Thoroughly enjoyed reading. Lily was a great character, going through some challenging situations and finds herself becoming more spontaneous. A thoughtful and uplifting read.

The Next Chapter by Rebecca Ryan is a heartwarming and emotionally resonant novel that beautifully explores themes of identity, family, and self-discovery.

The story follows Lily Brown, a woman who has always valued order and predictability in her life. However, when her adoptive father encourages her to reconnect with her birth mother, Lola Starr—a once-famous pop punk singer who has retreated from the limelight—Lily’s world is turned upside down. Accompanied by her best friend Seb, Lily embarks on a journey to the picturesque Isle of Skye in Scotland to find Lola. There, she not only uncovers the truth about her origins but also meets Noah, a charming travel writer who challenges her perceptions and opens her heart to new possibilities.

Rebecca Ryan masterfully crafts characters that are both relatable and endearing. Lily’s evolution from a control-oriented individual to someone open to life’s unpredictabilities is portrayed with depth and authenticity. The dynamics between Lily, Lola, and Noah are rich and layered, offering readers a nuanced look at the complexities of relationships and personal growth.

Set against the stunning backdrop of the Isle of Skye, the novel immerses readers in a setting that is as enchanting as the story itself. The narrative is both easy to follow and deeply engaging, making it a perfect read for those seeking a blend of emotional depth and lighthearted moments.

In summary, The Next Chapter is a delightful and touching read that will resonate with anyone who has ever grappled with questions of identity and the courage it takes to embrace change. It’s a testament to the idea that it’s never too late to rewrite your story and embark on a new adventure.

I love Rebecca Ryan's writing. Her characterisations are always spot on - laugh out loud, pathos, back stories. It's the perfect blend of self discovery, pacy narrative, rom com and humour. Highly recommend.

A lovely story of finding out about your past. You might need some Pringles to read it , you will get it once you read it !!!!!Set in a beautiful part of Scotland . A moving story but you get romance and a stroppy cat and an ace friend . I really enjoyed it. Fame is a strange thing. Good ending. Loved the main character . Read it.

Professional memoir ghost-writer Lily Brown has always known that she was adopted by her beloved mum and dad. She’s also always known who her birth mother is – the once-famed pop punk singer Lola Starr, who disappeared from the public eye years ago and hasn’t been seen since. Lily used to write letters to her birth mother but they always went unanswered. Years later she’s now sanguine (kind of but not really) about her past. But when her father dies and asks her to reconnect with Lola at the same time that the secretive singer hints that she’s ready to sell her story, it seems as if Lily might actually get a chance to ask all the questions she’s always wanted answered. Even if that takes her far, far outside her comfort zone.

I’ve loved all of Ryan’s books so far – her characters are refreshingly relatable and her stories always pack a beautifully emotional punch laced with laugh-out-loud humour. Lily Brown is particularly endearing in her entirely understandable neuroses, which after losing both of her adopted parents centres around a desire to keep everyone around her alive, healthy and happy. I really love the idea of her career of helping people to write their own histories in a way that will live on. The Skye setting, Lily’s relationship with her best mate Seb and a budding romance makes The Next Chapter an engrossing and uplifting read. Plus this cover will look gorgeous on your shelf. Hooray!

I loved the Next Chapter I highly enjoyed the search to find her mother and I love a good rock star esque family story. It was so fun and interesting learning about her mother’s backstory and also finding love herself along the way!

This was a lovely story of self discovery, all wrapped up in sarcasm, families and digging into the past. Lola is a great heroine, real, with problems, issues and a lot of baggage. It helps that she is self aware, funny with it and surrounded by good friends to support her. The books opens with a death which didn’t bode well however it is a book about hope and joy and some very funny moments alongside the hard stuff that life throws. An excellent pick me up book.

