This book has an interesting twist on the classic time travel trope, Maddy can see 10 years into the future every time she has sex with someone. This…ability makes her question everything about her life, what she is willing to do to secure that future and what she wants from a partner. This was a sweet romance with short, snappy chapters and loveable characters. I was engrossed from the first second I started reading. The ending knocked half a star off for me as I am not a fan of open endings. Overall I absolutely adored this book and want to read more from this author.

4.5 stars.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

When intimate moments find Maddy briefly transported ten years into her future, it’s perhaps not surprising that she’s chosen to live without a relationship with a significant other. But that’s until she meets Oliver – they’re both pursuing an acting career, having met briefly as a pair of Santa’s elves (better opportunities are proving rather scarce). But when she needs to find a new flat share, their paths cross again – and it soon becomes clear that things aren’t going to be quite the same as sharing with her best friend Priya.

The romance builds and the inevitable happens – and when Maddy’s visions recur, she finds they’re very much still together in her future, and that she really has found the love of her life. It seems she’s no longer pursuing her acting career – and that’s a disappointment, especially when she’s just found a modicum of success. But then she sees a child in her future – a surprise, when Oliver has made it clear he doesn’t want a family – but it also appears that their relationship is far from straightforward. Her visits to the future are short, but long enough for her to grow closer to the little girl and to know that it’s the future she really wants – but she also knows that for it to come to pass, she will need to make some difficult choices in her present.

That all might read as desperately complicated and confusing – but the author is a particularly safe pair of hands, and makes it all totally believable. And not only that, but she also makes the story so emotionally engaging, with lead characters I really cared about – Maddy and Oliver’s romance is very special, a love you can feel, and the steps she needs to take to secure their future really hurt. And, of course, as well as seeing her own future she also sees glimpses of the lives of those closest to her – her struggling family, and also friend Priya who’s the only one who knows about her unusual ability. So when Priya asks about developments in her own future, Maddy is faced with a particular moral dilemma – she might be making choices in her own life, but would it be right to influence others’ paths?

I loved every moment of this book – it has the perfect emotional touch, moving smoothly between past and present as Maddy grapples with the choices she feels compelled to make to achieve that vision of the future. The relationships were particularly strong – that romance that was always meant to be, the family’s evolving situation, the strength of her friendship with Priya. And if the book’s whole concept might seem a touch unusual, Maddy’s situation was one I entirely believed in. In many ways, it’s an easy read – the author’s writing is such a pleasure to read – but in other ways it can be challenging, as you inevitably question what you might do faced with Maddy’s choices. And I have to add that I also loved the ending – life’s issues are rarely tied up in a neat bow, neither is Maddy’s story, and that felt entirely right.

An exceptional read, with a really unusual concept, and quite beautifully written – I really couldn’t recommend it more highly.

What a book! I love Laura Pearson's penmanship but this was beautiful. I can't imagine what it must be like for Maddy when everytime she has sexual intimacy with someone she gets transported 10 years into the future and gets a quick glimpse of what her close friends and family are up to. Due to this she limits her intimate actions with people until (my new book boyfriend) Oliver comes on the scene and changes everything. Oh a Oliver, you are a dream! I also love Maddy's best friend Priya, who sticks by her side through thick and thin (epitome of ride or die) but isn't afraid to be frank and honest with Maddy when the time is right.
There was so much to this book, that's run so much deeper than the superficial story line. It had my heart squeezing and breaking and healing, the tears were falling without trying and I also had some laughs in between. The way Pearson writes is iconic and there is so much atmosphere and emotion on the pages that appears effortless. I love the short chapters which makes it feel like I'm reading it quicker. The characters (as with all her books) deal with very real life issues (except the time travel element) which really draws you in and makes you so invested. I actually loved the ending and that it is up to readers interpretation.

A truly marvellous piece of fiction.

After loving The Last List of Mabel Beaumont, I was so excited to receive this ARC and I wasn't disappointed! While a very different story, Laura Pearson's ability to create such lovable characters remains strong...

Great book and fun to read! Kept me completely engaged was a good way to start the month of February! Definitely would recommend to anyone!

