Jacqui loved her husband Rafe but their married life left much to be desired. From a loving and caring boyfriend he turned into a callus, demeaning image conscious bully who neglected his wife. In a life changing car accident, Jacqui finds a way to escape her cloistering life but lost access to her child. Plastic surgery and a secret keeping, guardian angel in the form of Rafe's relative gives her a chance to re-enter her child's life as Brooke. After her death Brooke inherits her home and finds herself drawn once more to the man who she once loved.

I didn't enjoy this one as much as I have other. I didn't; like Rafe Charlswood for not taking care of his wife. For being so cold to her and neglectful and then taking her son from her. I couldn't get into the story after than. I thought that Brook was too forgiving, The illustrations were beautiful but I didn't like Rafe.

**Received this ARC for review from the publisher via NetGalley**

I received a free copy from Netgalley.

This manga romance had a heart touching story and of course a happy ending. The road to it was filled with misunderstandings, lies, and hurt feelings. But the happiness of the family reuniting and the attraction between the main characters made for an enjoyable read.
The art is clear and the writing easy to read. No confusion!

Book Review
Title: A Lost Love
Author: Hiromi Kobayashi (Illustrator) & Carole Mortimer
Genre: Manga
Rating: *****
Review: In A Lost Love we are introduced to Jacqui who has undergone major reconstructive surgery after a car accident, but this isn’t just for vanity’s sake, she wants to create a whole new identity as Brooke and the reasons for this are explained later on. Brooke is best friend with an older woman named Jocelyn who is part of the prestigious Charlswood family.
We learn that Jacqui was married to Rafe Charlswood and their marriage who horrible. Rafe was more than 10 years old that Jacqui when they married but she loved him and gave him a son; Robert. However, shortly after Robert’s birth Rafe became very possessive and stopped her working and seeing her friends. He also won’t let her raise her own son who was always in the care of nannies when he didn’t need feeding. After while Jacqui is despondent and decides to start dancing again behind Rafe’s back but this backfire when he thinks she is having an affair. He cruelly kicks her out, files for divorce and wins custody of their son who she isn’t allowed to see at all.
Brooke eventually comes clean to Jocelyn who had been her only friend during her marriage to Rafe and keeps her secret, but Brooke often visits Jocelyn’s cottage where she can see her son in secret. However, after Jocelyn dies from a terminal illness, she is left the cottage, so she can be close to Robert. Rafe is smitten with Brooke and asks to date her several times but she turns him down because she is his ex-wife although he doesn’t know this.
Living in the cottage allows Brooke to develop a proper relationship with her son but this means dealing with Rafe as well. However, the pair being close together allow them to talk about their respective pasts without giving away Brooke’s secret. Brooke soon finds herself falling in love with her ex-husband all over again, taking a leap of faith she sleeps with Rafe.
She learns that Rafe was heartless or cold, it was just the way his father raised him and that he did care for her deeply he just didn’t know how to show her the way he felt. After their night together Brooke comes clean and Rafe accepts her back with an open heart as he believed her to be dead and is happy to have her back in his arms once more. In the end, Rafe and Brooke have their happy ending with Robert and can live the life they were always meant to.

I’ve always wanted to read one of these Mills & Boon Manga editions, so when the opportunity to request one via Net-Galley came along, I thought I’d give it a go.

The reading backwards thing was easier to master than I thought it would be. I thought it would take a little getting used to at least but I found I was doing it no worries after the first page.

I didn’t have any issues with the illustrations either. I felt they were all exactly how I imagined a Manga book’s drawings should be depicted. That is, sometimes a little dramatic and exaggerated but essentially fun.

Mortimer’s story, however, was the weak point for me. I’ve read a lot of crazy plots in Mortimer books but this one really takes the cake.

Jacquii was married to Rafe (there’s a classic M&B hero name if there ever was one!) and they had a baby before they divorced. Soon after, Jacquii was involved in a car accident. Rafe was such a tyrant during their marriage and subsequent divorce that Jacquii lets him think she’s died in the accident. While she’s in the hospital being attended to by doctors, she asks them to perform plastic surgery on her face. The plan is to change her features completely so that she can return to live near Rafe and see her son without his knowledge.

