To pick up life again after everything went wrong…

Synopsis

For forty years the fabulous Odette Devine has been a beloved matriarchal actress on Scotland’s longest-running TV show.
Today she is broken, betrayed, and desperate to find out if this is her payback for a lie she told forty years ago.

A year ago today, Tress Walker’s husband was killed in a car accident, on the same day she gave birth to their baby. Reeling from the discovery that he was with his mistress, Tress has to choose whether to protect her fragile heart or open it to love again.

Noah Clark was devastated to discover his wife and his best friend were having an affair. Now the love of his life is asking for another chance to make their marriage work. But can there ever be a way back, once the trust is broken?

Noah’s sister Keli Clark has recently been ghosted by the man she loves. When a shocking message from a complete strangerreveals the reason why, Keli will have to decide whether to forgive, forget, or to make sure he pays.

Twenty-four hours. Four shocking secrets. One tumultuous tale of love, loss and second chances.

My review

One year ago, Tress Walker went through hell. Not only was her husband killed in a car accident while she was in labour, but she also discovered that he had a mistress.
Luckily now, she can still count on Noah Clark, her husband’s best friend. He is the only one who can understand her, as his wife was the actual mistress.
Then there is Odette Devine, an actress known from a Scottish TV show. But her personal life isn’t all that glitter and glam with several failed marriages, betrayals and feeling more lost and alone than ever. Is her current life payback for the lies she told four decades ago?
And then we have Keri Clark, Noah’s sister. She thought to have found love, only to be ghosted by the man. But even if things seemingly ended with the man, Keri cannot just turn to the next page as there are more than just one issue… 

I was very eager to pick up this book from this amazing author. There are authors that you don’t even bother reading the blurbs, as you are just happy a new book is out.
When I realized that this book was an actual sequel of a book I absolutely loved reading, my happiness was even bigger than before! And I was hoping very much that in the end, I would get the ending I was hoping for. 

There are several main characters in this book, and they for sure deserve their own place in the spotlight. But if I would describe how each character affected me and how they made me feel, my review would end up being a book on its own, and let’s be honest, who would want that? 😊 

Of course I had a week spot for Tress and Noah, as I already knew them.
Even if things aren’t going exactly perfectly for Tress and Noah, I was happy for them, seeing how life was going for the both of them.
Obviously there were the initial struggles after discovering the devastating truth. But it warmed my heart to see that their friendship was perhaps even stronger than before.
They both show us that real friendship can stand any test. 

This pair, even we can call it like them, show us the resilience of people, but they also show us that finding the courage for moving on isn’t an easy thing to do. And even when we think we have, a ghost from the past can for sure bring us back to square one… 

And these kind of ghosts can even go back in decades, as we can see in Odette’s story. I felt sorry for her, even actual pitied her. For me, it was like she was making the one mistake after the other, of course unintentional. Or perhaps it truly was Karma coming back with a vengeance… 

And perhaps vengeance is what Keri is looking for. I have to be honest, at first instance I had a gut feeling about the man that Keri had fallen in love with. But then there were many indications that were making me believe I was wrong. But I should learn to always trust my gut, as I was proven right! 😊 

These seem very different stories with not a lot in common, or a common thread. But I liked it how in an obvious way (Noah and Keri for example) or in a not so obvious way, all these characters were linked somehow. 

But what I loved the most in this book, was the unconditional love in it. Noah and Tress didn’t allow their heartbreak to end their friendship. Noah also became a fixture little Buddy’s life, even if Buddy would always remind him of the betrayal that took place.
But we also see the unconditional love between friends, as Keri can trust her colleague/friend to always be on her side, no matter what happens. And then there is the love for our new friends, which can be a new love, but can also run very deep in an instant.
And even love for old friends, those we have lost track of. In this kind of love we see that time can be a good healer, and that one mistake may have changed several lives, but when is holding a grudge for decades ever the right option? Isn’t rekindling that friendship, and forgive more important than that? 

We also have love for family in this book, whether it’s for our family by blood, or our chosen family. Because Buddy, that little sweetheart (although I still have problems with that nickname…) can for sure always rely on his “aunties” to have his and his mother Tress’s back no matter what. Yet that also means that those two women will always interfere one way or another, with the help of Shania Twain or not! These women for sur put a smile on my face! 😊 

I absolutely devoured this book, page after page! Shari Low even exceeded my extreme high expectations, writing a compelling, heartwarming, lovely story about people picking up the pieces of their lives. finding courage to move on, start once again. It’s difficult to not to give away too much, as there are things I want to thank Shari and her talent for, like for example, in the end, I got the ending I was hoping for!