This is a gorgeous book about how four different people deal with the sudden unexpected loss of a family member.

I love how this book celebrates blended families. The characters were all well-developed, complex and endearing. But above all, each person (and how they managed grief) felt real.

There are sad parts understandably, there are funny reminisces, and there is a lot of hope. The only thing missing was it didn't make me cry as expected.

One of my favourite quotes is: "We are broken crockery, glued back together".

A heart-warming and uplifting story about love and family.

P.S. It's marked as "romance" but I felt it more as women's fiction or general fiction.

I want to start by saying I did love this book. But at the same time it was a slow start, it look me a long while to get in to and to get to even like a few of the characters. Once I’d gotten a way in I was hooked and couldn’t put it down.
The flaws and pain in the characters is so well written, they aren’t flat one dimensional characters, they grow with the book and you genuinely do want things to work out for them and for them to be able to heal and live with their loss. They aren’t a normal family for this style of book. They’re real and they make the book what it is.

An excellent read by Lucy Diamond. It was not what I was expecting and all the better for that. The story was told from a variety of viewpoints and described love and loss and the relationships between family and friends. Past regrets are examined and the difference between past and present highlighted as the book progresses. The characters and the relationships between all of them are explored. A book which describes the emotions.felt by characters and which involve the reader quite closely. Well worth reading.

This is a story that will stay with you, it will also break your heart. This story was superb, getting to know Leni after her passing is great, she was such a character, and watching the others fall apart after her loss was devastating. The thing about this story that made it so strong was the way the author managed to keep pulling us along but not dragging us down into the despair of grief. The way the story played out meant that you were kept guessing and wondering, where was she going, you become almost as obsessed as Alice. Tony was the one that surprised me most, I wasn’t sure if I was going to like him much at first but watching him come to terms with his new reality made you start to care deeply about him. These are all great characters, and they will all sweep you into their stories and make you care so deeply, its such a compelling story about how we are all human, grief and bring joy back to your life. Its an uplifting and real story that will bring many smiles to your face.

I'm a huge fan of Lucy Diamond so I was thrilled to recieve an advance copy of this book, thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for providing this opportunity.
I loved this book, I became totally invested in the characters who were wonderfully brought to life. This book demonstrates beautifully the complicated struggle that is grief, and how it affects everyone in different ways. I loved it.

Wow such a wonderfully written book, full on sobbing at the end! So touching and ultimately a happy ending which I was so pleased about! One of those books that stays with you for a long time and I would happily read it again xx thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy x

The Best Days of Our life is a book which touched all my emotions. The story centres on the difficult subject of grief one which resounds personally for me at the moment,

Lenis sudden tragic death has shook her whole family. Her sister Alice, mum Belinda, dad Tony and younger brother Will all experience their loss differently and they also deal with it in their own individual way.

Although the novel has moments of sadness it also encompasses hope and the importance of having a strong support network.

The characters in the book were beautifully written, I loved getting to know their stories and how they all pulled together was heart warming.

This book will stay with me for a long time ,(so much so I won’t start reading another book for a while ) it touched my heart and made me realise that everyone has their own experiences and moving on is entirely individual.

This is a book which makes you think about the most important things in life. I highly recommend this emotional but comforting book.

Lucy Diamond is one of favourite authors. Her books are easy to read and great to snuggle down to, on a cold autumn night.

The book centres around how each family member copes with grief after loosing Leni to a tragic accident.

The characters were relatable and events portrayed with so much character and depth; it gave me a sense that Lucy was writing from her own personal experiences, as to write so beautifully is hard without personally experiencing these emotions.

Oh my goodness how do you start to put into words this beautifully written book touching so sensitively on the emotion of grief. Leni is the eldest of the McKenzie children and is part of a loving family so when she is tragically killed the rest of the family deal with the grief in different ways. Her sister, Alice, tries to piece together the last weeks of Leni’s life from her diary and also starts a page where friends and family can remember Leni. This was beautifully done and gave us an insight to Leni’s character. Brother Will took himself off to Thailand straight after the funeral and mum Belinda used a clairvoyant chat line and wanted to move house.

These are very likeable characters, even Tony, the dad who walked out on the family but now wants to make amends. I can. not praise this book enough and am so glad I had the opportunity to read it

Lucy Diamond's books are always a great read in the family-drama type genre, and this was no exception.

Leni McKenzie's family - her divorced parents Belinda and Tony, both with new partners, her sister Alice and brother Will - are still reeling from her unexpected death, all turning to different ways of coping - or not coping. Generally, the latter.

The story follows all four family members as they deal with the absence of Leni, a powerful personality. The story is punctuated with various people's reminiscences of her from a tribute page set up by her sister, and these were fun to read.

A really enjoyable and ultimately uplifting story.

An amazing book. A wonderful set of characters beautifully brought to life. You become so invested in their lives and their complicated struggle with family and grief that it is impassible to put down. But for all that it is still a happy book and a very enjoyable read. I loved it.

I'm a huge fan of Lucy Diamond and was super excited to read her new book!

This novel is absolutely beautiful! I was hooked from the first page. I love the way that the author brings the characters to life so powerfully that it really does feel as if you could meet and become friends with them in real life. They are all extremely relatable, each character has their own quirks and flaws that make them very original and so true to life.

I love the way that Lucy explores different family dynamics and the hardships of broken marriages & relationships, new partners and blended families and how all the characters are finding their own path through their grief. The plot is full of exciting twists.

This is a book that stays with you long after you've put it down and truly makes you realise what is important in life.
Highly recommended!

Another Lucy Diamond novel that I lost myself in - a fantastic family based read with heartbreak and humour, a perfect read in my eyes.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for an early copy in return for an honest review.

I absolutely LOVED this book. The story is an emotional rollercoaster and gives you all the feels, all the time. I would read chapter after chapter being so emotional for so many different reasons. I thought it was so emotive and you really really want a happy ending for all the McKenzies. Every character is likeable despite some flaws and massively relatable. I enjoyed the change of character POV and I’m gutted I’ve finished it! Brilliant.

Lucy Diamond is one of my "go-to" authors for a great reader and her latest, The Best Days of Our Lives, didn't disappoint.

This novel is about a family and how they all deal in different ways with the death of a loved one in particularly tragic circumstances. It had moments of sadness and was sensitively written. I particularly enjoyed reading about the various family relationships at the heart of the book.

Thank you very much to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of The Best Days of Our Lives in exchange for an honest review.

A beautiful story of love and grief as we explore the lives of Alice and her family as they recover from the sudden death of her sister, Leni. Obviously a dark and tragic subject, but the way in which the individual family members cope with this terrible event makes gripping reading. We follow this family over the next year as they grieve, and then recover, in very different ways. Beautifully told and a great story!

I really enjoy books by Lucy Diamond and this one was no different.
The story focuses on Alice and how she cines to terms with the loss if her sister, Leni. A heartwarming story of a family coming together in their grief.

Another great book from Lucy Diamond. Likeable characters go through a major life change and see how they adjust. Fab book, highly recommend!

Such a lovely, well written book. After the death of Leni, her family struggle to come to terms with this devastating event. As they all stumble through their grief, each one faces their own demons.

This is such a heart warming book that makes the reader think about the important things in life and the privilege of families.

Highly recommended.

The best thing about Lucy Diamond novels is that she always shows her understanding of human emotions. This book is her at her very best, a beautiful story about the many faces grief has, and how it can either destroy or pull a family together.

Real people with real feelings that you can easily empathise with…the good and the less so good. I loved every minute of it.

Thank you to the author Netgalley and the publishers for an ARC in exchange for an honest review