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shazsbookblog

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I Came to Say Goodbye
Caroline Overington
Sunlounger
Belinda Jones, Lucy Robinson, Chrissie Manby, Miranda Dickinson, Alexandra Brown, Kirsty Greenwood, Abby Clements, Kate Harrison, Anna-Lou Weatherley, Cally Taylor
The Underside of Joy - Seré Prince Halverson I'm glad that I saw the Facebook post by Waterstones asking for reviewers for this book as it's truly a moving read and will definitely be in my top 10 books read this year. It's a poignant story of what can happen when tragedy strikes and pulls the rug from under your comfortable life.

When Ella arrives in the town of Elbow following her divorce, she does not expect to fall in love so soon and become part of an instant family but that's precisely what happens when she meets single father Joe and his two children, Annie and Zach. She becomes the centre of a loving family, with a husband who adores her, children who call her mommy which is what she's always wanted but couldn't have, as well as in-laws who've welcomed her into their extended family.

But her world crashes around her when, three years later, Joe is killed but at least she has the children to cling onto. Everyone is shocked when Joe's ex wife makes an appearance at his funeral and soon afterwards asks for access to the children she left behind.

Ella soon finds out that things were not quite as clear cut as Joe had told her, although Paige had initially left with no contact, she had been writing regularly to Joe and the children and had requested access but he'd hidden this fact from them all. Can Ella and Paige come to an agreement that will enable them both to be involved in the children's lives?

It's hard to believe that this is a debut novel as it was extremely well written and handled delicate topics such as postnatal depression, infertility, custody battles very sensitively. I think I connected with this book emotionally as I've seen personally how custody cases affect all involved not just the adults but the children too.