I absolutely loved this uplifting and life affirming story. Though it tugs at your heart (pun intended) it certainly gives you so much to think about and such a sense of what really matters.
I thought the premise initially was like similar books involving organ donation but it definitely has it's own unique twist and a clever structure that kept me hooked.
I adored the characters and also the travel element to the storyline. It portrays the difficulties and isolation of chronic ill health really accurately.
Definitely one to go grab

I read The Echoes of Us last year and adored it, so when I was given the opportunity to be an early reader for The Love of Our Lives I was so pleased.

The Love of Our Lives follows Maggie. Maggie has always had to be careful and has not really lived her life to the full due to health conditions. So after a heart transplant a year ago, Maggie has a funny turn at her ‘year of a new heart celebration’. When she wakes, she is in a different flat, with a different face and is confused about where she is and what has happened.

Maggie starts to realise she has a second chance at life and love….

I loved this story so much. This is magical realism at its finest! I loved Maggie and the dilemma’s she found herself faced with. I loved her new take on life and the people she found herself surrounded with.

Beautifully written Emma, a book I highly recommend, even if it did make me cry. Thank you so much to Mountain Leopard Press and Headline Publishers for the advance copy. Opinions expressed here are my own.

what a powerful book, a story about living, loving and losing. so many emotions in this book but one i truly loved. you only have one life… defo recommend

Wow, I was a bit confused at first but thing's suddenly fell into place.
Recovering from a heart transplant one year one but still living in a protective bubble , to waking up a year prior to the transplant but in the life of the heart donor.
How do you live life to the full, make choices, relationships and adventures when you know the end date?
A fantastic and wonderful story about choices and following your heart.

I really enjoyed this book, It was quite gripping and I read at every opportunity.
It made me cry in several places, it definitely hit my emotions, and also made me reflect.
I was sad for Emily, but happy that Maggie was given a chance to actually live!
Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

Maggie hasn't really lived her life, years suffering with a heart condition waiting a transplant means she hasn't achieved all the things a woman of her age may have done. Added to that she has the guilt of her sister's death on her shoulders. But when a heart becomes available, life can begin again, or can it? Too many years of not doing anything has meant Maggie now doesn't know how to live. Until she gets a second chance to discover the life she could have.
Pardon the pun but this was a heart warming read, a tale of making the most of the life we have, not everyone gets the opportunity. Really likeable characters and a poignant ending. Not ashamed to say I shed a few tears.

An emotional, gripping story about love, memory, and the moments that shape us. The characters feel real, the writing is poetic, and the ending will stay with you long after the last page. A powerful, heartfelt read — highly recommend!

really enjoyed this book and gave it a 5 star rating.

Maggie has received a new heart and is determined to care for it by living her life quietly and carefully - particularly after the devastation she has caused her family. She receives a letter from the donor’s mother urging her to live life with her new heart and her new heart seems determined to ensure this happens.

Maggie collapses and wakes up as Emily - this is her second chance at life and love!

An uplifting story - what it means to live, love and have the confidence to follow your dreams.

One to be recommended.

What a beautiful book. I loved this story, and how Maggie and Emily’s lives were so intertwined. What a well written and thoughtful book giving an insight into what it could feel like to be a donor recipient. Definitely worth reading, highly recommend this author!

What a wonderful, moving book. From the moment I picked it up, I was completely absorbed — I genuinely couldn’t put it down. This story gently yet powerfully makes you reflect on life, and how many of the things we stress about are, in the grand scheme, so small and insignificant.

The final chapters had me on the edge of tears more than once — emotional, raw, and beautifully written.

Maggie… what a beautiful soul. Her love for those around her, her quiet strength, and the way she gives so selflessly left such an impression on me. She’s a character who will stay with me for a long time.

Emma Steele has crafted something truly special with this book. I feel genuinely grateful to have read it before publication — it’s the kind of story that lingers with you long after you’ve turned the last page.

A brilliant book that gave me "Sliding Doors" vibes, and that's always a good thing!

Maggie has a heart condition and when she is given the life-changing offer of a transplant, she is, of course, delighted, but is also conscious that in order for her to live a full life, another family has suffered a loss. And so Maggie is very careful, determined to take good care of the heart she has been given, the life she almost didn't have, but that's not the way to go; life is for living! One day, Maggie wakes up to find she is now Emily, the original owner of her heart, and she has gone back in time by one year. Maggie realises that she now has an opportunity, knowing that Emily will die in 12 months time, to live life to the fullest and make the most of every moment before it's too late.

I absolutely adored this! Navigating Emily's final year of life through, and alongside, Maggie, I came to adore both women. There were some clever links between their lives and some really life affirming moments. I was wondering throughout whether Maggie would have the chance to choose whether to save Emily, or to return to her own life and if so, which option would she choose? Which life is more important? More meaningful?

So well written and gorgeous characters I now feel so attached to. Utterly wonderful!

5 ⭐️ Thanks to Netgalley, Emma Steele and the publisher for an ARC of this book.

