https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2800918842
I love her books. They are always multigenerational with a layered story. They are the perfect read when you want to just sit back and enjoy a book.
#netgalley #ashleyfarley

Only One Life is a story of heartbreak and love, terrible secrets and forgiveness, loss and redemption, family and friends and of tragedy and healing. This is a story of two families that experience everything mentioned.

Ashley Farley has written a sometimes heartbreaking but beautiful story with characters you can’t help but love and others you love to hate. The story captures you from the beginning and holds you till the very end. The characters are well developed and you can’t help but identify with someone in the story.

I absolutely loved this book and believe it is a must read.

Thank you #netgalley, #lakeunionpublishing, #ashleyfarley for allowing me to read this advance copy for a fair and honest review.

I really enjoyed this book, it had a slow warmth which really grows on you. I felt the emotion of the early part of the story was very real, however the sudden turn around in fortunes felt a little forced, but overall it was a lovely story and it was a nice break from the norm,

Only One Life by Ashley Farley was a wonderful family drama book, that I really enjoyed. This book is written in two voices, Julia the daughter, and Iris her mother. This is a beautiful book about a family's love and hate, loss and re-building new lives. I will be reading Ms. Farley's other books. I strongly recommend this book.

I reviewed a digital arc provided by NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing . Thank you.

This is a beautiful book. It will make you laugh and cry. It is about relationships between mother and daughter. The writing is beautiful. I highly recommend this book.

I would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy free of charge. This is my honest and unbiased opinion of it.

This author tells a tale that takes her readers through every emotion she can as she does with all her stories. Family isn't the same for everyone. When Julia met her husband she found out that they're not always there for you.

This is a story that takes you on Julia's journey of love, surviving and family. You'll feel the emotion from the beginning and have tissues handy, you'll need them.

This book checked all the boxes of things I like to see in a book. I love books that start out with a bang versus using several chapters to introduce the characters and this one sure did start out great. I also love books about family, relationships in the family, and what motivates people to do the things they do and how their actions interact with others around them. I enjoyed the authors writing style and it like the many twists and turns throughout the book. This book goes back and forth in time to present the pasts of the characters but I was able to keep track of everyone fairly easily. All in all, just a really good book. I will definitely be reading this authors other books.

A quick read, Only One Life definitely has its moments. I thoroughly enjoyed learning about Iris' backstory, and her complicated relationships with her husband and Lily, her best friend. Those few chapters were the highlight of this book. Although I enjoyed the story overall, I was not the biggest fan of the writing style - at times, the dialogue felt stilted and unrealistic. Additionally, though I'm not against tying everything up in a neat bow, I felt like Only One Life was missing some piece of story to make it work.

I can't not recommend this book, because it had its moments, but it certainly isn't one of the best books I've read this year.

Thank you to NetGalley, Lake Union Publishing and Ashley Farley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an impartial review; all opinions are my own.

#OnlyOneLife #NetGalley

Only One Life by @ashleyhfarley was fabulous! I just finished it after starting it last night. It’s a great story from alternating perspectives about relationships between mothers and daughters as well as best friends. I loved it!

Beautiful story! This was definitely one of my favorite books written by Ashley Farley! She had me completely engrossed by the end of the first chapter. When the book begins we meet Julia and Jack Martin who are anxiously waiting for the birth of their baby. They have had a struggle in the past with pregnancy so this is a happy time for them. We find out early on that Julia grew up in a home with money but maybe not the happiest of homes, since she has been estranged from her family since marrying Jack. They don’t have a lot of money and the struggle is real, but they don’t lack in love and devotion to each other. Jack is a great husband. And soon to be a great dad. Julia is anxious to become a mom and looking forward to raising a family together. Unfortunately tragedy strikes when Julia goes into labor and their lives are changed forever...Whether she wants to or not, Julia must now return home to her mother Iris and try to mend the broken relationship they once had. Mother and daughter learn so much about each other. Julia had no idea that Iris was trapped in a loveless marriage all these years. She still has to struggle with a sister her continues her bullying ways, never growing out of her bad behavior as a child. Julia also must face some real truths about her father. He is not the man she had hoped he was. Together, her mother and her forge a new bond and begin to heal together. I love how this book explores all of their lives and even goes back in time when Julia and her sister were young. Ashley has a way of weaving a beautiful story that keeps you engrossed and wanting to know more. This book is suspenseful, dramatic, heartfelt, and loving. I loved the characters as well as the setting. I fully intend to listen to the audible version as well. This was a beautifully written novel! Thank you Ms. Ashley!

I've read a number of Ashley Farley's books and loved everyone. This one is fabulously special in many wonderful ways. When you see or hear "all the feels" this is the book that will do it. When a story can get me in the head and the heart then I am hooked.
This is true Southern Fiction! You will know and love the characters immediately and feel like you are present in the story. You will cheer on some through heartbreak and loss and then through forgiveness, love and second chances. This is a story about family, relationships, and living life through all it can bring. I had a book hangover, in the best of ways. I needed Kleenex a few times and I wanted to call my friends and discuss it immediately, but it was 3:30 AM. To say it's un-put-down-able doesn't quite give it the praise it deserves. I loved this book and give it my highest recommendation. 5 stars and beyond. I'm ready for the movie!

