Interesting premise, but not much my thing. Loosing your boyfriend while his parents don't know you can be a bit traumatic, and makes Chloe's perspective in life a bit askew. It's more of a coming to terms with loss and death of a loved one then exactly a romantic novel.

I'm sad to say I couldn't finish this book. I rarely give up on books but I just didn't gel with Love, Almost. I think it might be best read in a certain frame of mind and this just held too much death focus in it for me. I was constantly getting frustrated with what Chloe was saying and doing and the use of 'me' instead of my really started to grind on me. I was looking forward to reading this as it's my usual genre/style of book so it's a real shame I didn't enjoy it. This isn't a bad book but it just wasn't one for me.

To be honest, I thought this would be another book where the woman will meet another guy who will hold her hand and help her move on from her grief and loss. I wasn't complaining, I don't think there is anything wrong with that. I had read a lot of romance novels and I was expecting to read some of those tropes in this book. But Hayley Doyle managed to surprise me at every turn of the page.

It took me a little while to get into the book and connect with the characters. I struggled a little trying to connect with Chloe's grief because she had been with Jack for only 5 months. I felt like she was making out her relationship to be more than it actually was. I also could not connect with Jack, I couldn't tell if he genuinely loved her and if he was as serious about her as she was about him. But she believed in their love, and slowly, I started believing in her belief.

Almost all the characters in the book were well written and likeable. They weren't perfect or pleasant, or charming. They weren't smooth, the kind of characters you only see in fiction. Every character in the book was battling a loss, dealing with it differently. The book was subtle in pointing out that nobody deserves to be told how long they can grieve something. Even if it is a 5-month old relationship, even if you didn't understand why someone is so caught up with something that barely even started before ending, you cannot tell them that they need to chop-chop with their grieving. Chloe decides to tick off all the plans that she made with Jack when he was alive, to find that closure she so desperately needed. She isn't judged by anyone. She isn't mocked for hanging on to a barely there 5-month relationship. She had the support she needed, but she also had someone to tell her to pull herself together when she was spiraling down.

I absolutely enjoyed reading about Chloe's travels and her meeting new people and interacting with them. It reminded me of my first traveling adventure where I met a local, an old grandpa who sat with me on the beach and we tried to talk as best as we could despite the language barrier.

This book was sad, funny, happy, and promising.. Chloe's strength and her desperate determination to somehow keep Jack alive, while also trying to get her life together, was inspirational. The ending was pleasantly surprising and hopeful.

Thanks to NetGalley and Avon Books UK for sharing an ARC of the book in exchange for an honest review.

You can also read my review on https://unorthodoxreviewer.blogspot.com/2020/10/this-was-boss.html

At first I thought I was gonna read some heartbreaking story. It's still heartbreaking but not the way I expected. But then I realised I prepared myself for tears, rebellion and pain but it's not how this story built. So I just let myself go in this book.

Chloe has a boyfriend, or she had. When Jack died in a tragic accident, Chloe tries to cope with the loss of her love. Only for five months knowing/dating him, she's convinced she found the one. But his unexpected death makes Chloe question every single moment with him. Was he really the one?

I liked Hayley Doyle's writing style. This is the first book I've read from her. For me personally, the real message in this book is finding your own happiness in your life even when you thought you hit the bottom. When Chloe did the bucketlist of her boyfriend -plans they'd do if he was alive- she only did them for Jack. It didn't make her happy, in fact everything she did on the list just made her sadder. When she started to do normal things like teaching or seeing some neighbours, she slowly let him go in a natural way.

Maybe I couldn't say everything I wanted to say, but I'm really happy I read this book. I want to thank Netgalley and Avon Books for sending this book and giving me the opportunity.

Could a book can be so sad but also so promising, inspiring at the same time ? Ye, it can. Just like this one!

Grieving after losing someone who really matters to you is a tremendous, ugly process it never leaves you in your whole life! Sometimes it lessens. But at the most vulnerable times of your life, a smallest thing makes you remember that person and in the meantime you feel like the small glass pieces stabbing you deeply. You never stop bleeding. You never stop caring or crying. But in some ways you learn how to handle it without making a scene in front the crowd or dragging your soul to the darkest place you never want to visit!

