Thank you to NetGalley and Amazon Publishing UK for this ARC.

Enya Brown, 55, has been widowed for three years but still sees husband Jonathan everywhere. Her son Aiden, 27, has been with neighbour Holly for ten years. Holly's mother Jenny is Enya's best friend. Then, out of the blue, Aiden comes home with Iris, who he met on a flight, and declares they are getting married. The whole situation is complicated by Enya having met Iris' father Dominic at the airport and feeling an instant attraction. Enya's sister Angela, elderly neighbour Maeve and cat Pickles complete the ensemble cast.

This is a well-written chaotic blended family drama, where one decision shakes up several families, causing a lot of anger and hurt feelings. Enya must navigate through her new reality that she is not responsible for, trying to appease everyone, plus fighting with her new feelings.

However, I didn't like Dominic. He comes across as terribly selfish, putting himself resolutely first and aggressively pursuing Enya while still married to Trish. He doesn't seem to consider others, only his own happiness, and I felt he should have waited until his situation was a bit clearer, especially with the mess Aiden had created.

And yes, I had my reservations about Aiden too. If people constantly have to iterate how he's a nice boy really, you start to wonder. He felt like a typical young person who thinks he's entitled to happiness no matter how it hurts other people, but ultimately, I guess you can't suppress your feelings.

This is a story about loss and grief but also hope and new beginnings. It's very emotional with a lot of heartbreak but the ending is a bit too cosy for my liking. I did however like most characters and that no one is black or white, we all have our annoying traits and habits.

3.5 stars

This book will have my heart forever. It's beautiful, powerful, and emotional. Enya is my favourite character in a book ever!

Enya, a widow has a full circle of friends. Her son is due to marrying her childhood sweetheart; her best friend's daughter. Life couldn't get any better
But a chance encounter for Enya and her son, changes everyone's life.
Does love at first sight really happen?

Love, loyalty, grief and life and explores complicated relationships. It's a lovely story with believable characters who I was rooting for and became invested in their lives and relationships. I didn't want it to end and I wanted more of Enya. A hard book to turn away from so ensure you have plenty of time before reading.

This book was a cute book !! Fun fast pace page tuner I loved this book !! Spell binding read of love life and getting back to you in these pages you will find out just what that all means as this lovely story comes together I will recommend this book it will keep you up all night

Read and reviewed in exchange for a free copy from Netgalley. This was a lovely read, and I've been left wanting more about Enya and her family. I loved the characters, they were believable and I was invested in their stories and relationships. Prowse dealt sensitively with grief, new love, and the complexities of relationships, and the fractured relationship between Jenny and Enya was incredibly poignant to read. A fantastic book.

Enya does not feel as though much is going on with her life at the moment and feels a bit stale, she is bereaved and has made her son her priority but what is left for Enya. Until she meets a guy and is surprised with how she feels towards him. Could this be her chance at finding happiness again? her son has other ideas and when he makes a transformational decision it won't just affect him but her as well. What can Enya do to put everything back together and she herself and her son happy again? I liked how the story flowed, Amanda is a writer who you instantly can connect with and her writing style is easy and light. I found Enya to be inspiring and it did make me think what I would do in her situation, full of family, grief and love packed into a gorgeous story.

Amanda Prowse is the alchemist of our emotions! She is so accurate in capturing her characters' feelings and thoughts, and we take her lead. Initially I didn't like Iris or Trish, or even Holly as she seemed so needy. But as the story develops, we change our opinion. As always Amanda perfectly captures the stuck feeling of many mid life women when they are widowed or divorced. A feel good novel, perfect summer reading.

A lovely meditation on life after grief. Enya is a 55yr old Widow, having lost her beloved Jonathan 3yrs ago. She finds herself, no longer in deep mourning, but somewhat prematurely faded. She finds herself caught in the rut of habit, living a life that if suddenly resurrected, Jonathan would recognize completely. And the few impending changes to her life, like her bosses announcing that they will close up their firm before the end of the year, causes her to panic. Even a peaceful walk ends in heart pounding anxiety and fear. Enya understands on some level that she is too young to give into a small life, in her small home, all alone but is at a loss as what to do about it.

Bright spots include best friend and neighbor, Jenny, who is always up for a spontaneous visit and some laughs, Enya's beloved adult son Aidan and his girlfriend Holly, who happens to be Jenny's daughter. Jenny and Enya look forward to someday being best friend grandmothers but are in no hurry for this to happen. Aidan and Holly having grown up together, have been a couple since their school days and Enya secretly fears that the fact that they've never been apart might not be wise for the young couple. But she enjoys having their youthful energy around and maintains an open door policy, welcoming pop ins by either or both of the young people and is grateful for the thoughtful gifts and treats that Holly always brings.