When Maddy becomes intimate with her boyfriend, she is able to see what life would be like in ten years with him.
Unable to deal with the information, she ends her rare future relationships after becoming intimate once with her
male partner. All that changes when she meets Oliver. Glimpses into not only their future lives but also that of
her family and best friend are revealed.
Love the characters.
#TheManyFuturesofMaddyHart #BoldwoodBooks #NetGalley

The Many Futures of Maddy Hart by Laura Pearson

I received an advance review copy for free thanks to Rachel's Random Resources and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Blurb

Suddenly Maddy is right there… in her very own future. And it’s all wrong, yet again.

It happens to her every time. When the kisses lead to the bedroom, just when she thinks she might have found the one… Just for a split second, Maddy disappears, and she finds that she’s living her own life. But ten years into the future.

She’s only there for a little while. But each time, it’s long enough to know that she doesn’t want to be any of those future versions of Maddy. Because every man she falls for seems to lead her to a future that is just… wrong.

Until she meets Oliver. And the vision of their future is happy. Beautiful even. A little girl runs around, her braids flying behind her, giggling about how she wants sausages for dinner. She has eyes just like Oliver’s.

There’s just one catch. If Maddy wants the family she’s seeing in her future with Oliver, she realizes she has to break his heart now…

My Opinion

Laura Pearson has once again written a book with a strange concept – this makes for a very interesting read. Maddy is able to see 10 years into her future enabling her to make sure that ultimately, she ends up with the correct partner. I have read a few books by Laura Pearson and each have been vastly different but equally entertaining. With delights like this Laura is definitely going onto my must-read list.

Rating 4/5

This is such an interesting concept for a book. If you could get some small glimpses into the future and see what your life would be like, what sacrifices would you be prepared to make in the here and now to hopefully secure the best version of that future for yourself, but without any guarantees that it will work? And how would those glimpses of the future impact inadvertently the choices you make today because of how you think your life is going to turn out?

The more you read through this book and the more you think about these questions, the deeper into both the practical and the moral mazes you find yourself exploring? Do you tell friends and family what you see in their futures? How do you reconcile hurting people in the present in the hope that you will get a better future? How do you know what effects these minor adjustments might have? This isn’t the first story to explore these issues, many people have toyed with the concept, but it is a really thoughtful and entertaining one.

Being a divorced mother-of-two who found her soulmate later in life, these are ideas I have thought about myself from a different angle. Do I wish I had met the love of my life when I was younger, before I got into a failed marriage so I could have avoided heartbreak and pain and had more time and a family with him? But then I wouldn’t have the two beautiful children I have now. And would I have even fallen in love with him when we were both younger and different people with different experiences? There is no way to answer these questions, so it was fascinating to see how Laura grapples with the dilemmas that come with getting glimpses of the future.

I love the way Laura’s mind works. Her books are kooky and warm and easy to read but also thoughtful and thought-provoking. Their covers might look like easy-reading women’s fiction, and they could be classified in that way because they are easy to read, but they also give your brain and your moral compass a good workout at the same time. This makes for one hell of a rewarding reading experience and is worth every penny of the money you will spend on it. Her characters are appealing and relatable, even if they are having some unusual experiences and I always end up caring what happens to them. That is a skill.

Laura Pearson continues to be one of my favourite authors currently writing in this space and I always look forward to seeing what she is working on next.

Maddy finds that whenever she sleeps with a man she suddenly has a vision of herself ten years in the future. More often than not she is so horrified at what she sees that she doesn't see that man again until she meets Oliver, when things become much more complicated.
I found the premise of this story very interesting, I'm not sure how I'd react if the same ability / curse - it's not clear which it is. It certainly makes life very difficult for Maddy, fortunately Oliver comes across as a very nice guy. I'm also not sure that I could live the life that they both do as actors, with the uncertainty of when the next job will come along.
I won't go into how the story ends, however I do hope that there will be another book or at least an epilogue.
I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher through Netgalley, however this did not influence my review of the book.

Thanks to the Publisher and Netgalley for an early review copy.

Maddy has a special gift. She can see into her future, but only when she sleeps with a guy., and as yet nothing she’s seen has been that positive. That is until she meets Oliver.

She likes everything about him and what she sees in her future is exactly where she wants to be in about ten years from now. But she also knows that what she’s seeing means that some hard choices will need to be made now.

I loved the characters and the storyline.

I really enjoy Pearsons writing. It’s poetic and easy and just so lovely.