In this book Chloe spent only five months with Jack before losing him forever. Nobody in her life including her family, friends and of course Jack’s own family couldn’t empathize with her grieving process. They thought she didn’t know him enough to suffer from losing him.

But falling for a person is subjective experience. You can fall at the first sight, first look, first touch, first smile, first talk! Or it takes too much time which prevents you to differentiate between the time you fell in and the time you completely fell out.

Chloe doesn’t only grieve for a man she lost after 5 months of relationship, she grieves for the chance of lifetime long relationship they can build, the holidays they can spend together, dreams they can achieve and realize hand in hand. She longed for their common future that is taken away from them.

Chloe is a teacher, decisive about her life choices. She believed in Jack was the one. Her guts , her heart agreed with her mind. After losing him, she realizes it’s time to find her true self.

So this is a moving on with your life and facing your grief bravely story. It’s sad, emotional, moving, thought provoking but it’s truly well written, motivational.

Overall: I’m giving four learning to love yourself, tear jerking, heart wrenching stars!
It’s not a romance but with its P.S. I love and Forever Interrupted vibes, it’s a great women’s fiction novel!

Special thanks to NetGalley and Avon Books UK for sharing this review copy with me in exchange my honest review.

The unknows and what ifs in life play a big part in this book which is about a woman (Chloe) who’s boyfriend of five months dies suddenly. The plot of this book felt a little too forced at times and the secondary characters were a little hard to get a handle on. I truly felt for Chloe while she was trying to process her grief and deal with people belittling that grief. The newness of Chloe’s relationship with her boyfriend made it harder for her (and the reader) to process his death. I think this one of those books that will appeal to readers only for very personal reasons.
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for giving me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

First of all, I want to say how much the storyline was a beautiful take on the brutality of life, but how you can overcome your pain. It was truly inspiring to see Chloe move on with her life, even if she was so deeply heartbroken. She spent so little time with Jack, yet it’s easy to feel how much love she had for him. Most of the time in those types of storylines, the main character has many years with their love before losing them. This time around, I felt like it was a refreshing take on grieving and loving blindly.

This surely wasn’t my usual type of read.
Yes, I can see how it could be predictable for some people, but I liked it just like that.
To me, it was easy to connect with Chloe. I loved how she was so deeply emotionally connected to everyone and everything.

Doyle’s writing style wasn’t my favorite, but overall, I did enjoy her unusual way of using words.

I absolutely feel like Hayley Doyle should now be on everyone’s radar for lovely, emotional reads.

Thank you to the publishers of NetGalley for the ARC copy of this novel.

[My review of this novel will be posted approximately a week before the pub date on my Instagram page @jessiereadz]

What Chloe and Jack did have was special.and unfortunately ended way too soon due to a tragic loss. However, it was only five months and I had to wonder if Chloe created a more romantic picture at times as to what was rather than what actually occurred. It certainly caused her to stagnate and her mother was right when she said that she didn't take anything seriously nor really listen when people needed her like Beth or Si. He only reckoned not clearly stated his love. This was a true learning and heartfelt experience.

The ending saved this book from being a one-star book. The opening was very jarring. Then the book moved very slow and it was very boring. The book may have been better if it opened differently. I felt like I kept losing the plot. I lost it the first time around 25%. I disliked most of the characters in the book other than the Cloe and Jack's parents. I wanted to love this book. The acknowledgments at the end of the book made me want to like the book more. This book clearly meant a lot to the author.

What happens when the ‘happily ever after’ you’d imagined doesn’t go as planned? Written from a fresh perspective, Doyle explores love, loss and finding yourself after dealing with the loss of a soulmate.

Despite only knowing Jack for 5 months, Chloe is devastated when her boyfriend, is killed in a tragic accident. In an attempt to find happiness, she embarks on a quest to complete all the things they’d planned as a couple … alone. Through heartaches and laughter, Doyle will show that happily ever after doesn’t always mean a new man, but rather finding oneself amidst grief and choosing to continue to heal through strengthening self. Chloe’s struggle demonstrates that the amount of time someone occupies your heart is no indication of the depth of grief nor length of time one should spend grieving.

Not a typical romance, nor an ending readers will expect, Doyle has left room for us to get uncomfortable and question how important self-growth, self-awareness and self-love are in moving forward. Although this is an easy, well-written read about a difficult subject, I found the language detracted from the overall success. The swearing and Beth’s overuse of ‘babes’ was nauseating.

