A really good read that kept my interest right through. A great story with good characters. I will read more books by this author.

A story that looks at different kinds of love - Marital love, parental love and forbidden love and how all of these have boundaries that can be pushed to the limit !

I was gripped by this story. It was one that had me guessing then thinking I’d solved the mystery of Scarlett’s secret lover but then something would happen and make me re-think everything. I suspected every male in this book (even Scarlett’s brother!) I felt like a detective trying to piece together a case.

My favourite character was Nina, as a mum myself I felt sorry for her. She was thrown in at the deep end of parenting and felt like she was drowning with no one to save her. Scarlett certainly didn’t help matters. She came across as a selfish, attention-seeking, lying brat who seemed to enjoy all the chaos she was creating.

I highly recommend this 5* read.

This story touched on a difficult topic and was a very relevant for the times that we live in. Hard reading at times but a good read.

This, for me is one of what I call my “catch up reads” I’m way behind some of my reviews and reading. I’m trying to take one or 2 at a time off my pile per month.

That said......

Amanda Brooke pens very good well worth reading novels.
This one was of no exception and with a subject matter that seems to be an acceptable “norm” at times.
So this being said, I wasn’t as shocked as I should be.
We read about this in newspapers or in Women’s magazines.

I thought the author was really good at putting over a very realistic upsetting approach to this subject matter.

Young girl gets groomed by adult man or did she just “fall in love?” I’ll let you decide.

If my 15 year old daughter told me she was pregnant but refused say who the father was I’d lock her in her room and throw away the key….not really but how agonising. As a mother of 3 I know how frustrating it can be trying to get things out of your teenager and this is well reflected here. My heart aches for both Scarlett and her mum Nina. It also boils with anger that a man who should know better has taken advantage of a young girl. Who is he though? I highly recommend you read this and find out for yourself.

15-year-old Scarlett has fallen in love with a married man and is now pregnant. She is determined not to tell anyone who he is so her Mum Nina decides to do some investigating if her own. Unfortunately the majority of the characters are really unlikeable, including Scarlett herself so it is really difficult to feel empathy. Some of the situations and coincidences felt quite unrealistic and the focus on keeping the man a mystery didn't really work either. Overall I felt the subject matter could've been dealt with in a much more sensitive and realistic manner.

I found this novel really drew me in and I actually read it all in one day. If I’m to be honest I was expecting this book to be quite predictable but actually it wasn’t. Fifteen year old Scarlett has been having a relationship with an older man but when her mum finds out she refuses to say who it was with. Nina, her mum, is thrown into a tailspin and doesn’t know how to handle what has happened.

I thought it was clever that, as the reader, we don’t know who the relationship was with either. This book has multiple narrators – we mainly follow Nina, and Vicki – Scarlett’s teacher’s wife but we also get to see some of Scarlett’s thought processes interspersed throughout the novel. Immediately I suspected the teacher, but then I suspected the step-father, and briefly I even suspected Nina’s best friend’s husband. The two main men we’re led to suspect each seem to have opportunity to groom Scarlett and I couldn’t work out for a while who it most likely was.

We do get to see the life that Nina and Bryn lead as quite a newly-wed couple trying to adapt to living together with Nina’s two children. We also see a lot of Vicki and Rob, Scarlett’s teacher’s relationship and the way they seem madly in love. There are times when you’re reading that you wonder if it was neither of these men as they both seem happy and settled, but then you read the snippets from Scarlett’s viewpoint and remember that one of these men is likely a monster.

I have to say that I did feel uncomfortable that this book is centred around what is called an affair when it involved a fifteen year old. The two suspects are both in a position of power over her, and she is underage so really it’s not an affair: it’s a man taking advantage of a naive and underage girl. Scarlett does seem worldly-wise but it is very clear that she’s inexperienced and that she believes herself to be in love with the man. She believes he really wants to be with her at any cost. I can see how Scarlett views it as an affair – to her this is a relationship between equals. It’s clear that all of the adults in Scarlett’s life (barring the man who took advantage of her) are horrified at the supposed relationship so this changes the perception within the book from it being an affair to it being something much more serious.

The Affair is a novel that centres on a relationship between a man and an underage girl but it is about so much more than just that. It is just as much a look at how the female characters deal with the suspicion that the man they married, that they trust, could be cheating on them and how they have to then come to terms with the fact that the person their husband is involved with is a minor. I really appreciated all the strand to this novel, it made it a well-rounded and interesting read that throws up real moral dilemmas for the characters. This would make a great book club read as there is so much brought up in this book that would make for great discussion points.

I really enjoyed this novel – it kept me engrossed from start to finish and left me mulling it over once I’d finished reading. I’ll definitely be looking out for more of Amanda Brooke’s novels in the future.

