A new author for me. A very emotional read. I loved the story and you got a happy ending after going through some ups and downs in the story.. Shared care with your x is amazing.. I would struggle with that . I loved how the main character put her own happiness second at times.. So much I want to say but I would spoil the story- read it.. Children are amazing . Set in New York mainly.

This is a follow on book and didn’t realise this and tbh wished I had read the first book before this,however saying this there is a lot of backstory and so could connect to the characters and could piece together why we were at the place we were,10 years on from the original
Really well written and emotive and I enjoyed Lucy ‘speaking’ to Gabe,it felt genuine and real and I was fully invested in it
Always enjoy a book with short chapters where a lot is packed into each one
Overall a moving read and one glad read

An absolutely beautiful follow up to the first book. Incredibly emotional but so so heartwarming. Love these characters. Please bring a third instalment.

Thanks to @netgalley and publishers for the ARC.

I'd picked this book, not knowing that it was a sequel. Had I known that I would've read the 1st book beforhenad and that way, this one would have made much more sense. Even if it had been a little sentence on the back of the book to say so.
Whilst I enjoyed the story, it took me a while to get going because I constantly felt that I was missing something (I was in hindsight, the 1st book!). I thought this would be about a woman finding love again after the death of her husband/partner, but I didn't twig at first she was grieving the death of her (extra marital) lover not her husband, and her still being completely infatuated with him to the detriment of trying to find love again. It would've been good to see more of her relationship with the new guy and less about Gabe; he took up way too much book for me.

Lastly, I did find the copy really hard to read because there were numbers, letters jumbled about all over the place, as well as spelling and grammar errors.
That said, I'd probably read again after reading the first book.

When I found out there was a sequel to The Light We Lost, I couldn’t wait to dive in!

And it did not disappoint. Set ten years later, this book gives us a glimpse into Lucy’s life—and it’s an emotional whirlwind.

While it didn’t hit me quite as hard as The Light We Lost, it’s still a heartfelt and worthwhile read that I’d definitely recommend!

Thank you to NetGalley & HQ for the ARC! The Love We Found hits shelves on March 18th—don’t miss it!

Was really looking forward to this book but the text was jumbled with numbers.
I will give stars as its not the authors fault, hopefully it can get fixed?

Would love to give a review but the text was jumbled with numbers. Tried to contact support but doesn’t work.
Loved book 1 and was so looking forward to this too.
I have rated inline with the first book as don’t think it’s fair to punish the author for the poor format the book was delivered to my kindle.

I loved ‘The Light We Lost’ when I read it in 2017 and you always wonder if the sequel will be as emotional
and wonderful, and the answer to that question is yes.

Lucy’s love of Gabe and her mourning of his loss is beautifully shown during the whole book as not diminishing over the years, but she shows that life can and does move on and there is space in people’s lives and hearts for more than one love.

Her love for her children, and how blended families can work so well together, is also evident. The way the writing demonstrates how difficult the subject of discussing Sammy’s father is dealt with was beautifully written, and you could feel and understand the raw emotions for all members of the family.

I loved this book and would thoroughly recommend it. Jill is a wonderful author.

What an amazing book. It hooked me in from the first page.
I felt every emotion on the page. Secrets unearthed and family dynamics changed.
Revisiting previous haunts and memories. Making new connections and possibly future plans.
The 10 year anniversary of Gabe's death brings up a memorial photo show of his work as a photo journalist.
Retracing Gabe's steps to take photos of the same places but 10 years later leads to meeting new friends and protégé for his work.

The Love we Found is a beautiful, emotional love story with added dimensions. I have not read The Light We Lost, but this book works just as well alone and I think that if I had I'd be a total emotional wreck now. I lot of time is given over to Lucy's relationship with Gabe anyway so I don't think I missed out. Yes, it was all a bit predictable but even so it was eminently readable.

Having recently read and enjoyed the earlier book I was excited to read the follow up. It’s a story didn’t disappoint. Highly recommended.

I was so excited to dive into The Love We Found, the sequel to The Light We Lost, and catch up with these characters again. It picks up ten years after the first book, and I won’t give too much away for those who haven’t read it yet—but if you were invested in the first book, you’ll definitely want to see where life has taken them.

I’ll admit, I preferred The Light We Lost, but this was still a really emotional and heartfelt read. It deals with grief, family, and new beginnings in a way that feels reflective and uplifting. Jill Santopolo has such a way of bringing characters to life—you really feel their struggles, emotions, and everything they’ve been through.

