The love we found carries a unique fragrance. It touches on loss, grief, heartbreak, parenthood and dilemma we face as human beings when we fall in love or are not quite sure about our emotions. Beautifully exposed are secrets and the impact of keeping them on fragile and sometimes fraught relationships. Ten years has passed since Lucy Carter Maxwell lost her soulmate. She has hidden away from love. She begins to unravel secrets Gabe has left behind. Along the way parts of her are awakening. Is she able to embrace love again? Definitely worth reading to find out.

A bit difficult to get into as characters were not explained, Lucy ramblers on about Gabe who she loves then it goes onto Darren who she divorced just doesn't flow.
It's a family drama but you just want to slap Lucy and say get over it, it's too full of her talking to her dead ex and the sex scenes were cringe worthy.
Just not my cup of tea.
Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC and I give my honest review.

A tragic love story.
Lucy is still somewhat in mourning after losing her great love, Gabe, ten years previously.
She finds a slip of paper in his things with an Italian address on it and finds herself on a trip of discovery to find out more about who lives there, why they were important to Gabe, and to finally put his ghost to rest, so she can get on with her life.
Lucy meets Dr Dax in Italy and finds her self drawn to him and some deep sadness within him.
There is the matter of being a divorced mum on 3, with a tremendous secret hanging over the family, that could make or break many relationships.
Lucy has a lot to deal with, not least the fall out of that secret becoming known, as well as navigating whether she is ready to move on, somehow, or whether she doesn't deserve any more happiness.
It was heartbreaking but equally beautiful to read.
I've not read the first book The Love We Lost, but I could read The Love We Found with no issue.s I do, however, now want to read the first book to understand a bit more about how the whole situation arose!
Many thanks to NetGalley and HQ Publishing for an ARC.

The Love We Found wasn't my cup of tea. To me, it feels like a somewhat unnecessary sequel that lacks the emotional intensity of The Love We Lost.

The narrative style remains the same as in the first book — Lucy narrates her story to Gabe, addressing him as "you" throughout. However, in this sequel, the unique narration feels somewhat strange and distracting, especially since Gabe isn’t present in the story. The novel centers around a promising premise: Gabe’s editor wants to publish a retrospective of his work on the tenth anniversary of his death. I believe this would have been enough to keep Gabe in the reader’s mind without relying on the same narrative style as before.

My biggest issue, however, was the romance. The novel leans heavily on the infatuation-at-first-sight trope, making it feel shallow, convenient, and a bit unbelievable. I struggled to connect with the new love interest, though I’m glad Lucy has found someone new. Moreover, Lucy herself is, at times, an unlikable protagonist. Of course, given her actions in The Light We Lost (cheating, lying, etc.), this is to be expected. In that sense, I appreciated that The Love We Found addresses the consequences of her choices.

That said, there were parts of the novel I really enjoyed. I liked the emphasis on the kids’ personalities and the evolving relationships between Lucy and Darren, as well as Lucy and her family. This book definitely leans more into family drama, fleshing out characters who were somewhat sidelined in the first novel. Additionally, I enjoyed the continued focus on Lucy’s career as a TV producer for children’s shows.

Overall, The Love We Found didn’t draw me in as much as the first novel. However, I do think that fans of the first book who are dying to know what happens to the characters will be pleased.

*I received an e-ARC for free in exchange for an honest review*

Oh wow. I absolutely loved this story. I felt it was the perfect sequel to ‘the light we lost’
A story of love, grief and dealing with secrets and finding a way of navigating those relationships. Jill has a unique way of storytelling and I felt this book helped mend my heart after reading ‘the light we lost’ which absolutely broke my heart!
I was so invested in the characters and felt like I knew them.
If you enjoyed this first book, then I feel you should definitely make a point of picking this one up! Amazing sequel

What a beautiful continuation of Jill’s first book. I was so invested in the very first book and it’s so nice to have an addition on to the beautiful love story of Lucy & Gabe and also the promise of new low and hope as well