I accept that I am going to be in the minority of reviewers for this book, but. I have to confess I am really struggling with it.
! ! Spoiler alert!

The whole idea of the time slip is just too much for me to swallow. The story is beautifully written, but I feel completely uncomfortable with the premise of the story. That Maggie can knowingly and unquestioningly slip so easily into Emily’s entire life, her flat, her bank account, her friends and family, 2 years before her heart replacement surgery, is just beyond crazy. Maggie shows little or no curiosity or concern about where Emily has gone, There is also no curiosity or concern for her own family, who must surely wonder where she, Maggie, has disappeared to. She watches them from afar, feeling mild regret but no more. I just don’t get that.

I dislike fantasy fiction, and that is what this is. So it’s a DNF for me. At 30% I can go no further, it’s too uncomfortable. I guess I’m just too boringly sensible and level headed to read this type of story unquestioningly, and to accept it for what it is. I will not copy my review to media sites, as I have not read the whole book.
My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for my advance copy of this book.

Following her heart transplant, Maggie is wary of doing anything that would put her life at risk. One morning she wakes up and she is now Emily. She lives and loves as Emily following her dreams of leading a full life and travelling. Can she choose who lives ? Brilliantly written, hard to put down, a wonderful story.

Read and reviewed in exchange for a free copy from NetGalley. This was an engaging exploration of life and loss. Steele sensitively captures the challenges of awaiting and receiving an organ donation, creating real compassion for all her characters. Maggie's journey as Emily was moving, exploring the precipice between life and death and how fortunes can change in a moment. Although I would have liked more about how Maggie ended up inhabiting Emily's life, this was a satisfying read.

I absolutely adored this book and couldn't put it down.
Loved the premise, but wondered how on earth it could all work. How could Maggie live Emily's life?
But the sheer alchemy of the writing made me feel as though Emily was my best friend and as her memories began to emerge in Maggie's head, I really believed it.
Two lives - one heart.
Her, me, us.
I was transfixed by the relationships and timelines of this book and I was truly torn between who should live, just as Emily was.
As Emily realises what has happened, and what is going to happen, the reader is almost given the answer to the meaning of life, as she philosophises about what is really important.
And it's not the big things.
Life is for living.
Seize the day.
Read great books.

Thanks to NetGalley, Emma Steele and the publisher for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a beautifully written five-star read. The setting is delightful, the premise twitterpatited, and the characters sublime, this story will sucker you in and have your heart sinking and rising like the tidal wave in your chest, that is how deep this story will pull you under. Your heart will break for Maggie, as you know if you were the same you wouldn’t be different, but as the story progresses, you feel so much for her and will love how she follows her heart in the best way she can. I would love to go on and on about how much wonderful detail there is in this story, but I don’t want to reveal any of the twists in this story, as they are all beautifully done, even when they are sad twists.

What a truly intriguing read. Ir certainly makes one sit up and think about the fleeting nature of life.

A year ago Maggie had to have a heart transplant after falling very ill, now a year on she is half the person she used to be and is not living her life how she should. Maggie is very precious about her new heart and you can understand why but I really wanted to see Maggie blossom and achieve new things but when something totally unexpectedly happens Maggie realises you only get one chance to be happy and this is her moment to shine. It was lovely to see Maggie's journey on her self discovery and how much she experimented when she knew she could. A lovely story to escape with. It was a bit of a tearjerker too. It showed warmth and that if your in the same situation that if you put your mind to it you can achieve incredible things.

Emma Steele's books are always a heartbreaking delight to read. I loved this one from start to finish, with Emma's trademark emotion and beautiful prose. It's a book full of hope, of life. I couldn't stop reading, but I also didn't want it to end. Emma has done it again! The concept is excellent and the execution is perfect. I highly, highly recommend.

The story centres around Maggie, who’s been living with a slowly deteriorating heart condition but thankfully for her, just before it’s too late, she receives the gift of a new heart. Of course, this means heartbreak for another family and after some time passes, Maggie receives a letter from the donor family asking if she would be willing to meet them so they can feel close to their daughter’s heart one more time. But Maggie isn’t sure if she should, if she able to take this step… Then one day Maggie wakes up but she isn’t in her bed, the pyjamas belong to someone else and most frighteningly of all, when she looks in the mirror it’s someone else’s face staring back at her. She still feels and thinks like Maggie but she realises she is now a girl who everyone knows as Emily. Is this Maggie’s second chance at life? If so, will she take it? For what is life, if we don’t grab our chance and live it to the full, the way our heart tells us to?

This is an absolutely wonderful and uplifting story of what it means to live, to love and be loved and to have the confidence to follow our hearts and dreams.

As a final note, I’d like to add for anyone who potentially struggled with Emma’s first book, because of how that story jumped through moments in the past making it harder to follow especially for Kindle readers, that this does not apply to this book at all. It is a linear story, beautifully written so easy to read regardless of whether you end up with a digital or a printed copy.