The story begins when Enya is tasked with driving Aidan to the airport for a business trip and finds herself sitting in her car trying to rid herself of panicked thoughts about Aidan's flight and time in Italy being marred by problems that she wont be able to fix from home in Brighton. While trying to calm herself, she is suddenly rocked by a car running into her driver side door. Fortunately as she was parked, she isn't injured but her car does suffer a dent and she reluctantly steps out to deal with the driver of the other car.

In the ensuing year, Enya goes on to have her quiet, settled life completed up ended by a Cupid's arrow that strikes two couples at once, though one couple races towards love, the other takes time to accept it. And somehow, Enya finds herself in the middle of everything, without having actually done anything. And eventually this outpouring of stress from everyone around her, actually leads to her standing up and saying, this can't be the rest of my life and doing something about it.

Enya ends up literal miles away from where she was at the start and having expanded her life in every way imaginable. This was a nice reminder that life isn't over until it is actually over, and that everyone wants to be special in their own lives, it doesn't stop just because you are of a certain age.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book!

This is the first book I’ve read by Amanda Prowse, and I can already see why she’s so loved—her writing is simply beautiful. The story flows effortlessly, and she has an incredible gift for evoking deep, genuine emotion.

While I found some characters difficult to like—particularly the men, whose selfish actions caused so much pain—it only added to the book’s realism. Families are complicated, and Prowse captures that complexity so well. We don’t choose who we love, and sometimes love exists right alongside heartbreak and chaos.

Enya’s journey was especially powerful. The turmoil she faced from those closest to her left me feeling anxious and deeply empathetic. My heart truly ached for her.

A moving and emotionally layered read—I'm looking forward to discovering more of Amanda Prowse's work.

5.0 stars
Highly recommend

Amanda does it again with a dysfunctional family with twists and turns! But, it is much better to be inside the book than the chaos outside in the world!

The characters are strongly developed, the writing is gorgeous, and the plot is twisty-turny, which I love! I always love a good plot-twist! YES!

Amanda is the Queen of Family Fiction - she covers topics that others avoid due to the sensitive nature. Amanda takes them head-on and handles them with grace and care.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7334871364 - posted 7/7/2025
The StoryGraph: https://app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/9fd7d480-8b40-41c1-afc7-c53eb4667cb5?redirect=true - posted 7/7/2025
booksbydorothea Blog: https://booksbydorothea.blogspot.com/2025/07/review-ever-after-earcebook.html - posted 7/7/2025

A somewhat romantic story that isn't sickly sweet and has a few moments that will make the reader smile, laugh and cry all within pages of the book, my usual genre is crime fiction and the glitter, the better but occasionally I do like to take a break and read something like this book which I describe as a soothing balm.

What a beautiful read.Enya is leading a very quiet life after the death of her husband, she has really good friends Jenny and Phil and her precious son Aiden with his girlfriend Holly and her cat Pickle but apart from that she doesn't seem to be able to move forward but when she bumps into a stranger at the airport there is an immediate spark between them.She can't stop thinking about him but out of the blue Aiden makes a life changing decision that rocks the whole family. I was really invested in their story and it got quite complicated and I was wondering how it would all work out but I needn't have worried Amanda Prowse with her beautiful writing and the fabulous characters especially loved Iris what a little gem ,you become so invested in them she made everything come together perfectly. I absolutely loved everything about this book and was really emotional at the end you might need tissues but it was happy tears A big 5 🌟from me

Always a five star read for me, love Amanda's books and again this didn't disappoint, a beautiful family read, a lovely storyline with some easy to get to know characters

What a beautiful story that was.
Ever After by Amanda Prowse, published by Amazon Publishing UK, tells Enya and her family's story.
Enya is a widow, protective of her son and his girlfriend. When her son's actions bring disapprovement to her doorstep, she has to decide between loyalty, family and love.
When his actions turn friends and neighbors against her, I was so emotional, could very easily connect with the characters, loved the writing and the story just like the beautiful hea.

I’ve read quite a few Amanda Prowse books previously so I was delighted to receive an advance copy of this latest one. Thank you to net galley and the publisher.
The characters are well written especially the main one, Enya. I empathised with her and felt really irritated when all her ‘friends’ turned against her due to the actions of her son- something over which she had no control. She stayed true to her values and put herself last, something that a lot of middle-aged mums tend to do.
The story was so sad in parts but I was pleased that in the end it seemed like there was a happy conclusion for most of the characters. I really enjoyed reading the book and highly recommend it.