I felt comfortably immersed in a 'Rebecca Ryan' book the minute I started reading The Next Chapter. I love her writing style - witty, laugh out loud funny that's cleverly balanced with a more serious storyline. Lily's journey to meet her birth mum takes her out of her comfort zone and is emotionally chaotic. There's also a gorgeous love interest along the way! A rom-com that dives deeper than most, Emily Henry fans will love it!

The Next Chapter is a charming, funny, and emotional new story from the very talented Rebecca Ryan. This story will have you laughing and crying within the same five minutes!

The story is told by Lily, a nervous wreck of a woman with deep abandonment issues who was adopted as a baby. Lily's birth mother is Lola, an ultra-famous pop-punk star from the 90s who mysteriously disappeared from public life shortly after having Lily. After her adopted father's passing, Lily heads off to the Isle of Skye to find her birth mother and just maybe save her best friend's memoir-writing business at the same time. Oh and there also happens to be Noah, a super sexy travel writer staying on Skye at the same time...

I thoroughly enjoyed this. The story moves along at a nice pace and Lily's narration is hilarious, although she could definitely do with some anti-anxiety medication. The other characters in the story are super-likable, including Harper, a foster child also staying in Skye. Harper and Lily's relationship was one of my favourite parts of the story.

There are some delicate topics tackled here such as what it means to be a mother, grief, loss and legacy and they are handled with great care. It has real depth and heart and shows the many different ways we can love and feel part of a family.

5 stars from me.

Rebecca Ryan’s third book, The Next Chapter, is a delight. The perfect book to read outside whilst the sun shines and the flowers bloom.

Ryan is a must-read author for any fans of Beth O’Leary and Emily Henry, as well as Helen Fielding. The charm and humour that oozes out of these books is so reminiscent of the Bridget Jones books in the best way. The prose was gorgeous, and I loved how the balance between pretty serious topics (which was handled with such care) and the humour / romance was perfectly done.

I had the pleasure of seeing Rebecca Ryan at two events over the last few years, and she is just as funny and as charming as her characters. I got her to dedicate her last book, The Philosophy of Love, to me and my mum who came to the event with me. We are both big fans of hers and I even rang her to tell her I was approved for the ARC of The Next Chapter, and we squealed together. To read this book, which at its core is about a mother-daughter relationship, was really special, and it will always have a place in my heart,

Do yourself a favour and pre-order this book. You won’t regret it.

Thank you to Simon and Schuster UK and NetGalley for providing me with the eARC. All opinions are my own.

I really love Ryan's writing and I was very much looking forward to this.

It's funny and touching in equal measure with a delightful setting in the Isle of Skye.

Lily is a protagonist who maybe needs to talk to someone about her brain - being in her head was exhausting in places (my brain does not work like that) but very convincing. She and her colleague Seb have the chance of getting long-vanished nineties pop star Lola Starr to choose them to write her memoirs. This would be financially helpful for their memoir-writing business. Less helpful is the fact that Lola is Lily's birth mother, and they've had no contact since Lily was given up for adoption as a baby. Throw in a handsome travel writer and a troubled teen and there's all kinds of opportunities for shananigans. Can Lily relax slightly for five minutes?

PS I was really, really horrified when Lily went on a motobike while wearing shorts. Please, don't ever do that.

I really enjoyed this - Lily finding herself in the wake of heartbreak and loss was always going to be right up my street. I’m a sucker for found family, as much as a cute summer romance, as well as there being some deeper themes.
I did think the Harper-going-missing bit was slightly rushed and deserved a bit more time and build up, particularly as Lily seemed to forget about Harper when she went “home” to Manchester. There were also a couple of bits of Lily’s personality that were a bit clunky (the Swiftie nods, the frenzied cleaning), they could have been a little bit more subtle.

Really really enjoyed the story and Rebecca’s writing though, as always.

A beautiful feel good novel! I loved the characters in this story. It wasn’t overloaded so you really get to know them well.
An easy read to follow along with whilst also being really pulled into the story.
Another fab novel from Rebecca!

