This was quite a good read where Milly was just drifting through life as a corporate lawyer and living with an overbearing boyfriend after her father's death. 
But life threw a curveball, and soon she started discovering her family and her passion for her work. The book was a cute amalgamation of characters, some likable and others not so much. 
My first book by this author, I liked getting to know Milly. It was endearing to see her enjoying life again and finding herself. Overall a good read.

Princess Fuzzypants here:  Milly is just filling time and space.  Oh she works very hard, in fact she is a workaholic Corporate lawyer who is a junior to the only female partner.  She has a boyfriend- sort of- but there is no commitment or passion and he has an overbearing manipulative mother.  It has been this way since her dear father died, her family drifted and her former boyfriend took off for Italy when she needed him most.

But like the springtime after a harsh winter, life seems to return.  Her family finally reconnects after a health scare.  She helps a client who reminds her why she took up the law and she rediscovers her passion.  And the wandering love of her life returns.  There are so many changes, not all good, but all necessary.  She goes through many a trial and tribulation but by the end of the book, she has found the happiness that seemed to vanish when her father died.

While not as evocative of the changing Irish society as Maeve Binchey, there were times I felt like I was reading one of her books.  It is filled with  characters in whom the reader can be invested.  Even when we want to yell at them, it is because they seem so real and we are living the story with them.  They are definitely people with whom you would want to spend time as they learn and evolve.  It was a highly satisfying read.

Five purrs and two paws up.

Sian O'Gorman creates a cast of witty characters that the reader can't help but like.  Milly is an attorney who struggles with anxiety and overall low self-esteem.  After her dad dies and she loses the love of her life, Milly turns to an egocentric man who doesn't treat her very well.  

Quirky and entertaining, Life After You is a woman's journey to find herself after losing herself in what seems to be an ideal life until circumstances derail her.  I enjoyed this book but didn't love it.  Thank you NetGalley for an arc of this unique book.

Milly has had to deal with the death of her dad and her boyfriend packing up a week after the funeral to go abroad.
Five years after this happened Milly  is working hard and is in a relationship .
When her ex boyfriend returns to Dublin setting up a wine bar just found the corner from her.
This is not just a book about dealing with grief and loss.
This is about Milly looking at her life and deciding what she wants.
A great book
Thanks NetGalley

Grief is such a personal and varied experience, and yet there are commonalities that we can all relate to as humans. This was very well written and explored love and grief, right up until an ending that was just a little too neat and tidy.

This is a beautifully written and heartfelt novel about Milly’s journey to happiness…

Things in Milly’s life just aren’t quite right. She has a good job, a lovely but disjointed family and a nice boyfriend but she doesn’t feel that it’s enough. She wants to do something meaningful with her qualifications; get her family back together after the death of her father has shattered them and find someone that she truly loves…

These are some bold goals for someone who suffers with anxiety and confidence issues like Milly does. Can she overcome the barriers she has set for herself and find life after her father’s death and her own disappointment?

I really enjoyed reading about Milly’s journey. She is a realistic and raw character that is easy to empathise with. The book also had a lot of important points to make about grief as a journey and the ways we can cope with the death of a relative. I don’t really feel it’s fair to say this is a “trigger” point in the book as it is so delicately and beautifully handled, I honestly think this book could bring comfort and hope to someone who has recently lost a loved one.

This is my first read by this author but it is such a lovely book, I’ll be sure to check out her other books!

When Milly loses her father she is devastated but when her boyfriend Darragh packs up and leaves her for a new life in Italy a week later she hits rock bottom.   Five years later she has still not really come to terms with her grief but she has a good job in as law firm and is dating Ryan when her world is turned upside down again..... Darragh is back and has opened a wine bar just around the corner from her flat!  

A lovely story with great characters, although not all good........ she definitely needed to get rid of Ryan and his poisonous mother!  I loved her highly efficient boss going to pieces after having the baby that she thought would not have much of an impact on her life!

I really love this author’s books and I was really looking forward to reading and reviewing this latest one.

There are so many things that I love about this book. Firstly, the characters. They are so real and are characters that you really invest in, and feel that you know. I loved Milly, and also Catriona, her boss.

