Cover Image: A Love to Last a Lifetime

A Love to Last a Lifetime

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Member Reviews

3,5 stars
The idea of this story really appealed to me and I love stories told first person as I get really drawn in that way, but sadly the better I got to know Erin, the less I liked her. I didn't like the way she treated her husband Greg and her obession with Adam so many years later despite how he had treated her was just not right. I enjoyed the role Erin's mother's story played within Erin's story, it was both touching, sad and heartbreaking. Overall the idea for the story was good, but it felt repetitive at times and the characters were not my cup of tea. I think my favorite person in the whole book was Sam. He was a gem!

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I have to start by saying I loved that each chapter started with a song title which linked within the chapter. Erin is torn between her husband Greg and Adam from her teenage years who unexpectedly returns in her life after a brain injury. An up and down read, the story kept you reading as you want to know who she will choose and does she manage to help Adam recover his memories.

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Thank you at @rararesources and @clareSwartman for letting me part of this tour and revewing this book. I loved love to ladt a lifetime straight the way . The story just drew me in. I really like Erin and i felt sorry for her due to her dilemma with her husband Greg who gambles and meeting her old boyfriend Adam who has lost his memory plus her mum has dementia in a care home and her dad is hoarder. Its so lovely that Erin has Sam and Rose her two bestfriend who try and support her and guide her. I did keep wounder in the book who Erin would be with and who i wanted her to be with but i loved the ending it was very right for her. The story is beaufully written and very engaging. The story is written in dual timelines in past and present. I did like this. This is the first book i have read by Claire Swatman and i will definstly read more from her in the future 5 stars.

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This really is one of those books where the author gets everything absolutely right – the first love that you were convinced was so perfect that nothing else can compare, the real life compromise of marrying the supportive friend who adores you, then the emotional rollercoaster when that first love reappears just at the point when life is going less than smoothly in so many ways. But real life never is perfect – as well as Erin’s disappointment with husband Greg and the temptation from a newly-vulnerable Adam, she’s also coping with her mother’s early-onset dementia and her father’s mental health issues. Every single character is beautifully and sympathetically drawn, each with their different foibles and failings – and your main thought as you grow to understand the ramifications of the decisions Erin needs to make is “what would I do?”.

It’s a story in which memory figures large. There are the flashbacks, where we find out more about Adam and Erin’s former relationship and Greg’s being there to pick up the pieces – and a deeply hidden secret in Erin’s parents’ past that adds intrigue to the storyline. But the elements of memory are also deeply woven into the story – Erin working as a therapist using music to unlock the past and ease suffering (something that really hit home with me, having witnessed it in action with my own mum), Adam’s own present day issues and the possibility of being able to help.

The whole construction of the story is extremely clever, tied together by the music that might trigger the individuals’ memories – as a rather older reader, I did find myself making regular visits to Spotify to extend my musical education (Blink-182 and the Pixies rather passed me by…) but that was something I rather enjoyed.

But what I enjoyed the most was the book’s emotional impact, and the portrayal of the different aspects of love that you feel at your core – these were real people living their lives on the page, and when they hurt, I hurt too. The portrayal of Erin’s mother’s decline was painfully authentic, but so sensitively handled – but I felt a deep sympathy for so many of its characters, every one of whom had a place in my heart. And then, after weighing up her options, Erin has a personal decision to make, one of the most difficult possible – and the book’s uplifting (and, for me, rather tearful) ending was everything I wanted it to be, and perhaps the greatest love of all.

I couldn’t recommend this book more – a moving and compelling story, tremendously engaging, emotionally complete perfection, and totally unforgettable. I can’t wait to see what this very talented author does next.

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This is the first book I've read by Clare Swatman and i loved her simple and detailed style of writing
Thank you NetGalley and BoldWood books for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

SYNOPSIS
This is a story about Erin, a psychologist who's married to her once safe and reliable friend, Greg from university but has recently taken up gambling and almost lost all of their possessions.

With her marriage hanging on a thread, the love of her life, her first love, Adam Bowers who she hasn't seen in 18 years suddenly comes back in town and in need of her help

Now she's torn between her husband who's been her biggest support during her most difficult time who doesn't make her feel safe any more and the boy who's return makes her whole body spark

MY THOUGHTS
I'm not a big fan of love triangle troupes especially once the couple is married and i found Erin to be quite indecisive and confused, there was a lot of mental and emotional cheating towards Greg and to be honest, i couldn't see what she saw in Adam, he was selfish and a narcissist and their relationship together was very toxic.

What i loved though was that her confusion and dilemma was clearly portrayed in details and seeing how torn she was made me resonate more with her instead of hating how indecisive she was.

I loved Sam and Rose, her genuine and loyal friends who's support her fully but confront her truthfully and put some sense into her confused mind.

The biggest thing portrayed in this story is Dementia and this was the first time i heard of music therapy and it was interesting to learn about this whole new way of how our mind stores and unlocks our memories.
and i loved how the story focused not only on how the disease can affect the sick person but also on her family members ( we see Erin's dad take up hoarding as a stress reliever after his wife is diagnosed)

I thought the end was pretty rushed and it left us on hang with a lot of things that could have been showed for a better ending, i personally wanted to know how Erin moved on , what does she do, did she find another man?
did Greg quit his gambling addiction ? Did Adam Bowers regain his memories ?