This was such a delightful, heart-warming, funny book, perfect for a summer read!

Lily has always known that she was adopted, and that her birth mum was The Lola Starr from the 90s punk band, Beyond Baton Rouge. After losing her adoptive mum at age 18, and now her dad, she’s been putting off fulfilling her dad’s plea to her - to go and visit Lola.

So Lily concocts a plan to go and visit Lola at the remote hotel in Scotland where she’s been living for nearly 30 years - her and her friend and co-worker Seb will pretend to go on holiday there, and try to get Lola to let them work with her as a project for their memoir writing business.

After successfully getting Lola on board with choosing them to write her memoirs, Lily starts to get to know her without revealing who she is. And as she gets to know her real mum, she also unexpectedly gets to know the handsome Noah, and an angry fostered teenager, Harper, who is in need of someone who understands her.

I really loved Lily - she was hilarious, trying to pretend to Lola and Noah that she’s as adventurous as them when everything made her think of health and safety and stringent to-do lists! The story had a good balance of light-hearted and funny alongside some deeper topics of abandonment and belonging.

Another fab read from Rebecca Ryan!

It was a great book, however I think it would be even better if it were much, much shorter. The author has a great way with words and she knows this probably, because she tells, and tells, and tells... However, there is also place in this telling for us to see, so it's not so bad - but I eventually started to skip some passages, as they were simply too much for me.
At the beginning it annoyed me a bit that Lily's personality was so forced on us - I mean, let her be just as she is, and I had a feeling that the author wanted to prepare us for Lily being Lily. I loved her like that - filled with angst, wanted to be prepared for everything. But even more I liked seeing her coming out of her comfort zones, yes, even if this is why they called like this, Lily, "comfort zones" ;).

The characters were really well written, they were so realistic and genuine. The relationships between them felt real, as well as the dialogues that were sharp, funny and straight to the point, just as I like them to be. There are a lot of funny moments but also many things to think over, to stop for a moment and deliberate about the answers.
I also liked the idea of this book, it was new and felt like a breath of fresh air and the romance aspect in it worked brilliantly. It was different, you know, I didn't have a feeling that I've read something like this million times already and it was a great feeling, being so often surprised by the author and the characters. And let's not forget the setting - so well written.

It is a great and entertaining story about coming out of your shell, about second chances, forgiveness, written in a brilliant, light and approaching way.

Wow! I absolutely loved this book. The setting in Scotland was just PERFECT. I really enjoyed the romance between Lily and Noah. It was such a great story, with lots of sadness and humour too. Excellent.

After going to Beth O’Leary’s book signing in Leeds last week I was really curious to read some of Rebecca Ryan’s books. She was a wonderful host/interviewer(?) and seems like a really lovely person. I was fortunate enough to be approved to read The Next Chapter on NetGalley, so a big thanks to them, Simon & Schuster UK and Rebecca for that :]

I really, really enjoyed this book! I will admit that I wasn’t hooked straight away. I found Lily too chaotic to read about at first, but around the 20% mark I’d grown to like her a bit more. The friendship between Lily and Seb is really wonderful. A proper, decent friendship where they know they have each other’s backs no matter what - no matter how weird, wonderful or annoying they are.

I liked the storyline itself and it grew on me the more I read. There were a few delicate situations that were written about well and will open people’s minds to adoption and broken families.

There were loads of funny moments from all characters. They all had great personalities and the use of dialogue was perfect as well - every conversation felt real.

What really got me was that David Beckham got a mention - TWICE! So Rebecca’s definitely in my good books for that.

I wasn’t sure how the ending was going to pan out and I liked that. It really could have gone in a few different directions but I liked how Rebecca wrapped up the story.

This is the perfect spring/summer book for a cosy day on the sofa or if you're lying on the beach somewhere warm!

I love Sva wilder books! I’m so excited that she has another knew book on the way. I love the sister dynamic as well
as someone from the industry taking a breath to solitude and finding love alo g the way.