The storyline itself is so well written. It touches upon grief and mental health, but it’s far from a sad or gloomy read, it’s touching and humorous and an absolute pleasure to read. I found myself so caught up in it, once I started to read I just kept turning the pages, and couldn’t stop reading it.

The setting of Dublin, my home town, was such a joy to read about, as I could picture it all so well in my mind. She has captured the Dublin sense of humour so well too.

This sparkling and touching novel will bring a smile to your face, and maybe even some tears to your eyes at times. It’s an absolute pleasure to read and I heartily recommend it.

Milly is going through a really rough time. Just weeks have passed since she lost her dad and her boyfriend. If her dad's death wasn't distressing enough, the fact that her boyfriend packed his bags and moved to Italy afterwards was just the bitter icing on the cake for her. 

I felt her grief immensely and the novel captured my interest even more with it being set in Ireland and especially Dublin where I have family. The backdrop of the beautiful city and the love in this book made me feel warm and fuzzy despite the overall sad plot of loss and abandonment. 

I was proud of how Milly worked to build herself back up and face everything and just wanted to hug her. Having experienced the recent death of a family member myself, I felt her grief and sadness even more deeply. 

Some parts were predictable but the novel was overall very well written. 

A novel that shows you must not be afraid to move on after the loss of a loved one no matter how hard it is. If the title is not heartbreaking enough, the plot is more. Yet Life After You is not a book you will want to miss. 

Thanks to Siân O'Gorman, Rachel's Random Resources and Boldwood Books for my ARC in exchange for an honest and voluntary review. 

4 stars

Despite the fact that grief and loss dominate this book, it is nevertheless an uplifting story which focuses on family and friendships. Moving on and looking forwards are important themes and you see though the actions of Milly, her sister, mother and colleagues that they have to adapt to changing circumstances whilst never forgetting the past.

There were some amusing parts to the story, particularly Milly's boss and her reaction to becoming a parent. Milly learns a lot about herself as the story progresses. She discovers her vocation and also realises how important her family is to her. It is a warm and uplifting story which introduces a wide range of likeable characters and which takes you with it, right to the end.

In short: Second chances
Thanks to the author for a copy of the book

Milly is still dealing with her grief, five years after the death of her father. When her boyfriend, Darragh, packed up and went to Italy a week after the funeral, it caused even more pain. Milly is trying to fit in and belong, so she is working crazy hours at her law firm and dating a businessman who deals in acquisitions and development. The problem is, she is not happy with her life. When Darragh moves back to Dublin and opens a wine bar around the corner of where she lives, her feelings are all over the place. It is the catalyst she needs to take stock of her life and figure out what she really wants.

I enjoyed this story. If is quite realistic, and had my emotions all over the place. Milly's family were all dealing with her father's death in different ways, but when they finally talk about it, there is healing for all of them. Milly was a wonderful character. I loved her right from the start. She was such a wonderful friend, a caring person, a hard worker and a smart cookie in most areas. The one downfall she has was trying to be someone she was not when with her boyfriend Ryan. I cringed every time she changed her plans for him and had to spend time with his vicious and nasty mother. The supporting characters were also well-developed and all played an important role in her transformation, even the evil Carole. I absolutely loved her boss Catriona. She was the humour in this story. She was a workaholic lawyer that had to figure out how to live and work after having a baby. Her character had many things that I identified with. This was a wonderful story about life with many relatable characters. Dealing with grief, finding yourself, supporting one another, developing a backbone and dealing with everyday issues all played a role in this story. Make sure you have tissues handy when you read this one, but I definitely recommend it

Sian O'Gorman brings readers the beautiful soul that is Milly.  I found it easy to engage with Milly and her family and friends, which I believe is testament to the author's complex character portraits.  The story itself is entertaining, though it does explore some rather dark subjects.  I appreciated that the secondary characters were well drawn as well, and that the dialogue is first rate. Sian O'Gorman writes with humor, and that made the story flow quite well. Life After You is a gentle read, but a very worthwhile journey. 
I received my copy through NetGalley under no obligation.

