This book really grabs you in the feels. Such an intense love that is torn away too soon. It made me laugh and cry at the same time, watching the main character navigate through life without her love. Great read.

Imagine grieving after someone who really matters to you passes away, Now imagine how it is after you've only just realised you've fallen in love and the feeling is beyond belief and imagine you've only being dating five months and then he dies..
What a loss and we know the loss will never leave you in your whole life!

We know sometime times grieving gets easier but at the most vulnerable times of your life, the smallest thing makes you remember that person and in the meantime you feel like crawling away and never coming out from under the blanket.

In this book Chloe spent only five months dating Jack before he was killed in a tragic accident, gone forever. Nobody in her life including her mum, Dad and 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 we all know that each relationship is as unique as our finger prints and some people fall in love very quickly and stay like that forever. This is how our main Northern lass character feels and she stumbles through dates that should have been with him that had been planned together and sees life through different eyes. She takes down each ticket, each reservation they had planned from the magnets on the fridge and goes it alone.

Chloe doesn’t only grieve for him and what she lost after a few short months together, she grieves for the chance of lifetime long relationship they can build, the trips and adventures they should spend together, dreams and hopes for the future.

Chloe is a teacher, certain about her life choices. She believed in Jack, he was the one. Her heart agreed with her mind. After losing him, she realizes it’s time to find out how she will take her life forward.

Its sad and emotional and isn't an uplifting book.
Its about reinventing yourself in a world as a single person again and dealing with grief and letting go day by day.

Its got the same vibes as PS I Love you.. kinda
I'm giving it four stars

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

Sorry just couldn't get into this book I found it hard going from the start - no reflection on the writer I just didn't gel with it

Tilly Mint as her Dad calls her, or Chloe Roscoe as most people know her, is a 36 year old teacher, recently moved from Liverpool to London, mourning the sudden loss of her boyfriend Jack. The trouble is Chloe has only known Jack 5 months and this seems to exclude her from any proper status in the grieving stakes.
Via the life depicted on their fridge door, where photos, bills, tickets and invites reside, Chloe slowly, painfully and haphazardly embarks upon a mission to live out the life she was due to enjoy with Jack until the point at which she is ready to let go and move on.
I absolutely adored Hayley Doyle's debut novel Never Saw You Coming, which was warm, touching, quirky, funny and original. How on earth I thought is the author going to be able to replicate or better that? Given that her follow up was written towards the end of a second pregnancy, into the newborn phase of motherhood and during the global pandemic, it is mind-blowing to have succeeded and created another tremendously touching and hilarious tale of learning to live again.
Doyle uses a lightness of touch and a freshness to her novels that embraces the reader and tempts you into another world featuring extremely loveable characters. They are loveable, not because they are perfect but because they all have flaws. This particular book is immensely enjoyable because it looks at grief from different perspectives, that of a father, a girlfriend, the in-laws, the best friend, the brother, the mother and an ex. It is sensitive but not overly sad and speaks more of hope than desperation without being unrealistic. Oh and did I mention that you are guaranteed to laugh a lot along the way?
I didn't want any distractions and didn't need any superfluous 'hooks' to completely engage me in Chloe's journey to learn more about herself, relationships and those around her.
I loved the use of the photo of the man in the shopping trolley, taken in Thailand, and hung as a canvas print on their shared kitchen wall, and the use of the items stuck to the fridge, to work almost like a list for Chloe to complete and tick off one by one, as she moves from wanting to hide to emerging into the world that carries in around her.
I am in awe of Doyle's writing ability to entertain and empathise and literally cannot wait to see what novel 3 is going to be about.
Love, Almost is another favourite read of 2020 for me, from a favourite author, and this is a genuine and honest review written by someone completely unconnected to Hayley Doyle but equally a genuine fan.
Read it, you will love it!

I try to read something light onto the last day of the year, nothing heavy. As I was browsing my book, I started with this one. This book will be out on January 7, 2021.

Love, Almost is a story of Chloe who thinks she finds the love of her life with Jack. Then five months into the relationship, Jack is killed in an accident and sent Chloe into tailspin. While she does the things they planned to do on her own, she discovers herself back while grieving and finally moving on.

While I do enjoy reading this one, I find it a bit slow. The start got me interested with how Jack died and how will she cope and move on from here. Chloe is hanging on to her relationship with Jack after death while jeopardising her relationships with her family and friends. With the five months they spent together, she tries to questions whether what they had was real. As we hang on to love lost, does not matter whether it is 5 months or 5 years but you still put in the same time and effort into the relationship . But as time goes, we may lost the feeling but the memories lingers on. Though it did not tug my heart as I expected, it was still a good read, heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time.

Thank you NetGalley and Avon Book UK for the advanced e-ARC in exchange for an honest view.

DNF @ 33%

I do think this is a book that a lot of people will pick up and enjoy, but it ultimately just wasn't for me!

