This was a brilliant read. As soon as I started reading this book I just knew I was going to love it. Highly recommended

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This book is split up into 3 separate parts and we get 2 POVs. The first part takes place immediately after Ed loses his wife in a tragic accident days after their son Oli was born in which his brother Simon was involved. It’s hinted that Simon is hiding something and I was immediately curious.

The second part is where Ed and Rachel meet and this is where everything unfolds. We learn a lot about each of the characters in this section as well as the side characters. There is then a time jump to 4 years later which was very abrupt to me and this is where we learn Simons secret which after all of the build up was actually a big let down. From the way Ed was acting I was expecting Simon to have done something horrible. The romance in the book was also not really existent but implied and honestly unbelievable and very rushed. So while I enjoyed some aspects of the story others aspects kind of let me down.

An horrific tragedy happens which really was emotional because Anna Mansell writes such relatable characters! You feel deep,y for them.

We jump around to three time lines that are written so perfectly it’s very easy to follow.

I found myself so engrossed at times I needed the author to go backwards and lead me to this point in their lives.

This book sees how we need to find strength from inside ourselves and bitterness just eats away at you like cancer.

I thought this a stunning read!

Reading this as one of my backlist books.

A well written, beautifully told story that I really enjoyed.

Anna certainly knows how to capture the readers imagination.

Ed is still drowning in grief from the tragic death of his wife, Ellie, just two weeks after the birth of their son, Oli. The death of Ellie is not one that Ed could just get past, however, as Ellie was not driving the car that day - his brother Simon was. What was Ellie and Simon doing together that day? Was something more going on between the two? Where was they driving to? Were they running away together with the baby? So many questions unanswered and Ed had no way in retaining the answers from his brother, due to the guilty conscious that now hung over his head, consuming copious amounts of alcohol all day, everyday, leaving his wife alone and worried.

Rachel is a carefree young woman still trying to figure out what she wants in life. She works as a nursery nurse through the day and parties with best friend, Mo, through the night. Rachel meets Ed and Oli when he signs his son up for her nursery - a lost and broken man in need of so much help. Rachel was immediately invested - no matter how many times she was told to stay away. There is more to why Rachel is so drawn to Ed and Oli and that is because the pair of them have allowed her to open her eyes and see what her father had to go through when her mother passed away, leaving him to take care of two young children, herself and her brother. Rachel finds herself helping Ed and Oli in every way possible, possibly crossing some professional lines, but not caring. She takes time out of her day to look after Oli and allow Ed to get the truth about his wife's death - only to find some extremely vital information herself. However, does Rachel want to be the one to tell him? Especially because she'll then have to reveal that she was snooping through his wife's belongings.

I could not put this book down all day! I started it Saturday morning and had it completed by the evening... This is a book that is going to take you just one day to complete, so choose the day you decide to read it wisely, as all chores/work for that day will need to be postponed. Anna managed to weave two characters, who had little to nothing in common, and made it in to something huge to the point where you just couldn't see them not being in each other's lives. It was a joy to see the progression of Ed and Oli, from a lost, widowed father who had no faith in life at all to a father who, although still mourned his passed-wife, had built a new life for him and his son, rekindled old hobbies and was willing to move on and have happiness in his life. Rachel's progression was also wonderful to watch, as she was just a young woman with no idea of what her path was supposed to look like, to then finally knowing what she wanted to do and achieving every goal possible.

Another character that deserves a little paragraph is Mo. She was the most supportive best friend, also with no real motives for what she wanted in life, but was a lot more confident than Rachel with how she wanted her life to go. She found her happy ending with Greg, a previous friend of Ed's and started a family. A loved character with a well-deserved story-line!

This story had so much packed in to it; humour, emotion and mystery. The story flowed perfectly throughout and all supporting characters balanced it all wonderfully. It will most definitely be a book that will have you feeling many emotions by the last page and a little empty that you have finished it and have now come to the end of Ed and Rachel's story... Hopefully this isn't the end though! I will definitely be reading more of Anna's stories for the time being... *wink wink* *hint hint*

Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this title. Unfortunately, I have lost interest in the title, partly due to trusted reviews, and will not be reviewing the title. I have, however, promoed the title through my weekly recap with links to Amazon. Thank you again, and I apologize for the inconvenience this may cause.

