Cover Image: Ten Years

Ten Years

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Member Reviews

I enjoyed this book so much!
The premise is great - two people are brought together by a person they both love but who has passed away; though they knew each other as aquaintances, they develop an unlikely friendship as they meet every year to help mark their friend's memory.
The story is touching, dealing with grief and the loss of a loved one ("grief is love that doesn't know where to go") while also dealing with the many obstacles life throws at you in your late 20s and early 30s.
Despite the theme of death, this is more of a hopeful book than you'd assume - it is witty, and poignant and the main characters are so different but balance each other well.

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Keep a box of tissues handy while reading Pernille Hughes’ Ten Years because this book is so moving and poignant it could seriously sever your heartstrings.

Becca and Charles first met at university – and it was far from love at first sight! The two of them loathed each other on sight and just being in one another’s presence for a mere second was enough to have them both arguing, bickering and disagreeing with one another. Becca and Charles had absolutely nothing in common – except for Ally. The two of them absolutely adored Ally and it was through their mutual friend that they found themselves compelled to stay in each other’s orbit. When tragedy strikes and their beloved Ally passes away, Becca and Charles had the perfect excuse to drift out of each other’s lives. However, Ally left a bucket list which they have to complete and which will force Becca and Charles to look deep within themselves and realise that maybe the two of them have got far more in common than they initially thought.

Over the course of ten years, Becca and Charles collide as together they learn to deal with their grief and with the realization that Ally is not there anymore. They also realise that life is an endlessly complicated journey where feelings and beliefs change and where happiness is possible – providing you stop hiding in the shadows and trust yourself to take a huge leap of faith.

As Becca and Charles get used to life after Ally, will they choose to remain in each other’s lives? Or has the time come for the two of them to go their separate ways?

Pernille Hughes’ Ten Years is a wonderful book you will want to tell your friends and family about as it is a warm, witty, emotional, uplifting and heart-wrenching tale that is hard to put down and even harder to forget. Ten Years explores friendship, romance and grief in a sensitive, compassionate and candid way without resorting to cliches or melodrama making this book one to savour and remember long after the last page is turned.

A must-read for Jojo Moyes fans, Pernille Hughes’ Ten Years should be at the top of every one’s must-buy list!

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Great characters. I love stories about people who try to complete a bucket list. Lots of sadness in this story because of a death, but also hope when people work together.

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This was surprisingly really good! I didn't expect to love it as much as I did! I will defo be reading more from this author in the future!

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A story of friendship, grief and love. Also touching on the triggers and emotional trauma that everyone has to some degree and how it can rear its head and shape the course of your life in different forms.

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Becca and Charlie can't stand each other - but they both love Ally, Becca's best friend and Charlie's fiancee. When Ally dies, they are both broken hearted but would happily never see each other again - until they find out that Ally has left them instructions to complete her bucket list together. Over the course of the next ten years, as they meet once a year to complete another task, their relationship begins to shift. We see how both of them deal with their loss, but in very different ways given the very different people they are and we learn more about their life and what has made them the people they are.

This is more than just an enemies to lovers stories - it is a story about grief and how differently everyone processes it. It is funny, it is emotional and it is a lovely read.

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A really interesting concept for a book! Drawn together to complete Ally’s bucket list, Becca and Charlie are forced to spend time together despite never having liked each other.

This is a slow burner which explores the very differing characters over a series of years as they gradually grow to accept each other’s differences and discover that maybe they are more compatible than they think!

The real beauty is that despite Ally not being present in the story, the reader gets to discover her through the other characters and, of course, the bucket list.

A thought-provoking, easy read.

With thanks to the author and Rachel at Random Resources for the opportunity to participate in the tour.

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This was a good romance, but not the best. I always struggle with this trope (dead best friend's boyfriend) as I always wonder if there were feelings there before hand. But that is definitely a personal preference . This does feel more like a general fiction book in the way that it is written. So that made it stand out for its writing ability. But the lack of chemistry between the two characters did make this one feel lacking to me.

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Trigger warning - you’ll fall in love with Charlie & Becca, but you’ll definitely need lots & lots of tissues! I loved this book from the first page and it just got better and better. Very One Day in its premise, but also brilliantly original, witty and fun. A great read!

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There's a lot of potential in this storyline, but it just didn't connect for me. The slow-burn romance was great, but felt weird given the context.

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Well, this was definitely an emotional read but a hopeful and comforting one too. I loved the characters, their flaws and realistic personalities.

Even though a few tears were shed on occasion I thoroughly enjoyed getting to know these characters. Seeing how their lives played out after loss.