Yes, Jacquii becomes Brooke and moves in next door so she can see her son. Okay, I understand a woman doing anything for her kids but surely in this case plastic surgery was a little extreme. No one in the hospital suggested a visit from a psychiatrist? Or checked to see if reruns of Return to Eden were being shown?

As much as I usually enjoy Mortimer’s books (she’s easily my most read Mills & Boon writer), I certainly won’t be racing to read the normal edition of this book. I did wonder whether the publishers deliberately look for over the top plots like this for their manga editions. I’ll have to read another couple to work out if this is the case.

2 out of 5 The book was a quick read and the manga drawings enjoyable due to their uniqueness but the storyline was just too whack for me.

Going back to your asshole husband who cannot even recognize you, just because of a new face is not my perfect example for a love story.....

Tornare con quell'essere infimo di tuo marito, che non ti riconosce nemmeno solo perché hai fatto una plastica, non é certo il mio esempio preferito di storia d'amore....

THANKS NETGALLEY FOR THE PREVIEW!

This is a really good story with lots of drama, but unlike some of these manga romances, the drama actually feels realistic. This is no idealistic romance because the couple have a difficult marriage with a lack of communication, and problems from the past which haunt them in the present. The two of them are unable to overcome their problems and it leads to the breakdown of their relationship. That part of the story is just so sad, but it helps knowing that there will be a happy resolution.

Of course the accident that Jacquie was in and her subsequent new face and identity, is a bit dramatic, but it makes the story all the more interesting because the reader knows about the secret.

Knowing that the big reveal is yet to come made the story all the more gripping for me.

I really enjoyed this story and I think it's because the story feels a bit like soap. I could imagine this particular story being televised with lots of dramatic music shouting, emotion, tears and passion. And as with all Harlequin Manga stories the artwork is lovely and the small child is adorable with lovely big eyes.

I must admit I cannot resist these romantic mangas. They are very entertaining and they bring the romance and the story to life in quite a dramatic way. This one I think is possibly one of my favorites.

These are the kind of books that are just so great for winter because you can snuggle up in bed with them and lose yourself in the passion, the pain, the tension, drama and romantic moments all captured in great artwork.

Copy provided by Harlequin via Netgalley in exchange for an unbiased review.

📚I received an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) from NetGalley and Harlequin/SB Creative as the publisher in exchange for an honest review📚


Book title : A Lost Love

Author : Carole Mortimer;  Illustrator : Hiromi Kobayashi

Release Date : 9 December 2018


Rafe Charlwood is a selfish alpha male was married to a young dancer named Jacqui. As they came from two different worlds, their relationship was on and off. They were married for a while and had a son together. The high-class-society that Rafe led came as an oppression to Jacqui. She could not take it any longer and decided to went out for a party with her old friends- the dancers. Rafe’s acquittances happened to saw her with a man and tell Rafe about it. Rafe finally kicked Jacqui away from their mansion and accused her for her infidelity without hearing any explanation.


Heartbroken and sad, Jacqui decided to try her luck with her dancer friends in the US. Unfortunately, she got an accident and Rafe’s aunt, Jocelyn who finally came up as her saviour. Jocelyn helped Jacqui who decided to get “a new face” and a new identity to return and remained close to her son. She loves Jacqui or simply is called Brooke later as her own and left her a cottage. The conflict started when Rafe’s family suspected Jacqui was ony after Jocelyn money. It gets spicier when Rafe realises that he starts to fall for Jacqui but he tries to deny it.


I am not going to spoil the rest of the story here because the ending is just so…touching. I love seeing how Jacqui/Brooke tries hard to remain close to her son. I love seeing how she gives and is willing to do everything for her son. The manga is not only great because of its illustration but also the plot of the story.