When Maddy Hart has sex with someone, she sees herself ten years from then. And usually, that makes her never want to sleep with them again. Until she meets Oliver. Ten years from now they are happy and have a child and she likes the little future, so much she will do what she can to make sure it happens.

Acute story with likeable characters. A too good to be true man, that doesn’t feel so out of reach.

This was my first by this author, it’s slightly different from my usual read. I went into it with an open mind and by the end I literally swiped back a page as I couldn’t believe it was the end. I stared at my kindle screen in disbelief, I couldn’t not know what happened to Maddy and Oliver. I guess that was the desired effect.

Like Maddy, I had got used to seeing glimpses of her future, and now I will never know if she gets her predicted future or if she’s changed it by taking steps to ensure things happen how she thinks they need to.

I really can’t describe how much this book just left me sitting thinking about the what ifs. The whole concept was unique to me about glimpses of her future 10 years ahead, how much Maddy was affected by things she saw, both good and bad, it was like she was living two lives, but one in only short bursts.

Absolutely amazing and I will certainly be checking out other books by this author.

This is a wonderful speculative novel. I adored the characters and would happily spend yet more time with them.

Laura Pearson has created a world where something miraculous happens but she manages to make it seem completely believable.

What a premise, what a novel.

A romantic drama about a woman who can see into her future. I liked the characters and their relationships especially the friendship between Maddy and Priya, though some of the story was cliched.

Maddie Hart has the ability to see 10 years into the future every time she is intimate with someone, which leads her to never get past the first date. That is until she meets Oliver. Suddenly her future looks happy and she knows he’s one. Maddie has to decide what she’s willing to do to save her future.

This book was a very easy enjoyable read. I loved the characters and how they grew throughout the book. The biggest challenge I had was just some of it was predictable but overall a great read

I really enjoyed this book. The story was fresh and original. I loved the element of going forward in time to see what will be happening in Maddy's life in the future. It poses the question, would you like to be able to see 10 years into your life for short periods of time? Sounds intriguing, but as Maddy found, you don't always see the whole picture and the decisions you make in the present might alter the future. Definitely recommend this book.

In this unique and powerful modern romance novel, readers follow Maddy, an aspiring actress waiting for her big break, as she negotiates seeing her future life ten years from that moment when she sleeps with someone. So far, every time this has happened, she has realized she did not want any of these future lives but her possible future with another aspiring actor named Oliver is happy and features a little girl. However, Maddy realizes that this ideal future requires breaking Oliver’s heart without explaining why or how, so she must choose between her present happiness and a chance at a perfect future. The characters are the star of this novel, and the relationship between Maddy and Oliver is particularly interesting to follow knowing that it must be sabotaged for a happy future (a fascinating and unique premise for a romance novel). As for Maddy’s relationships with her friends and family, readers will love seeing these different dynamics and perspectives on her life and relationships, especially since they add a lot to Maddy’s backstories. Unique, compelling, and emotional, readers will love this new romance novel from Laura Pearson for the characters, the unique premise, and the fantastic emotional details and backstories.

Wow - different, so very different!

Maddy Hart has a unique experience each and every time she has sex - she sees her future. Not keen on anything she glimpses, none of her romances last any length of time until she meets Oliver. Future with him includes a gorgeous little girl who is just like him but that's ten years in the future; what's going to happen right now.

I read a lot of books and it's rare to come across one which has a totally new storyline but I can honestly say I've never read any like this before. I wondered where it was going but patience never was my strong point. Whilst I didn't agree with all of Maddy's life choices, I can't deny that this is a terrific read, and one I strangely enjoyed. For me, 4.5*.

My thanks to the publisher for my copy via NetGalley.

I always really enjoy Laura Pearson's books, and adored The Many Futures of Maddy Hart.
Maddy is a very special person with a unique ability to see into her own possible future whenever she has sex. She realises she can be very happy with her partner Oliver when she sees their future ten years from now. But, she realises to achieve this future, she must make Oliver very unhappy now. Can Maddy do this? Can she sacrifice the present for a possible future?
A brilliant original concept and book, so well written, as always by Laura. I highly recommend this book.
Thanks to NetGalley, the author and publisher in for a Kindle copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

First of all I would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for this Arc in exchange for an honest review.

I have to say I wanted to read this purely on the premise of the plot as it sounded completely insane so had to see how it turns out. This book has so much depth and heart to it which I really didn’t expect and became a well rounded book with charm, romance and suspense..