Most of my issues with this book come from me comparing it to another book with a very similar plot. Love, Almost didn't hook me as quickly as the other one did, so getting invested in the story was difficult - why was everyone so surprised about her relationship with Jack? Why didn't they accept it at first? Objectively I know this is because of plot purposes, but these were things that stuck out to me.

I think I would have enjoyed this more had I picked it up at a different time of year (right now my reading brain is tired), or had I not known that this is more about the main character dealing with her grief (which, not sure how you get around that, except to not read reviews).

I loved how this was a story of self discovery. Yes, it’s a tale of grief and sadness but it’s more than that. Chloe uses her grief to understand more about herself and in doing so realises just what she has and had in her short yet memorable relationship with Jack.

Thank you NetGalley, Avon Books UK and Hayley Doyle for gifting me an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!
TALK ABOUT AN EMOTIONAL GUT PUNCH. If you loved P.S. I Love you or The Two Lives of Lydia Bird, you need to read Hayley Doyle’s Love Almost. Just bring a box of tissues wherever you go because you will not be okay.
“So, word of warning for anybody who- like me- has fallen into the habit of taking photos of a rainbow salad; two glasses of wine by candlelight: feet on a beach: don’t. Take photos of people. You will never, ever, ever care about your toes painted neon pink on the sand, ever. But you’ll wish you had more photos of the person you loved.”
This book takes readers on the emotional roller coaster that is grief. When Jack meets Chloe, it’s love at first sight. Now 5 months in, Chloe has moved to a new city to be with him and things are better than ever before. And then Jack is killed and the life Chloe had dreamed for them dies with Jack.
We go through the stages of grief with Chloe as she works to move past the trauma of loving the person she loved and finds who she is without him. I think this was more of a Women’s Fiction than romance, but it was still very moving and I was rooting for Chloe the entire time!

I really wanted to love this book, but I just didn’t. Don’t get me wrong, some areas were lovely and I really liked that I was reading it in a Scouse accent but I feel like the supporting characters let it down.

If there is a sequel, I will give that a try as I liked the majority of the book.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

⭐⭐💫

Many thanks to @netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I'm at a loss on how to properly leave a review for this book, because I wanted to love this book so much. This book follows Chloe after she loses her boyfriend to an accident. We watch her deal with grief slowly. Unfortunately, the book started out too slow for me. I enjoyed the last quarter of the book more. I also didn't feel connected to any of the characters; however, this is a tale of grief, family, and self-discovery, which is what Chloe was doing.

I am seemingly in the minority with this review, which is a bit sad (truth be told), because I loved Me Before You and The Two Lives of Lydia Bird. I'm not sure where the disconnect was, but I still implore you to read it and decide for yourself when it releases on Jan 7, 2021.

This is the first book I have read by Hayley Doyle and it definitely won't be the last!

I really enjoyed this book. Yes it is a book about grief, but it is also of family, friendships and moving on and finding your place in the world again. I loved the characters and the ordinariness of them, they could be people you know and I particularly liked Chloe's Liverpudliness, Hayley has her dialect off to a tee..

Highly recommended to readers who enjoy women's fiction.

Thanks to Netgalley and Avon Books UK for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I laughed, cried, ooh’d and argh’d – this book has everything.

When main character Chloe’s boyfriend Jack, of 5 months is suddenly killed, she starts to question if she really knew him, whether she was loved, or was in love herself - Love Almost? No-one really knew about Chloe and her relationship with Jack – and that Jack was her everything. We follow her life as she learns to continue with life after Jack – and tries to keep close to him by doing the things they had planned together.

I really can’t recommend this book enough for readers who enjoy Jojo Moyes and Cecelia Ahern.
The book is a witty, fast paced read and is beautifully written to engage you with Chloe and other characters.

My first read by this author and I can’t wait to read more by her.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC in return for an honest unbiased review.

Chloe and Jack might have only been together for five months but she was in love- head over heels- with him. So when he's killed in an accident, she's struck down by grief, which is compounded by the fact that his family didn't know about her and her family doesn't understand why she's taking this so hard. Even her friend Beth (who I found annoying at times) doesn't get it. So Chloe sets out to complete the bucket list of things she and Jack had just begun compiling- things like learning to ski. And in doing the list, she finds herself again. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. It's a good, emotional read with a character in Chloe who you will want to reach out and hug.

Love, Almost follows Chloe after the her boyfriend of five months dies very suddenly. Having been together for such a short period of time, she feels pretty sure that he could have been endgame for her but also struggles with the image of a completely different man that his friends and family knew.

It is both a blessing and a curse that Doyle is able to so accurately depict the Scouse accent on the page. A blessing because it is admirable that she is able to effortlessly make the accent ring in my ears; a curse because I can't stand the Scouse accent. It is for this reason that I definitely would not be able to consume this book as an audiobook (I read it as an eARC, for anyone interested) but I chose not to reflect this incredibly subjective opinion in my rating because frankly that isn't fair to Doyle.