The Affair is out now.

I received a copy of this book from the HarperCollins via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

A really enjoyable read! I thought I was getting a straight forward story about a schoolgirl having an affair with a teacher but what I got was a complex story with emotionally developed characters. This book hooked me from the first page and kept me interested right the way through. I love how the characters you'd expect to be emotionally manipulative are not always so and the same goes for the parties you'd expect to be innocent.

This was my first book by Amanda Brooke but it won't be my last!

I have read a few books by this author - and really enjoyed them all.
I really liked the family dynamics in "The Affair". I thought I knew what was happening throughout the book, BUT.... The author cleverly throws in red herrings to put the reader off the scent.
The writer has a very clear voice and reading her books is a great pleasure for me.
A throughly enjoyable book that I highly recommend.

Although not particularly shocking, this was an engrossing read, with flawed relationships and changing suspicions.

Well written and mostly suspenseful, as in real life not all the characters are likable, but all are well written and believable.

A thought provoking, mostly enjoyable read - many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read and review this book.

A 15 year old schoolgirl with a secret that can destroy so many lives. Lots of twists and turns.

I'm so sorry but I can no longer review this book. Please accept my apologies.

Four and a half stars.
A compelling story about a 15 year old girl and the adult who took advantage of her but should have known much better. Thought provoking, tense and all too believable how awful some people can be - predator not carer. Loved the book but not the characters who were about as awful as they could be, ranging from weak and wishy washy to plain manipulative. They were not at all likeable, most seemed to have serious flaws one way or another. This novel was hard to put down and I ignored everything just to carry on reading it! It certainly kept me gripped from the first to last page.

The Affair is a fabulous book that has triggered all my emotions.

The way Amanda writes kept me in suspense the whole way through! I can't believe how many times I changed my mind throughout the book.

The Affair is about a young school girl called Scarlett who becomes involved with a married older man! Ok I will stop there as I truly don't want to spoil the suspense.

Nina her mum never suspected a thing, which made me feel her frustration and heartache when Scarlett was making things extremely difficult for her family.
Not only did Nine have to deal with Scarlett, her Son ends up in a hole heap of trouble too.

I don't want to write any more about the storyline as I really don't want to give anything away which could easily be done.

Ok so I'll write about how much I thoroughly enjoyed Amanda's writing style.
It took me a little while to get used to being transferred from past to present but once I did I loved it!
It really adds to the suspense as every time you are privileged to some important information on who it might be, Amanda pulls you back to the present so your left wondering and guessing.

I literally spent all night reading as i wanted to know if my suspicions were right. But like I said I was left wondering at every page I turned.

Despite the great storyline let's not forget this was a very serious storyline and it was clear from the start Scarlett had no idea what she was doing was classed as abuse.

Towards the end when the truth unravels you see that Scarlett is just a child that fell in love. When she realises the extent of what has happens she breaks down and confesses all to her Mum.
Even towards the very end she does not have the courage to report him to the police even though she knows she has to. It truly shows her vulnerability and how she has been Groomed so to speak in what to say.

I think Amanda ended her book just in the right place. I'm not sure I could see another book to follow on.

I highly recommend The Affair, it was easy reading if not a little frustrating as I didn't have enough hours in the day to finish in one read.

I hope you enjoy as much as I did.

2.5 stars

Firstly, this is not a romance, it is women's fiction, I guess but a stretch for that genre. It clearly wasn't a hit for me and there are a number of reasons why. However, I am going to start with the positives.

Writing a book about the worst of sexual predators and their grooming process is a tough challenge. There is little subject matter to work with that is ultimately appealing or satisfying. I do think books should be written about this subject in the fiction world, as it is through this medium that many learn. However, it's not entertaining but I do like to be challenged ethically and think about different perspectives.

My struggles with this book start with the fact that I do no think this book tackled the issues well and I began moving from the world of fiction and finding flaw with some concepts from my own professional knowledge. Almost all of the characters in this book I disliked and one I reviled. The only likeable characters were Liam and Eva. I struggled immensely with the mother, Nina and her attitude towards her daughter. Scarlett seemed to be portrayed as in the wrong rather than victim; I cannot condone this. I cannot begin to define my hatred of Rob, but I imagine most readers would feel this way.

The differing points of view especially within each chapter made following the multiple perspectives rather difficult and in this, the writing didn't flow. In addition the format of before and accusations took some getting used to and I didn't quite adjust. It was a quick read, however and even through my difficulties, it kept my interest.

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher in return for an honest review.

Reviewed for Jo&IsaLoveBooks Blog.