Life After You was the perfect read after a slew of thrillers. Set in Ireland, Milly is a corporate lawyer, spending her days climbing the male dominated law firm while settling into a low demand relationship with a property developer. Five years ago, Milly and her sister Sarah lost their wonderful father. In the same week, love of Milly's life, Darragh, left for Italy right after the funeral. Bereft and heartbroken Milly tried to put the pieces back together. Swimming along the currents Milly is thrown for a loop when she runs into Darragh who has moved back to Ireland and opens a wine bar not far from Milly's apartment. This forces Milly to confront the grief she pushes down, the unhappiness she feels in a misogynistic work environment and the fractured familial relationships. Heartwarming, humorous at times with a cast of characters to root for Life After You is a winner!

This is my first Sian O'Gorman novel and will not be my last!  The characters are well developed and Milly is a wonderful protagonist-flawed but realistic, down to earth and relatable. There is a proper blend of humor with sadness with supporting characters that stand out. Fantastic read!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest feedback.

I’m writing this review right after finishing the last page of Life After You with tears in my eyes. What a great book. The plot line, characters, writing style – everything was beautiful. Now, in my humble opinion, there are two different types of beautiful. There is the beautiful poetic writing style which is admirable but can sometimes be difficult to understand. On the other hand, and this is the case with Life After You, there is the “human beautiful”, where I was moved by the people and their stories.

Speaking of characters, they were all great in Life After You. Unsurprisingly, Milly was my favourite, mostly because I saw so much of myself in her. I also found her to be the epitome of strength: surviving grief, rebuilding herself, overcoming anxiety. But she was not the only one. We also had Aunt Angela who has been the rock of the Bryne family, Sarah who pours herself wholeheartedly into nursing, and Catriona, who fought the stereotype of what a mother and a partner in a law firm should be.

But, you know, while Life After You was pretty emotional, it was also inspiring and funny and an overall enjoyable read.

I loved this realistic story about love, family and courage. It’s very emotional so be sure to have the tissue ready when reading it! 

But despite dealing with grief and loss this book will leave you smiling and hopefully you’ll enjoy the uplifting story as much as I did! 

What I liked:
* Emotional 
* Uplifting 
* Realistic story and characters

I really enjoyed this book, set in Dublin.  Milly lost her father five years prior, and at the same time her long time boyfriend fled to Italy.  Milly has been trying to cope with a high pressure job as a corporate lawyer, her panic attacks, and the direction of her life.  Many of the supporting characters added to the story, like her boss Catriona, previously a shark lawyer until she has her first baby.  Milly’s family members, her Mom, Aunt Angela and sister Sarah, are also trying to move on from heartbreak.  An optimistic and hopeful novel, I recommended this book and thank NetGalley for the ARC.

A sweet yet slightly sad book that looks at family and the people we surround ourselves with in life. It was good but written in almost a wispy/sad tone. Like the person speaking has had a bit of a hard go of it.