Thank you to Netgalley and Avon Books UK for the gift of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Chloe meets and falls in love with Jack and is with him for 5 short months when tragedy strikes, however, what is odd, is no one has ever heard of her. I liked the premise of the book. The author did a wonderful job with Chloe and explaining her feelings and I loved reading of her travels! Thank you Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed a lot about this book. I thought the premise was cute and really enjoyed the idea of star crossed lovers and being in love at first sight. I thought the characters were well developed on their own, but I did feel as if i didn't really get to know enough about the relationship of them together. It felt as if i was reading two separate books that occasionally overlapped. I just didn't really feel the relationship between Sam and Izzy build... I wish there had been more back and forth, rather than reflection on what had happened. However, it was still a cute read and i definitely enjoyed it.

Chloe met Jack 5 months ago and they think they're in love. Then a tragedy happens and everything changes

This is not a typical love story. What if you were in the first stages of love and all of sudden they were no longer there? Chloe takes us on a journey of love, grief, and self discovery. She’s not a perfect character. She’s flawed, but I was totally rooting for her. Her story really kept me coming back and I finished this book quickly. Loving not only her, but a pretty great cast of side characters.

Thoroughly enjoyable book. Well written and beautifully told story of the beginnings of real love, real possibilities and real loss. Chloe finally meets Jack and it is only the beginning! Even though they've only known each other for a few months, their romance is blossoming and moving fast until the unthinkable happens. So how does one deal with losing someone you are only just falling in love with? This book allows the reader to truly feel what the characters are going through. I really liked this book.

Chloe and Jack have been dating 5 months, they've just moved in together, taken a trip to Thailand and then suddenly he is gone, a tragic accident and she is left dealing with what is lost and what could have been. An enjoyable book touching on sad themes without being to heavy. However something was lacking, I enjoyed the book while reading it but I found myself having to force myself to pick it up. I also found the way chloe's speech was written with a scouse accent irritating, I say that as a fellow scouser. While it made it clear where she was from it made speech clunky to read.

Love, Almost is the story of Chloe whose boyfriend Jack dies in a tragic accident 5 months into their relationship. Chloe lives out all the plans they had pinned to the fridge in a hope to feel closer to him. However, when speaking to his family and friends no one knew she even existed which leads her to question if Jack felt the same about her as she did him.

This is such a well written book where you can relate to Chloe at every turn of the page. Following Chloe all over the world you get so sucked in that you keep hoping she’ll get answers too! I found it very frustrating that no one understood her grief as they’d only been together 5 months. Chloe shows if you know, you know. I found it very interesting that Jack maybe didn’t feel the same and would’ve loved to get answers to this! Hayley Doyle has done a fantastic job with this book and I will definitely be reading more of her work.

Chloe was so in love and thinking she had everything planned out with Jack and then life had a wicked way of throwing a spanner in the works and so soon Jack is taken away from Chloe. She is left trying to put herself back together and continue their relationship, trying to hold on to the pieces she had left. Follow Chloe on a journey or mourning and acceptance trying to muddle through grief.

This book had me without knowing crying happy tears, the journey Chloe goes on had me hooked on every page. The story took me on an emotional rollercoaster that I thoroughly enjoyed and the outcome of it was amazing.

Will be recommending this book and look forward to reading more of the authors work!

Trigger Warnings/Content Warnings for this book: Death/loss, grief, vehicle accidents

“Love, Almost,” is an adult fiction book centered around a woman named Chloe, who loses her boyfriend in an accident. The beginning of the story sets the scene and showcases how happy they are with each other and gives the reader a glimpse into what their relationship was like before his tragic and sudden death, and the rest of the book focuses on Chloe, her grief, and how she tries to do things that she planned to do with her boyfriend.

I really liked the plot of the book, and was very captivated during the beginning and the end, but when reading some parts in the middle of the book, I noticed that I wasn’t as interested. Despite that, I still think it’s a really good book that tackles grief very well, and would definitely recommend it.

Rating: 4/5

Really enjoyed reading this book, couldn't put it down, must admit its one that I would happily pick up again and read,
Overall I would recommend to anyone to read it, can't wait to get it on my page and let my followers know what I think about it!