Most readers will likely find this book challenging because grief is at the forefront. Chloe's grief is not just depicted as curling in a ball crying on the sofa for weeks but also the crazy, impulsive decisions made to find a way to make sense of everything.

This is a book which I really struggled with in the first half but ended-up adoring in the second half, and especially appreciated the ending. The validity of Chloe's feelings are constantly questioned in the earlier portion of the book and, whilst the reader may also find themselves questioning whether Chloe's boyfriend was her soulmate, it became pretty unbearable when every character was thoroughly unlikeable. There is still some doubting and cruelty in the latter half of the book but the focus became on Chloe's healing and working through her grief. It was really beautiful.

First, I want to say thank you to NetGalley and Avon Books for the ARC and a chance to review.

How do you deal with the death of a man you were sure was The One after only being with him for 5 months? Are you allowed to grieve? Does a short period make it any less real? These are all questions Chloe has to deal with after Jack passes away following a tragic accident.

This book deals with grief and how people handle it. All the firsts that you now have to take alone. We follow Chloe on her journey of all her "firsts" without Jack.

One thing that kind of irked me about this book was how flippant all the side characters were to Jack's death and how Chloe was grieving. I understand, they hadn't been together long and they hadn't met him. But not even her supposed best friend tried to validate her feelings? Felt unrealistic and it was frustrating to read, especially as Chloe never spoke up about her feelings. All the side characters just felt like the same person; there was no apparent personalities for any of them. They were just there to invalidate Chloe's feelings and push along the plot. When they kept talking over her before she even explained what she was upset about after his death? I was so ready to put the book down. Sure, some people might be like that in real life, but annoying characters are still frustrating to read, regardless of it its realistic. There is some redemption for the side characters toward the end, but my impression was spoiled in the beginning.

It was hard for me to connect with Chloe as a character and the side characters. However, I'm sure others will enjoy it. It just wasn't for me.

Jack and Chloe are a couple in love. It seems they are destined to get married and live out the fairytale until suddenly Jack dies. Chloe is left with a life in shambles as she tries to hold on to any memory of Jack, while continuing to live her life. After attending his funeral, Chloe begins to ponder if Jack was ever really in love with her and has to comes to terms with this information. I really enjoyed the heartache and grief aspect of the book as it's something that I've personally dealt with. I felt Chloe was a character I very much related to and I felt for her. As Chloe begins to move forward with her life, I enjoyed the journey she took and how everything ended. This was a wonderful book and I read it very quickly! *I want to thank the publisher and Netgalley for this book in exchange for my honest review.*

I must admit, this one was a slower burner for me. And it took my a while to start connecting with Chloe and her story. But as she’s thrust into the aftermath of Jack’s sudden death, this is very much a journey into her grief, and whether she’s permitted by her family and his family & friends to grieve for Jack as they only knew each other a short while. The last half of this really pulled this out for me

I'm not a great reader of romance novels, but this one kept me engaged right through. It examines the position of a person whose partner dies just a few months into their relationship. This is the period when it's at its most intense, when they are almost an addiction, yet outsiders seem to forget that and cannot, or will not, understand the level of grief and disbelief felt.
Chloe and Jack were in love, they had moved in together and life was rosy, until suddenly it wasn't. Chloe becomes a nobody, overnight. His family haven't even heard of her, his old friends are barely aware of her, so she is forcibly peripheral to what happens next. This sense of unfinished business drives Chloe to make some questionable decisions, yet each one shines a light on who she is and helps her to heal and move forward a better, stronger person. It's a feel bad feel good novel with a calm, happy-making ending.

Love Almost is a heartbreaking and inspiring story at the same time. Chloe loses her boyfriend , Jack in a accident and the story revolves around Chloe coming to terms with the loss of her boyfriend.

Chloe and Jack were in a live in relationship for 5 months and they had plans to travel, to do things together. Suddenly one day she gets the news that Jack has been killed in an accident. Even though Chloe was not part of his inner circle or has never met his family, she was emotionally very much vested in Jack.

Chloe since childhood was never serious or dedicated about anything. She might have started many activities and jobs but she never saw the finish line. The only person she truly was sure about was gone, and she did not know how to carry on in life without him. Chloe takes a solo trip to Bangkok, that was pre-planned by both of them and does many things by herself that hey had planned to do together.

The writer has beautifully expressed all the emotions a person goes through when you loose someone so close and dear to you. Get a copy to read how will Chloe cope in her life; will she be able to find a purpose and overcome her grief?

I would highly recommend this book!! Thank you #netgalley, #avonbooksuk and #hayleydoyle for a free copy of eARC in exchange of my honest review!!

I must say, that this one broke my heart. Yes it was good, but I do not do books like this. Yes, I read P.S. I love you and Me, before you, and I knew what I was expecting, but even knowing it this made me sad...
I know that there is always a rainbow, but still...
This is lovely written, 4 stars for me.