I recently read and enjoyed one of Sian’s previous books so when I was offered the chance to read and review her latest book called ‘Life After You’, I knew that I just couldn’t refuse!  The book just sounded like my kind of read.  I thoroughly enjoyed ‘Life After You’ even if it was a bit of an emotional read for reasons that I will explain shortly.
I absolutely loved the character of Milly and I really felt for her.  She has well and truly had the rug pulled from under her.  Her father died suddenly and on the day of his funeral her boyfriend left to  live elsewhere.  She misses her father desperately, which is understandable.  She is also grieving the end of the relationship, which in a way is a bereavement in itself.  I warmed to the character of Milly from the start and I felt empathy towards her.  My Dad died suddenly and unexpectedly nearly 16 years ago so I could understand the difficulties Milly was having in accepting her Dad’s death and all the emotions that came with it.  Milly is a junior lawyer in a large company.  To say that she works hard is an understatement.  She often goes above and beyond the call of duty as it were.  Her boss is woman called Catriona, who sounds like a bit of a dragon to start with.  Milly does start a new relationship but to be honest he sounds like a nightmare and as for his mother, well let’s just say that I would love to jump inside the pages of the book to slap her silly with a wet flip flop for the rude way in which she treats Milly.  Milly tries hard to get her life back on track.  Does she manage it?  Well for the answer to that question and so much more you are just going to have to read the story for yourselves to find out as I am not going to tell you.
It took me no time at all to get into this story.  In fact by the time I got to the end of the first page, I knew that I was going to find it increasingly difficult to put the book down for any length of time.  I think part of the appeal of this book was Milly and how well I had taken to her.  I just had to know if she got the happy ever after ending that she so deserved.  The pages turned at a fast pace as I worked my way through the story.  At one point the pages were turning that quickly that the page numbers became a blur.  I found ‘Life After You’ to be an absorbing, emotional tale with the odd funny moment- usually from the character of Catriona and the shenanigans that she got up to.  I reached the end of the book, which I had mixed feelings about.  I wasn’t displeased with the way in which the story ended but I had been enjoying the story and the characters so much that I just didn’t want the story to end.
‘Life After You’ is really well written.  The author has one of those writing styles that is easy to get used to and easy to get along with.  Reading one of Sian’s books is more like a chat between friends than an actual book.  I hope that makes sense.  Sian grabbed my attention and drew me into the story pretty quickly.  Once Sian had my attention there was no way that she would let me have it back until the moment I read the last word on the last page.    Not that I wanted it back I hasten to add.  Sian uses such vivid and realistic storytelling that I felt as though I was part of the story myself.  I also found that I went through every emotion that the different characters yet.  The characters were so well described that they seemed just as real as you and I.
In short, I thoroughly enjoyed reading ‘Life After You’ and I would definitely recommend this book to other readers.  I will be reading more of Sian’s work in the future.  The score on the Ginger Book Geek board is a very well deserved 5* out of 5*.

I always love reading a book written by a true storyteller and this one of those.  Milly is not coping, no one would know, but she's still crippled with grief after losing her father five years ago, has a ruthless career that demands all her time and offends her moral code and was abandoned by her soulmate at the lowest point in her life. When her old lover returns, it forces her to look at her life and decide what she truly wants it to be.

Milly is a likeable and relatable protagonist. You want her to overcome her anxiety, learn to live with her grief and be happy. A diverse cast of characters both hinder and support Milly in this quest. Everyone is authentic and adds something to this enjoyable story.

The story explores how Milly and her family members experience, both anxiety and grief believably.

The story is heartbreaking and humorous in equal measure but ultimately heartwarming.

I received a copy of this book from Boldwood Books via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

Gosh, what a sad story. I felt quite overwhelmed by the time I had finished it and in desperate need of a hug. There’s a lot of sadness in this story and, despite the happy ending, I still felt lost and miserable at the end.

Milly, working as a corporate lawyer, has a lot of sadness in her life. She is miserable with her current boyfriend, Ryan, and has also run into her ex – who suddenly abandoned her just after her father died. Milly continues to grieve for both her dad and ex-boyfriend; five years down the line and she suffers from excruciating anxiety and  panic attacks. On the flip side, she seeks escapism in her legal work and rushes around after her boss who, despite going into labour, somehow returns to the office the next day! I found Catriona’s character an entertaining caricature that exaggerated the trials of motherhood whilst simultaneously breaking the sombre narrative; she is just what was needed in this story.

The characters are colourful in this novel and are all very easy to like or despise. Milly’s legal case with Mary was endearing and helped Milly channel her grief. On the other hand, I enjoyed disliking Ryan and his awful mother; I was rooting for Milly to find her voice and stand up to them both.

Plot-wise, it was a little predictable. I would have liked to have seen the narrative perspective shift to break the depressing atmosphere of the book. Focusing on Milly’s ex-boyfriend to see his side of the story would have added more depth and helped me understand both characters even more.

I love books that are set in Ireland and could vividly picture the Dublin streets. It added to the charm of the narrative and made me want to re-visit this amazing city. Apart from the weather and some geography references, I do think this book could have been set anywhere for it to be just an enjoyable, but I appreciated the links made between here and Italy – two wonderful countries in one book!

This was an enjoyable read, despite its sad mood. I grew to love the characters and wanted to be part of Milly’s close circle of friends. The writer explores the meaning of loss – not just in terms of death, but also relationships and identity – which makes this a book that I think many readers could identify with. However, I do think a more upbeat read should be considered after completing, just to counteract the heavy atmosphere in this novel.

With thanks to Boldwood Books, NetGalley and Rachel’s Random Resources for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.