Fifteen year old girls can be very stubborn and also thoroughly dislike-able. This was certainly my impression of Scarlett. She is beautiful and is starting to realise the power that beauty gives her. When she tells her mother Nina, (who has recently re-married) that she is pregnant, the father is a married man & she has no intention of telling anyone who it is Nina's world falls apart.

Mr Swift is a popular young teacher. He is married with a young child. He has given Scarlett extra tuition. His wife was once his pupil although they didn't get together until she left school.. Suspicion falls on him, but it also falls on Bryn Nina's husband.

I spent a lot of the book feeling furious with Scarlett but by the end I was feeling very sorry for her. Amanda Brooke weaves a masterly tale and I want to thank her, Netgalley and the publisher for giving me the chance to read this five star book- couldn't put it down until I found out what was really going on!

The Affair is the latest book by Amanda Brooke, an author renowned for her "human" stories. This one centres around florist Nina and her family. Newly remarried to Bryn she has been trying to settle him in to family life with her two teenage kids. Liam, at seventeen, is practically welded to his computer and rarely leaves his bedroom. Scarlett is a different creature entirely, a pretty fifteen year old social butterfly with lots of friends.

When Nina discovers that Scarlett is pregnant her entire world falls apart. All her daughter will tell her is that the babies father is a man rather than a schoolboy and that he will stand by her when he has told his wife. Unable to fathom that it must be someone that she knows, doubt starts to creep in and all of her relationships start to suffer.
The timeline swings back and forth throughout the book so it does force you to pay attention. The action varies from present day back to the time when Scarlett met the man who took advantage of her. Some of the chapters are told by Scarlett herself and truthfully she's not a particularly nice person. Even though something dreadful has happened to her she is quite unlikeable. She is still under the spell of the man who has groomed her but she is self centred and really quite horrible at times.

The cover art really interested me because it is very similar to the image on the Twilight book, except here it has been given a makeover to look like a much younger person. Forbidden fruit is always quite an evocative image, and in the context of the story here has another meaning altogether.

It isn't that difficult to work out who Scarlett has been having the relationship with but in many ways the book isn't really about that. It is more concerned with how this event stresses the other relationships around them. Nina and Bryn, Nina and Liam, Nina and her best friend Sarah who has always had a deep suspicion about taxi driver Bryn and his intentions towards her friend's family. It is a story well told even if that story is sometimes a little unsettling.

Supplied by Net Galley and Harper Collins UK in exchange for a fair review.

Amanda Brooke at her absolute best. An excellent story of families, lies and deceit, and how it affects everyone. . A fifteen year old pregnant schoolgirl, a teacher accused of grooming students . Can it be true or is it a school girl with a crush ? There are so many twists that it is only right at the very end that the reader finds out the truth. Too good a book to miss. Make sure you read it

Thank you Netgalley, Amanda Brooke and Harpercollins UK for this digital ARC for an honest review.

Nine has brought up her two children Scarlett and Liam pretty much on her own but now has found love again in the shape of taxi driver Bryn. Life seems good until she discovers that 15 year old Scarlett is pregnant. That's bad enough but to make things worse Scarlett will not reveal who the father is except to say he is a married man.

This is pretty much the story of every parents nightmare in the form of a whodunit....the it been who out of their tight knit community is responsible for Scarletts condition. Whilst reading this I kept thinking back to a novel I read many years ago and couldn't help thinking this is a very middle class version of Lace by Shirley Conran! There are several possible culprits, and it's written so it could really be any of them. But mystery aside it's also quite a disturbing study of a young girl who thinks she's all grown up and in love but in fact is been groomed by someone they should all be able to trust (this applies to all culprits). An easy but thought provoking read.

This is the first book I've read by this author and I have to say it drew me in from the start and kept me intrigued all the way through.

This story centres around two families, Nina and her new husband Bryn and Nina's two children from her first marriage, 15 year old Scarlett and 17 year old Liam and Vicki and Rob and their daughter Freya, Rob is Scarlett's English teacher.

When Nina learns that Scarlett is pregnant by a married man and Scarlett is refusing to reveal who it is, their whole world falls apart, she begins to question who could be responsible for this, is it Rob, who is giving extra tuition to assist her falling grades or could it be Bryn who Scarlett has suddenly become very close to, whoever has led her daughter astray she won't rest until she uncovers the truth, if it is Rob how will Vicki, his wife cope when she's just found out she's pregnant with their second child, and just how much of Scarlett's story is true?

I really enjoyed this book, which had a few twists and turns along the way and will be looking at more of this author's books in the future. Thank you to Harper Collins for the auto approval, I will post my review on Goodreads now and on Amazon on publication day.