I really enjoyed this book. It was different from what I expected and it definitely wound up exceeding my expectations! Check out this book. You won't be sorry!

A great book that I thoroughly enjoyed. wonderful characters, that you felt like you knew by the end of the novel. Emotions expressed excellently, and a storyline that connects everyone and leaves you wanting to turn the page.

I will continue to look out for Anna Mansell - thank you to Netgalley for an early copy

Wow, an amazing story of love, loss, tragedy, forgiveness, grief, hope and moving on. Absolutely beautifully written I didn't want to finish it. An emotional rollercoaster - it made me smile but I cried too.

Fantastic believable characters with lovely supporting characters too. This is a book which will stay with me. A perfect ending.

Highly recommended - a fabulous 5 star book. I can't wait for Anna's next book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed the book at the start - it felt an intriguing story and I was really captured. Unfortunately i was disappointed when the 'snooping' was discovered, it felt an over reaction and just took strong a reaction to feel believable, this was also true (for me) about the big coincidence at the end of the book. The story had lots of potential but it just felt a little too contrived.

This is the second book I have read by Anna Mansell and I have enjoyed both. When Ed loses his wife just after his baby son is born he struggles to cope and realises he needs help. Along comes Rachel who helps him to cope with fatherhood. Ed is convinced his wife was unfaithful with his brother and starts to doubt everything that he believes in. When Rachel finds something by snooping in Ed's house he cannot forgive her. A lovely story of heartbreak, friendship and forgiveness.

I have read how to mend a broken heart a couple of months ago and thought that was great but the lost wife I feel is a step up from that making this a 5 star read for me.
Anna Mansell has written this book well, it has a lot of different type of emotions running through it which she manages to capture brilliantly with the well thought out and descriptively written main characters.
The book is split into chapters from Rachel's viewpoint and Eds viewpoint making this a very deep read. Ed has lost his wife in a car crash and has been left to cope with not only his loss but 2 week old Ollie who survived. Eds brother Simon was driving the car and Ed has a lot of unanswered questions like why was his wife in his brothers car?? Rachael is a nursery nurse and looks after Ollie when Ed goes back to work because her mum died when she was young she thinks she knows how to handle Ed and Ollie and bounces from caring to business like as her life freefalls after a stupid mistake.
This book had me laughing one minute and tearful the next!! There wasn't anything I disliked in this book and wished I could have followed the journey a bit longer.
I would like to thank netgalley and bookouture for this ARC I received in exchange for an honest review.

A completely absorbing book. I was reading faster to find out what would happen but at the same time not wanting the book to end. I loved it !

The Lost Wife is a beautifully written, emotional and heartbreaking story of love and loss and devastating grief.

Ed is struggling to cope with life since losing his beloved wife in a tragic car accident, leaving him with his newborn baby son, to care for.

Ed eventually realises that it is time to get back to work and slowly introduces his baby son, Oli, to day-care, where he meets Rachel, who will be Oli’s childminder. A strong friendship begins to form until Rachel abuses Ed’s trust and he feels betrayed and they part ways.

Four years later Ed and Rachel, now a primary school teacher meet again when Oli starts school.

A beautiful and heartfelt story that kept me turning the pages on my recent holiday.

A book I can highly recommend and I look forward to more from Anna Mansell

Many thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for providing a copy of this book and this is my honest review.

When Ed's wife Ellie is killed in a car accident their son Oli is only two days old, Ed is heartbroken and doesn't know which way to turn with his grief - its only Oli that make him get up in the mornings and when accusations are made about his wife he doesn't believe them - he knew her inside out........didn't he.....but why was she in the car with his brother Simon and why wont Simon speak to him now?

Rachel is a nursery nurse and when Ed brings Oli to her for day care she finds herself getting too involved with the heartbroken man......she just wants to help and relieve some of his pain - but when she finds out a secret kept by Ellie she doesn't know what to do and she doesn't want to ruin her fragile friendship with Ed

A great story - a real emotional rollercoaster - the characters were really good and believable and it worked really well having the story told by both Ed and Rachel....just have the tissues ready!

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher and most importantly the author. What a brilliantly written book. I loved the characters and could not put it down. Highly recommend.

