trying the ideas from the New Years Resolution list each month. Each one seemed to take her out of her comfort zone and make her think about her life and future.
The other characters were great additions- I especially liked Vik and Mel and their relationship with Celeste was so supportive and understanding.
The friendship between Patrick and Celeste was definitely one of those slow burning relationships - with friends and history in common, I really enjoyed seeing them get to know eachother. A particular highlight was the sound of the Ghent Christmas market - just idyllic.
celeste is determined to keep her late best friend's memory alive and decides to complete her bucket list. A lovely, heart warming Christmas story.
This is my first read of a one of Emily Bell books and what a treat it has been. It is well written, with heart-warming characters and plot, which makes for a lovely book.
3.75 ๐
A pleasant, somewhat festive, easy to read slow burn romance.
Lots of things to like in this book - a list of New Years resolutions/things to try, excellent London and Dublin scenery, a main character on a journey of self-discovery whilst dealing with some heavy grief.
Things I didn't like so much - somewhat predictable plot, characters that felt a bit immature considering they're supposed to be in their late thirties (or maybe I'm just an old woman in a early thirties body) and a lot of filler characters that felt like they were a bit pointless.
Overall I enjoyed the whole narrative of trying new things and making the most of enjoying life and I felt that the death of Hannah was handled sensitively. I also really liked reading about how Celeste and Hannah's friendship developed it was sweet and very relatable.
With thanks to Penguin and Netgalley for the ARC
A very uplifting story, despite the circumstances which lead Celeste to undertake a year of self discovery, following the loss of her best friend, Hannah, by trying to complete the list of resolutions that Hannah herself was unable to do. I loved the way that Hannah's friends all came together to support each other when faced with a future without her and what a wonderful sounding place Vik moved to - I would love to go and spend a weekend there!
Celeste's love life goes through some twists and turns along the way but I was very happy with where it ended up...... The only thing I would mention is that some things / situations seem to change very quickly, with almost no indication that they were going to happen - it seemed out of place in this well written story.
Thank you to Net Galley and the publishers for allowing me to read this in exchange for an honest review, which is what I have given.
Celeste and her best friend Hannah have spent New Year's eve together for almost twenty years. Over a few Baileys they enjoy chilling out, catching up and planning their New Year's resolutions.
However, when Hannah passes away suddenlyย on holiday in January Celeste is grief-stricken. To deal with her loss she decides to work through Hannah's 12 resolutions, one for each month.
Although, initially, she isnt too keen on the idea of some of the challenges, she finds that each benefits her in a different way. She starts to re-evaluate her lifestyle, work and love life... could Hannah's resolutions open new opportunities for her?
A lovely, cosy Christmasย read! A littleย predictable, but perfect for curling up with a mug of mulled wine and a slice of stollenย (is it too early to start on the festive food?!)
๐ญ แดส แดสแดแดษขสแด๊ฑ:
I really enjoyed it. Itโs not your typical hallmark romance but it does give that comfortable and peaceful vibe. I did really like the romance element to it, but to me it felt more about grief, acceptance and self-development. Which was quite refreshing. It does have your typical feel good ending! Really enjoyable and quick read for the holidays!
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๐ค สแดแดแด
ษช๊ฐ สแดแด สษชแดแด:
Romance
Hallmark Movies ๐ฟ
New Yearโs resolutions ๐พ
Short chapters
Self-development
๊ฑสษดแดแด๊ฑษช๊ฑ:
๐๐๐ฃ๐ฃ๐๐ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐พ๐๐ก๐๐จ๐ฉ๐ ๐๐๐ซ๐ ๐๐๐๐ฃ ๐๐๐จ๐ฉ ๐๐ง๐๐๐ฃ๐๐จ ๐จ๐๐ฃ๐๐ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฎ ๐ฌ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ฉ๐๐๐ฃ, ๐ฌ๐๐๐ฃ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฎ ๐ข๐๐๐ ๐ ๐ฅ๐๐๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐จ๐ฅ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ซ๐๐ง๐ฎ ๐๐๐ฌ ๐๐๐๐ง'๐จ ๐๐ซ๐ ๐ฉ๐ค๐๐๐ฉ๐๐๐ง.
๐๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐๐ถ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฏ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ธ๐ฐ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ: ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ช๐ด, ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ญ ๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐จ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐บ ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ช๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ด.
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ด๐ค๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ข ๐ญ๐ช๐ด๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ข๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฉ'๐ด ๐๐ฆ๐ธ ๐ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ'๐ด ๐๐ฆ๐ด๐ฐ๐ญ๐ถ๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด, ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ด ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ธ๐ข๐บ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ง๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ'๐ด ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐บ.
๐๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฑ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ง๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ, ๐๐ข๐ต๐ณ๐ช๐ค๐ฌ, ๐๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ฆ ๐ฌ๐ช๐ค๐ฌ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ด ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ญ๐ช๐ง๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฅ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ต ๐ข ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ.
๐ฝ๐ช๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐จ๐ฉ ๐๐๐ซ๐๐ฃ๐ฉ๐ช๐ง๐? ๐๐๐ก๐ก๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ฃ ๐ก๐ค๐ซ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ฃ . . .
Celeste and Hannah have been best friends for years but when tragedy strikes, Celeste is left to try and navigate life alone. She's given a list of resolutions to fulfil for Hannah and maybe she can learn something about herself along the way.
Aww this was a heartwarming story if sad at times. It touches on the grief of losing a loved one sensitvely but in a way that's real and relatable. The story is a slow and steady build up to a touching ending that didn't lead to massive compromises as I feared but instead Celeste taking a step forward for herself. The writing is descriptive and detailed. A lovely read for this time of year.
Although it had a sad beginning the rest of the book is filled with so much hope. I love that Celeste completed Hannahs resolution list and wasn't the usual 'lose weight. Actually inspired me to write one and try new things. Definitely recommend!!
I really didn't enjoy this book. I found it to be very slow, and I just couldn't connect to the characters.
It took a long time to get going, and this made me feel just a bit distant - despite wanting to be completely immersed, like with any romance novel.
Not for me this one.
The perfect book on how to navigate a death and learn to live without your person! Really enjoyed this and Emily Bell stays in my top 10 authors!
A heartwarming read about bereavement and friendship. Some lovely characters, I though Vik was particularly interesting and well portrayed. Lovely descriptions of places which really enhanced the story. Whilst the outcome might have been a bit predictable it was an enjoyable journey.
Another superb cozy read from Emily Bell. Set between Dublin and London, Celeste is grieving her best friend Hannah. In an attempt to honour Hannah and move through her grief, Celeste starts working on Hannah's list of resolutions from the year she died and, in turn, opens herself up to new experiences, new people and a new sense of self. A truly lovely seasonal read.
๏ฟผ
THE PLOT: Best friends since they were eighteen, Hannah and Celeste were inseparable.
Until tragedy strikes and Celeste finds herself alone. When she discovers a list of New Yearโs resolutions written by Hannah, Celeste is determined to complete everything her friend wanted to achieve.
Celeste puts on her big girl pants and sets off on a year of adventure that will help her live and maybe even love again.
MY THOUGHTS: I thoroughly enjoyed this heartfelt tale. It took me through a rollercoaster of emotions.
Celeste goes on quite a journey. She starts with the wonderful friendship that she shares with Hannah and then goes through heartbreaking grief, until finally finding herself again as she sets about honouring her friend.
There is a bit of slow burning romance ticking along, but it isnโt the main theme of the book.
I loved all the different places that Celeste visited. Especially Dublin, which was so beautifully and vividly described.
Over all, this is a warm hearted, poignant and delightful read.
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Out now on all formats.
With thanks to Netgalley and Michael Joseph Penguin Random House for a digital arc of this title.
Celeste and Hannah have been best friends for years so when Hannah dies suddenly Celeste is devastated. Hannah and Celeste always spent New Yearโs Eve together so when Celeste finds the list of Hannahโs New Years resolutions, she decides she will carry them out in honour of her friend.
As she works her way through the list Hannah finds herself reconnecting with friends, with fun and with life.
This story of friendship and love is beautiful, well written and totally captivating. It will have you laughing and crying in equal measure. Curl up with it on cold day and warm your heart.
When Celeste is facing the grief of loosing her best friend at such an young age, she decides to change something in her life. After finding Hannahโs New Years resolution, she decides to take it upon herself to make those happen in the memory of her friend.
I enjoyed this story. Itโs heartbreaking and follows so many topics that are close to everyoneโs heart. I loved that Celeste wanted to make something for her friend and tried within year to make it all happen. And soon enough, sheโs discovering a new world for herself. The romance story was on a slow burn side but one that grows on you when least expected.
Beautiful writing and romance story.
๐๐Very grateful to the publisher for my review copy through NetGalley
This had a lot of promise at the start, but with a lot of books it had a boring bit in the middle, the characters were well written and for the most part it was good and an easy read, it wasn't something you had to think about too much, its work a read just skip ahead in the middle