This was a moving book about family and it's different meanings. I thought it was an easy read, and while not light, the topics didn't become too heavy for my taste. It's been out for a while, so I hope it's gotten lots of love since its release.

I enjoyed this story. It spans from the 60s and covers relatable themes as well as some unpleasant ones. I liked the characters and the pace. Sometimes switching between past and present in a story is confusing, but not so in Nell and Lady.

Having recently finished “Nell and Lady” by Ashley Farley, I am happy to have had the chance for the e-book copy; thank you NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing!

This was an easy to read story about confronting secrets from the past and learning to live for the future with new understanding.
It seemed like the amount of background needed for this story, and the current events in the lives of all the characters, fell into place a bit too smoothly to be completely believable. Sometimes that works, and sometimes when all the different life dramas are wrapped up with perfect bows, it can leave an empty feeling. I left Nell and Lady understanding their stories, but without connecting to their characters as I had hoped.

This book got me in the heartstrings. The story flowed between the past and present without any confusion. I found myself smiling at times and then feeling sorrow for the characters during difficult moments. A great read for my traffic-filled days!

I'm going to see if my library has because I love books like this one. I want to reread it again.
Plus I've said this about another book too where family isn't always blood related. Sometimes all you need is a friend.
Forgiveness is the main theme of this book. I love that this book has it all.
The cover is absolutely beautiful because the two are friends and sisters.
Friendship is a beautiful thing. Sometimes it tests the time, across the miles or reconnection.
Secrets they tend to destroy relationships some so severe that they can't be mended
A wonderful book that will make you feel everything these characters go through.
God shows us if it's meant to be He will make a way for it to happen.
My praise for this new to me author for an excellent and well written plot.
This subject is a very deep one. The author has done well
My thanks to Netgalley. NO compensations were received. All opinions are .y own

Thank you so much Netgalley for the opportunity to review Nell and Lady!

The book starts off two estranged best friends. At 16, something happened to Nell. Since then, she disconnected with Lady and her family.

Through their children and unexpected encounters, they reconnect and forgive each other of their past they had no control over.

I thought the book was okay. It did not emotionally touch me, and focus shifted away from Nell/Lady often to their children. I felt like the story was more about Regan and Booker more than Nell/Lady.

It's more of a family book of how family comes back together despite times of estrangement! It takes love and patience to hope for the best!

At its heart, this novel is about family. And how sometimes family is not just your blood.

Nell and Lady were inseparable as children. When Nell's mother dies, Lady pleads that her mother, Willa Bellemore, adopt her and make them the sisters they already believe themselves to be.

While the heartbreak of losing her mother was hard, the night of Lady's 16th birthday has something happen which caused a rift between them.

Decades have passed and Willa is ill. She convinces Lady to reach out to Nell to come see her.

Thus begins the journey of forgiveness and restoration for Nell and Lady and the recognition of what family truly is.

This was a wonderful title, full of emotion, and a great reminder of what family should be.

A Beautiful Story!
Nell and Lady is a beautiful heartfelt story about two girls who grow up together, with different moms and of different ethnic backgrounds. Growing up color doesn’t matter, nor does the fact that Nell’s momma works for Lady’s mom. They all live in the same house happily. When tragedy strikes and Nell loses her mom unexpectedly, Willa, Lady’s mom adopts Nell. Their story is beautifully and carefully written. Tragedy will strike Nell’s life on Lady’s 16th birthday, but no one realizes how deep her wounds go or what really happened. As always our author Ashley Farley weaves a story filled with love, heartache, mystery and family issues. This book is entertaining and thought provoking. Ashley handles teen issues delicately and with care. I highly recommend this book. It is one you won’t want to put down! 5 stars for sure!!

Nell and Lady grew up as sisters and best friends, but one night can change everything..

When Nell cuts Willa and Lady out of her life, it hurts them both deeper than they care to admit. Decades go by, before they are able to even think about interacting, and the one thing that brings them together is the cancer that Will is struggling with. But Lady is not ready to let go of the past, she is still hurt by Nell's actions, especially after everything that her mother did for her.
But new events are about to spin out of control, and they are either going to make or break this unconventional family...

A great book! I had a hard time putting it down!

Nell and Lady is a beautifully written story of family, the secrets they keep, the hurt that can shape lives because of the secrets and in the end how nothing really matters but family first. In this story we follow the Bellemore family living in Charleston South Carolina alternating between the past and the present.

Ashley Farley has developed beautifully flawed characters that are completely relatable. The story is heartbreaking and heartwarming. It covers the whole gamut of emotions as you read it.

I really enjoyed this book and finished it one day because I didn’t want to put it down. I highly recommend any of Ashley Farley’s books.