Yes, I did guess how things would wrap up, so it was a bit predictable, but that didn’t take away from my enjoyment. Sometimes, a book doesn’t need to shock you—it just needs to make you feel, and this one definitely did. It was like an emotional comfort read, and I loved that.

Overall, this was a solid 3.5-star read, rounded up because of how much I enjoyed reconnecting with the characters. If you loved the first book, you’ll appreciate this one—just be prepared for a few tears along the way!

A big thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The description of the book didn’t do justice to how complex the story was, or how much Lucy, the main character had experienced in the decade the story covers.

I liked the mix of past and present of the story and the way the story is written, so that Lucy is talking to Gave throughout.

I feel like this is less about her finding love again and more about her still being infatuated with Gabe.
Which made this a little disappointing for me.
While I did enjoy it. I would have liked more of her relationship with a new guy and less about Gabe. He took up majority of the book.

This was a fast read short chapters that kept me reading, 'just one more chapter' rather than going to sleep.

This book involves a trip down memory lane to allow the characters to heal themselves. I didn't realise initially that this was the 2nd of a pair of books and I think I would have enjoyed it more if I had read the first book. I will probably do this now as I think it will give a lot more context.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC.

ahhhhhh my first ARC !!!! 😭😭😭❤️❤️❤️

the light we lost made me ugly cry and was a 6 star read for me, so i went into this with high expectations…

super short chapters, so it was a quick and easy read but this book didn’t give gut-wrenching sadness and uncontrollable ugly crying like the first book did.

the relationship between Lucy and Dax was very insta-lovey then felt like an afterthought and I didn’t really care for their relationship.

it wasn’t a bad book by any means, Jill Santopolo does a great job at writing about secrets and guilt, modern families and how the choices we make shape our life and coming to peace with these choices. but for me, it fell flat since i loved the first book so much.

Thank you to the publisher, the author & NetGalley, for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is a beautiful and moving book, about loss and love, and how maternal love can sometimes clash with romantic love. A very human story, with identifiable emotions and conflicts. Lucy is still grieving for her lost love, even though ten years have passed since his death. However, she is also wracked with feelings of guilt about the secrets she is keeping. When she unexpectedly finds new love she is unsure of how she can allow this relationship to develop without compromising her time with her children. It touches upon themes that are particularly relevant, in particular the plight of refugees and the need for comfort and humanitarian aid. After starting this novel I became intrigued by what had happened in the previous book, so suspended my reading until I had found and finished the first novel. Reading that definitely helped me to fully appreciate this sequel, so would recommend to any reader that you do enjoy them in chronological order. I really enjoyed both books, which are sad at times but essentially uplifting and hopeful

The Light We Lost was an absolute roller coaster of emotions, and The Love We Found is no different.

Thank you HQ and NetGalley for giving me this arc to review.

I loved following Lucy again ten years after losing her soulmate to see how her life had continued, and I really was not disappointed. The Love We Found is an emotional but righteous end to Lucy and Gabe's story and I will think about this duology for some time.

The Love We Found | Pub Date: Mar 18 2025 - 4 stars

This book is one of those stories that leaves an aftertaste for some time. I never read the first book, but I can't say I missed much. The information provided was more than enough to give me an idea of what the story was about.

To be honest, this book left me a bit confused, and I’m still not sure if it was in a good or bad way. On one hand, it was a very easy and quick read. The short chapters (who doesn't love those?) and the good writing style made the story flow by itself. On the other hand, Lucy, the main character, spent so much time reflecting on her past that sometimes I wanted to slap her and scream, "wake up!" Yet, at the same time, the author brought up very important theme throughout the story - refugees, especially children, escaping their countries and how it affects their lives when they have to start over from scratch.

That being said, there were parts of the book that I really enjoyed. I liked seeing how Lucy's children's personalities developed through the story and how they navigated all the changes in their lives. I also appreciated the maturity of the decisions made between Lucy and Darren, her ex-husband.

I think this story will appeal to fans of the first book, those who familiar with the original story line. But it also works as a standalone read and will find its way to readers outside of that fanbase.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Thank you for the opportunity to review The Love We Found.

I loved The Light We Lost so I was excited to receive an ARC of the sequel. While I love the premise of moving on through grief and seeing how Lucy copes in the years following Gabe’s death, this unfortunately fell a bit flat for me.

Lucy’s decision making in the wake of Gabes death seems entirely selfish for the most part which takes away from the romance aspect of the book in my opinion, especially when it comes to the narration of the secret she’s kept regarding her son’s paternity.

There’s definitely a lot of family drama which is interesting but ultimately the book wasn’t as enthralling as the first but it was interesting to see the closure for the characters.