BOOK TOUR STOP x @LoveBooksTours - To Love and Be Loved by Amanda Prowse

Merrin is getting ready to start a new chapter of her young life - she was getting ready to walk down the aisle and marry the love of her life, and live happily ever after. But there was no wedding, no happy - after a disaster leaves her humiliated, alone, and heartbroken she flees the small town she's always called home and never looked back.

Until now. It's been six years, and she did start a new chapter of her life after all - one far away from the sleepy seaside village of her past away from her family and friends, away from the reminders of everything bad that had happened to her. She has a stable job, she hasn't gotten her heart broken in years, and things are fine. But when she receives tragic news, she has to finally return to the place she once knew as home and face it once more time.

Being back reminds her of who she was - young, impulsive, hopeful, confident. And she can't help but wonder if she could be that person again if she just finds the courage to move on, and let herself be open to love again.

As usual, Amanda Prowse has created a story so intense in emotion that invokes feelings so deep and visceral you can't help but shed a tear or laugh out loud. The setting, nestled in a remote part of Cornwall, was beautifully crafted so it's easy for the reader to imagine clearly exactly where everything is happening and set the scene brilliantly.

We jump between multiple point of views, learning more about the past and the people Merrin left behind when she ran away, but there were definitely some key perspectives that I felt weren't touched upon and it wasn't always clear when the time and setting changed during the chapters.

This wasn't a story where a lot of plot happens, it's about people, about their relationships and how they grow and evolve over time. There was stunning and complex family relationships, confusing romances and of course the most important of all - Merrins relationship with herself. Another moving, glittering story with that trademark Prowse prowess.

⭐⭐⭐

Thank you to Love Books Tours and Amanda Prowse for inviting me to take part in this tour. I was gifted an advanced reviewers copy of this tour in return for an honest review.

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