Abby is starting her life over after the death of her fiance. She’s gone home to the little town where she grew up to take care of her grandmother, bringing her little boy with her. She plans to help run her grandmother’s cafe on the beach, but then her own mother, Laura shows up. Abby hasn’t seen her mother in years and has no interest in getting to know her now; the hurt and betrayal run too deep. As time passes, however, Abby is able to see Laura as a woman. A woman with a painful past and a conflicted future. This is a lovely story about family, redemption and forgiveness

A Mother Like Mine takes the readers back to the small village of Hartley-by-the-Sea in the beautiful Lake District of England. It is the third book in this series but can be read as a stand alone with no confusion.

Abby is a single mother who was raised by her grandmother after her mother left when she was two. Abby had left her small village for a few years to attend university but after her fiance got killed, she dropped out of school and returned with her young son to live with her grandmother to help her run her small cafe. After 20 years away, her mother Laura shows up unexpectedly and wants to rejoin the family that she abandoned so many years before. Abby is very suspect that her mother will stay and very reluctant to welcome her home. She not only worries about her feelings but also doesn't want her son to get attached and then left behind as Abby had been so many years before. Abby and Laura try to establish a relationship with each other but both realize that it will be very difficult to do after such a long time apart.

Even though there are many other characters in this book, the two main characters, Abby and Laura, are the most important part of this story. Their attempts to have a relationship are well written and the reader can feel the pain that they went through in their pasts as it is revealed. This is wonderful story about family and love and most importantly forgiveness.

Thanks to the author and NetGalley for a copy of this book. All opinions are my own.