Thank you #netgalley and #lakeunionpublishing for allowing me to read this story for a fair and honest review.

First of all, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. However, the emotions weren't powerful enough for me. It was more of a gentle read covering difficult subjects such as racism, sexual assault, domestic abuse, and etc. This story focuses on 3 generations of family from the 60's to now. This story consists of friendships, families, betrayal, jealousy, unforgiveness, redemption, loss, and everything.

I loved the setting of this book. Charleston, SC is historic, elegant, and laid-back, a beautiful southern gem. I could feel its presence as if it were a character in this story. Nell and Lady are sisters by circumstance. Nell, the daughter of the maid to Willa Bellemore who died suddenly, was raised by Willa alongside her own daughter Lady. The girls grew up close until something happened on Nell’s 16th birthday that drove them apart. Thirty years later Willa is dying and Lady contacts Nell to come see her. They discover that their teenagers are classmates and friends. This book is about family ties that are broken and the attempt to repair them. It is about strong stubborn Southern women. It is about secrets kept that can tear families apart. It is about racism in the 1970s and the hope for a better future in our children. I enjoyed this book and thank Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read it.

This was an enjoyable story about friendships & family, and what it means to be family.
Set in the present day with flashbacks to the 70’s, I liked the way the characters and story developed-both were well thought out and characters really grew and changed, with you a solid ending.
Grab it, you won’t be sorry!

So, I really wanted to love this one but it fell short for me. Its a story told from both past and present perspectives of Nell and Lady - two women who became sisters after Nell's mother (Lady's family housekeeper) passed away. Nell, the daughter of a black housekeeper was adopted by Lady's mum Willa (I loved her character) after her mothers death and they became a family until something happened at Lady's 16th birthday that changed everything and Nell leaves the family. Years later, Willa is elderly, dying of cancer and wants to bring the family back together. It had so much of what I liked - race relations, family relationships etc... but it just felt flat. Also I really did not like the ending

This is a great story set in the South. I enjoyed reading about the different viewpoints in the different chapters. I was hoping for more of an epilogue at the end but found this to be a quick and easy read.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ecopy for my Kindle.
I've read several of Ashley Farley's book and this one is a good one, too!
Set in Charleston with all the wonderful charm and characteristics of the south plus strong ladies of all ages made this a good and easy read.

Rating this 4.5 stars!
The story is about Nell and Lady (obviously), but it is more than that.  Nell and Lady is a story of friendship set in times of strong prejudice in the deep south of Charleston, South Carolina, that challenges social class and race.  Mavis is a young black woman who turns up pregnant while working for Willa Bellemore, a white woman who is also pregnant.  The two women become the best of friends while they raise their daughters, Nell and Lady, together in the Bellemore home.

Then tragedy occurs and Mavis suffers a stroke and unexpectedly dies, which leaves her daughter, Nell, with no family.  Of course, Willa steps up and adopts Nell, raising her as her own daughter despite her color and the social implications that result from her decision.  As Lady and Nell are being raised together, they are as close as sisters until one night, at Lady's sweet 16 party, everything changes. Something happened that night that slowly tears their relationship apart, as Nell separates herself from Lady and her mother, Willa.

Flash forward three decades and Lady's mother, Willa is suffering from cancer. She begs Lady to go find Nell in the hopes that they can reconnect before she dies.  Her last wish for her daughters to confront what happened the night of the party and to be a family again is not going to come easy.

The characters are very relatable and the story line is based on everyday issues that families deal with today. The story was heartwarming and easy to read, and the characters were easy to love.  I highly recommend this story of families, loss and forgiveness!

I was provided with a complimentary electronic advanced reader copy through Net Galley in exchange for my post.  I was not required to post a positive review.

This was a great story about family and friendship. A black girl was adopted by a white family in the south, because the girls mother died. The mother had been a servant, but more like a family member for years. I don't want to recap the whole story but it definitely kept you wanting more. Very good character development. Especially loved the spunky grandmother. Definitely worth reading. Thank you Netgalley for the preview of this book.

A lovely story about friendship, tragedy, forgiveness, and hope. Farley's characters are richly developed and I fell in love with them from the start. I also appreciated how her descriptions of scenery came alive as if the places she described were characters, themselves. This is a must read!

Nell and Lady is another novel by Ashley Farley, set in Charleston, SC, a city that she obviously loves. Nell and Lady were raised as sisters in the wealthy area of town, even though Nell is the daughter of Lady's mother's former maid who passed away when Nell was young. They have been out of touch since the end of high school, but now Willa is dying and would like to see Nell and reunite the sisters. No one knows what caused the rift between them so many years ago, not even Lady, but it is time to find out. A stirring, thoughtful novel about what makes a family.