Thank you to Lake Union Publishing, NetGalley & Ashley Farley for the free advanced digital copy! This book is available now!|
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🌟BOOK REVIEW🌟
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▪️MY THOUGHTS
✔️I thought this book started off amazing! I read about half of it in one day. Part 1 was mainly focused around the daughter and then part 2 the mom. I really enjoyed seeing the different perspectives from the characters. However as the story went on it started to become a bit too predictable for me. I also didn’t agree with some of the choices made. There were two characters I absolutely despised - that I thought were awful. I just struggled with how the story all played out.
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▪️OVERALL RUNDOWN
✔️Overall I did enjoy the book but didn’t agree with some of the actions of the main characters. My favourite character was Jack, he was sincere, honest & hardworking. Overall this book was more about the relationship between a mother and her daughter. Which as a reader I enjoyed! If you’re looking for a book full of lots of drama - this book may be for you! Trigger warning; there was rape & abuse mentioned in a few chapters.
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▪️TITLE RUNDOWN
Oh the drama!
Neglected
Loneliness
Young
Okay
Negativity
Exit
Love
Iris
Father
Evil

Ashley Farley continues to weave expert stories an out relationships good or bad. She knows her characters and writes in a way that we grow to love them. This is a definite winner!!

Only One Life by Ashley Farley is probably the best book I've read so far this year. It took me from crying, laughing, happy, more crying until a contented ending. I highly recommend this book to anyone that hasn't or has read anything by Ashley Farley.

What families may go through can be heartbreaking and joyous. The family in this book have gone through it all. I is a book you will enjoy reading as you go through the lives of one family.

Along with so many other Lake Union authors, Ashley Farley has quickly become a must-read for me. Her stories and characters are the type that I can easily relate to and immerse myself in. I would describe her books as a "comfort-food" read. Thanks to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for the opportunity to read and review Ashley Farley's latest book. I look forward to many more from her.

Ashley Farley has done it again. This is my new favorite book of hers hands down. I loved it from dramatic start to exciting, wonderful ending.

This family has lots of problems for sure. One daughter was forced away from her home because of love while the other daughter takes life for granted. Having tons of money does not buy happiness. For Iris, their mother, it has been one heartache after another. Max was not the best husband and I personally did not like him at all. I also did not like or feel much for Alex, the oldest daughter. Julia was a loving and very caring daughter who only wanted to be accepted as she was. Her only mistake was falling in love. After years of being separated from her family she came home. But with doing so many dark secrets were revealed.

It’s a story of love lost, friendships that withstand even the worst betrayals and a family who has so much pain. So may secrets between a husband and wife. Basically a loveless marriage but one that no one can walk away from. There are many deep dark secrets that will be found and a tragedy that takes years to come to light. I felt so bad for Iris. She was a very poor young girl who only wanted to be loved and accepted. She gave her all to a man and for over forty years she was faithful to him. She did everything for him. She gave him two daughters. But was that enough? Could she have done more?

This book will most definitely keep you reading until you reach the end. You will cringe in places and cheer in others. Many tears will fall and maybe a bit of laughter. It’s one of the very best southern fiction books I have read. It has a bit of everything that makes for an excellent read. One that I highly recommend to everyone.

Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

It’s a huge 5 stars from and I look forward to Ms Farley’s next wonderful book. Though this one will be hard to beat

Family secrets, love, loss, and family ties are bound together in this Southern novel by Ashley Farley. Julia Martin was disowned by her prominent family when she left college with an unexpected pregnancy to marry the love of her life. Ten years and despite multiple miscarriages, they were happy living the simple life, and, on the verge of finally having their family when tragedy strikes. After trying to make it with no support, she swallows her pride and returns home to find things are worse than she imagined. The only positive is reconnecting with her mother.
Iris has spent so long getting by in her marriage; her one salvation has been her florist shop. When Julia returns home with her grandson, she finally has a second chance. When the weight of the family secrets becomes too much, can she and Julia make it through and find happiness?
This is my second novel by Ashley Farley and I love the way she draws the reader into the story with her strong female characters and her focus on family, both the family you are born into and the one you create with friends. Her descriptions of the setting and world–building will make you feel that you are there with the characters.
I read this in one sitting, grab a beverage…maybe some sweet tea, and curl up in a comfy spot, and enjoy!
#OnlyOneLife #AshleyFarley #LakeUnionPublishers

This is the story of two women trying to find their place in this world - Julia, a daughter who was shunned by her family after getting pregnant in college and Iris, a mother who never felt she was enough. The chapters go back and forth between both characters. Unfortunately, I just never felt the depths of these either one of them except for Iris when she was younger. Those were the chapters I really enjoyed. There were so may tragedies that happened to the characters in this book and I never got the raw emotions that most people would feel from going through them. And yet, I still recommended it to my mother who promptly downloaded it to her kindle! It's a fluffy story that has all the "how convenient" storylines mixed with a little bit of hard edges.

This was a compelling, emotion filled story that drew me in from the start. When tragedy hits and sends Julia back home, she faces the father who cut her off from the family, the mother who let him, and the sister who bullied her growing up. Slowly family secrets are revealed and Julia learns the history her mother has kept hidden for years has slowly chipped away her at her mothers emotional health. Set in a quaint southern town this powerful story kept me engaged until the satisfying conclusion. Thank you to NetGalley and the author for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.