There was something so heartfelt about the story and it really helped me connect with not only the characters but I felt invested in their happiness too.

A wonderful look at life, grief, love and romance too. Ten Years was a real joy to spend time with!

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Thank you to Netgalley for sending me this arc!

I enjoyed this book, however it did take a while for me to get into. I would recommend to others as the premise of the story is interesting!

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Sadly, this book wasn't really to my taste. It's quite an emotional story and I prefer books with a bit more humour. It's definitely something other readers will enjoy though.

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I had to DNF this after a few chapters. I grew very uncomfortable with the idea of a relationship between a man and his dead fiancée's best friend. I didn't realize from the blurb that this was how the story would go, but I was intrigued by the hatred between the two MCs.

Also, I didn't understand why Becca and Charlie loath each other so much. If this is the relationship between two people so close to Ally, I cant imagine how she held on to both of them.

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Ten Years is an emotive and poignant read that makes you feel a multitude of emotions when reading it. It's not your typical rom-com type read but it's hugely satisfying.

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Charlie and Becca have disliked each other since University which is unfortunate as Charlie's fiancee Ally is also Becca's best friend. When Ally tragically dies her mum Valerie asks them to fulfil Ally's bucket list can they put their animosity for each other to one side.

The book alternates between Charlie and Becca's perspective the highs and lows of their friendship navigating their way through their grief.

I loved everything about this book, the story was original and Charlie and Becca were wonderful characters, I especially loved Becca a strong, fiesty, red head with a haribo obsession (In my head I pictured her as Rose Leslie)

Thank you to Netgalley and Harper Collins UK for the ARC.

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Wow. This book hurt. It was so good but very emotional. Ten Years shows a year in Becca and Charlie’s lives, beginning at the funeral of Charlie’s fiance and Becca’s best friend. This is a sot of enemies-to-lovers with forced yearly proximity and a second chance a happiness for the both of them. This book shows that there is not one great love and it is possible to love again.

Charlie and Becca have known each other since university. Since Charlie officially came into her life as the boyfriend of her best friend, Ally, they have bickered, fought, and just generally not got on. Ally’s death hit them both hard and after the funeral, neither of them think they will see the other again. Until, almost a year after her death, they both receive an email from Ally’s address with a bucket list of things Ally never got to complete. Both Charlie and Becca refuse to walk away from this challenge, so they agree to meet once a year to complete an activity and spread Ally’s ashes.

‘What is it you think you’ve stopped? Me loving you? That’s not how that works. Just because you say it can’t happen doesn’t make it so.’

This book reminded me of One Day, but with a happier ending. As Becca and Charlie complete these challenges, they begin to grow closer and see each other in ways they never could have expected. This romance tore at my heartstrings and I felt like I was feeling the emotions as they were. I cried, I laughed, and I rooted for these two characters, as I felt like they deserved the world.

‘So I choose you, Becca, I pick you, and you can kick and scream all you like, that’s my decision.’

I did not see the little twist coming at the end and was pleasantly surprised! This book was an emotional rollercoaster but I couldn’t recommend it more as I thoroughly enjoyed it.

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Becca and Charlie have known each other since university, and for all that time, they have bickered, argued, mocked, and rubbed each other up the wrong way. Until their loved one, Ally dies and leaves them a bucket list. Charlie and Becca must complete the bucket list together, and over the course of ten years, Charlie and Becca’s lives collide as the deal with grief, love, and life after Ally.
This is a classic, boy and girl dislike each other but are ‘friends’ because they have a mutual friend, who are then thrown together after the death of afore mentioned friend as she has set them up to meet at least once a year to work through her bucket list. The premise of the book is OK, but for the first half of the book, I found the writing a bit slow, but in saying that, there are some difficult subjects handled well within the book. The plot twists livened the second half of the book up, and I certainly didn’t see the final twist coming!

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Wow what an emotional journey!! I couldn't put down this book!! I really enjoyed this friends to lovers romance. I have to say this book had a lot more depth than most romance books and excellent characterization. The characters just felt so realistic. I definitely recommend this one.

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A second chance romance spanning ten years.
Charlie and Becca meet at Uni, a one nighters happens and then Charlie falls for Ally - Beccas best friend.
Fast forward a few years and at the beginning of the book Ally has unfortunately died and Becca and Charlie have totally fallen out.
The problem being they now have to do tasks each year scattering Allys ashes.
Over the span of the book and the dual narrative Becca and Charlie come to life, seeing their ups and downs and how they interact with each other.
This is a story about grief and how it is dealt with, but also moving on and finding love again.

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