Full review is available at https://literatureisliving.wordpress.com/2018/12/09/a-lost-love-harlequin-manga-by-carole-mortimer/

Jacky is so unhappy in her marriage that when she suffers a significant disfigurement after a car accident she decides to ask for a plastic surgery that will trasform her face and let her start anew under a different name, letting her husband think she died in the car hit.

However, she can't stay away from her husband's family if she wants to keep seeing her two old years son and when her aunt-in-law leaves her a cottage in the family's estate in her will, she takes the opportunity to see her child grow. Her husband starts catching feelings for this young woman who always turns down his offers to have a date together and he can't seem to be able to stop thinking about her, after all she has the same eys as his late wife... what will happen when he finally sees through her deception?

This is a beautiful story of second chances where past misunderstandings and wrong attitudes are finally overcome, it moved me to tears and I wholeheartedly recommend it.

A fantastic way to read a romance - excellent drawings and writing, I so enjoyed reading the ways. It was fast.

I received this manga from Netgalley in exchange of an honest review.

Yep, the Harlequin Manga party continues! I still got several more to read, so be prepared. This one features accidents, plastic surgery, and revenge on a bad husband (though I am sure it will all turn hunkydory in the end). The cover is also an improvement of the last Harlequin I read (big ass hands), though it does look a bit overly dramatic.

I am sorry, but I did think it was a bit funny (oh this sounds so wrong) that she was all covered up, but that her mouth, her hair, her eyes (and her fingers) were all still glittery and shiny and beautiful. It just didn't fit with the rest of the picture. Also is it terrible to say that I much more prefer her as Jacqui than Brooke? But later it seems that her red hair isn't her natural colour, darn it. I had kind of hopes we had a cute redhead as MC.

And the drama starts right from the start, we meet Brooke while she is visiting a dying relative (I would call her that given her relationship to her), of course her dear ex-husband is also there, and oh my. Ah yes, the classic, follow the girl who has zero interest in you move (which he keeps doing for a few more times). Classic. So classic. Though he should know that dissing your wife is not classy, even if Brooke wasn't your wife than it is still a bit eh to keep talking about your wife to another woman. Wow, I just got an headache from writing that sentence. :P At first I was confused as I am sure my hubby would recognise me by my voice even if I didn't look like me, but during a flashback it is explained that she went all the way for her change to Brooke. Wow, go girl.

"I wonder how he would react if I told him the truth now. The woman in front of you actually is that wife of yours." Ohhh, I would love it if you did that. But there is still some time left for the story to unfold. Given that she is now in the cottage (and has to be there or else) it will get interesting soon.

We also finally get a flashback, I was wondering how these two met up and how it all turned out very wrong. Sorry, I am not a fan of this guy. Controlling? Yep. He just threw out all her clothes because he wants her to wear stuff that fits their richness more without even asking if she wanted that. Then he wants a child, which she delivers, and then that dude got more and more controlling and I just was getting so angry at everything. He is keeping her away from her baby, her friends, her job, her life. And then when she tries to take back control poop really hits the fan. Dang, can someone kick this guy for me? What a terrible dickwad.

Urgghhh, I am only halfway through these and I just can't imagine ever liking this guy. Their kid just walked into the cottage, on his own, and then the dude barges in and thinks that Brooke stole the kid? Lol whut? Dude. Attitude check please.

Though I did like that, as Brooke, she was able to get closer to the family and to her ex. She learned some new things about everyone, and while I still don't like the dude, he does seem to have some problems. I wish he had just talked with his wife about it instead of going by rumours. Girls can still have guy friends you know.

OMG, I am crying. I didn't think I would cry for this two, or at least not their romance, but OMG I am now crying. Yep, tons of crying. The story was a bit overly dramatic, I didn't think I would like the guy (thinking now, I still don't quite like him), but that ending, it is just too perfect. A bit cliche of course, but still. *cries*

The art was pretty nicely done, though the kid looked weird, and what is up with their noses?

Still, I am happy I read this story, it wasn't even too bad, I loved our MC. And again, that ending!