The Lost Wife was a great book.
We meet Ed whose wife is tragically killed in a car crash a couple of weeks after giving birth to Oli their son. Now and must cope with not only being a dad but also grieving for his wife.
Where will the future take them?
A great book to read while on holiday you won't want to put it down.

I really loved this book!! It slowly drew me in and I found I was trying to read just one more chapter each time I opened it!!

The two main characters Ed and Rachel were both so well written and their story was fascinating to read , I was rooting for Rachel throughout.

The story handles grief with sensitivity. Eds world has Ben shattered since he lost his wife in a tragic accident leaving him to bring up his newborn son Oli alone.
Rachel is Olis daycare carer and through a shared experience of grief they become friends.
There are a few twists along the way and I was guessing right up to the end about what way the story would go. I loved the ending I thought it was perfect
The book explores loss,grief, friendship, relationships, forgiveness, love and the ability to move on.

I wizzed through the book in a weekend, feeling as if I knew the characters. Sometimes I need to look back in books at who's this character but not this time.

Anna Mansell is a new author to me but I will definitely be looking out for her other books. Rarely do I experience so many feelings whilst reading, and I feel this is a true talent Anna has as a writer.

Overall a. Beautiful book I didn't want to finish!! A must read !!

What do you do when you feel as though you have lost everything? Your wife, your future, your relationship with your baby brother? This is the prospect facing Ed Moran when his wife is killed in a road traffic collision. The ramifications of the collision are far reaching and secrets which can now never be told threaten to tear Ed’s life apart. So when he is offered friendship by Nursery worker, Rachel, he may not want to have to rely upon her, but the truth is that he needs someone.

Feeling a kinship over a shared sense of loss, Rachel grows closer than she ought to Ed and his young son. Rachel’s strong need to help Ed, to protect the love he felt for his wife Ellie, leads her to making a terrible mistake, one which if Ed discovered, he may never be able to forgive.

The Lost Wife is a beautifully poignant tale examining the effects of tragic loss upon a young family, and the impact that suspicion can have upon even seemingly strong relationships. Ed Moran is a man very much in turmoil, his whole life turned upside down by his wife’s unexpected death. He has questions to which no one seems willing or able to provide answers. The only person who can is so lost in their own grief and guilt that they are no use to him and those who are willing to speak have only bad things to say. People around him struggle to know how to approach his grief and so it is little wonder that he turns to Rachel so easily, the one person who doesn’t try to assume they know how he must be feeling.

I kind of liked Ed. He seemed so devoted to his wife and his son, Oli, that the discoveries he makes are heart wrenching and potentially life changing. Anna Mansell has done such a good job of capturing his grief on the page that you can almost feel the tears building within yourself as you read. I won’t deny there were times that I wanted to scream at him to snap out of it, I’m impatient like that, but his actions and feelings rang true to his character as did his decisions to put his son first, above all else. He doesn’t have a close relationship with his mother, she is far too cold and reserved, failing to cope well with the situation they find themselves in. Losing the bond with his brother on top of everything else nearly breaks him, and this is where he needs support. This is where he needs Rachel.

In Rachel we have a truly engaging character. She is at a crossroad in her life when she meets Ed, uncertain of what path she wishes to take and his grief provides her with a reason to delay choosing. Some of the scenes in which Rachel features are light hearted and add a touch of humour to the story, particularly scenes with her best friend and roommate, Mo. Their’s is a brilliant friendship, and cleverly constructed to add a touch of light to the story. They are typical of two young women living the single life, even if that is soon to change for one of them. Mo is self assured and very much set in a successful career. Rachel is the polar opposite; uncertain, indecisive, unable to move on fully form the past and unwilling to make a decision about her future. Together they are great fun and compliment each other perfectly.

Now nothing in the book is plain sailing. There are so many hidden secrets and elements of misdirection, or at least misinformation, which lead our protagonists down a very rocky path. Rachel’s error pushes them apart, breaking a bond which was only just starting to form. And yet fate often determines that nothing is forever. When, years later, they meet again, their lives have both changed so much. But perhaps the passing of time brings a touch of clarity to things too, especially for Ed.

The book will make you smile. It will make your heart break at times. But most of all it will give you a feeling of hope. Because this is a story of second chances. For family, for friendship and perhaps for love. There is no absolute happy ending here, no skipping off into the sunset, but then maybe, in this case, the mere promise of what could be is more than enough.