RECOMMENDATION
I rate this one a 2.5 stars but i look forward to reading other of Clare's Books and if New adult and Romance is your thing, then this is a book you definitely have to pick.

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This was such an emotional roller-coaster, i loved the dual timelines it added a depth to the story that made it even more. The characters are so well written and you feel everything them. This book so so genuine and things the characters go through are so relatable. I am new to @claireswatman books but i will definately read more her narratives are so heart felt.

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I really enjoyed reading this book and working my way through all the stories that are interconnecting. It’s thought provoking, relatable and a pleasure to read

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A Love to Last a Lifetime by Claire Swatman is a story about Erin and her past and present days. It revolves around if she made the right choices in life including love. There are a lot of triggers in the this book around parents dementia and cheating in the emotional way. Erin's marriage is at a rocky point because she keeps thinking about the one who got away and what would be different if decisions were made changed her life. While not all will relate to this book, it is not your typical rom-com, women's fiction. Definitely something worth reading.

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I love Clare Swatman books so I was excited to see this one. It is a story of Erin’s past and present and if she made the right choices. It’s told by Erin in dual timeline. What I loved about this book was Erin. Her honesty was refreshing and you could feel her struggling with her decisions.

This story is in no way a predictable womens fiction book. Erin is also loving with her mother’s dementia diagnosis and how it impacts her parents and their relationship. Add this book to your TBR and you won’t be disappointed.

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Featuring ~ dual timeline ~ now (1st person POV) and then (3rd person POV), musician, music therapy, amnesia, dementia, love triangle~ish, emotional cheating

Erin has been married to her 2nd choice Greg for 13 years. Their marriage is already rocky due to a big betrayal from Greg. The tension mounts when her old flame and love of her life, Adam comes back to town after 18 years.

Should Erin take it as a sign that Adam is back in her life and risk her marriage to help him? She is so drawn to him that she just can't help herself. Can't say I'm a big fan of the sneaking around.
Honestly I wasn't really rooting for either man ~ I didn't care for either one of them in the past or the present. Erin wasn't very likable herself either. And it was bugging me that she kept saying that she knew Adam ~ girl you haven't seen him in 18 years! That's an awfully long time to be apart and still think you know someone and they only dated for like a year too. I liked bff's, Sam and Rose ~ they were good friends to Erin.

Music plays a big part in this story. Not only is Adam a musician, but Erin uses music therapy to help dementia patients try to remember. She uses her skills to help Adam with his amnesia as well. All of the chapters are titled with a song too. It was interesting that just hearing a song could bring back so many memories for Erin ~ like how she was able to know where she was and what she was doing when she heard it last, that's a good memory right there.

Her mother has early onset dementia and I thought that was written well. Reading the pages when she visited her really yanked the heartstrings.

Overall, this was okay, but on the slower side with some repetition. I did figure out how it would end and I am happy with the choice she made although it was rather abrupt.

Side note ~ don't tell me you're working towards paying off your debt while you are on your 2nd bottle of wine of the night and you're heading to the pub every week. Put that money towards your debt dudes! At least they were eating at home and not eating out every other night though.

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2 Stars

Erin broke up with the love of her life, Adam, eighteen years ago. Since then, she married the boy next door and has had a pleasant life up until discovering Greg, her husband, nearly sold their home to feed his gambling addiction. Erin and Greg are trying to move past this hurdle when Erin stumbles upon Adam busking in the streets of their small hometown. Despite her friend’s warnings, Erin approaches Adam only to learn he’s suffering from amnesia after a motorcycle accident. Being that Erin is a psychologist who uses music therapy to help dementia patients regain memories, Erin yearns to help Adam. However, doing so will cause a rift between her and Greg, who knew he was always second to Adam in Erin’s eyes.

Swatman is a hit or miss author for me. Her novel Before We Grow Old was the first to make me cry in so long, but then her follow-up How to Save a Life was just mid. I’m sad to report this is my least favorite of hers I’ve read so far.

None of the main characters are very likable. Erin was incredibly frustrating to follow since she would always set herself a boundary (i.e. I’m going to tell Adam she can’t see him anymore), and then immediately break that boundary (i.e. get on a motorcycle with him and go on a joyride). I wanted to slap some sense into her just as badly as her two friends did! Adam was a massive jerk and Greg was the epitome of a toxic “nice guy” type, so there really wasn’t a point in this triangle that I was rooting for.

It also felt like not much happened in the book since it was quite repetitive. Nearly every time Adam and Erin would talk they would have the exact same conversation. I was wondering if this may be a symptom of his amnesia, but Erin never commented on it so I just have to think these two had nothing else to really say to one another. Also, whenever Erin would play music to Adam to try to retrigger his memory, it was only hers that was retriggered. In fact, anytime a song is mentioned in the book it seems to immediately take Erin back to a specific point in time, which just isn’t realistic and, again, becomes quite repetitive.

This is a tricky plot to tackle and I’m not sure if this was the best approach to it. I want to find that feeling that Swatman once gave me, but I couldn’t find it in this novel.

Thank you NetGalley and Boldwood Books for an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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CLARE SWATMAN: A LOVE TO LAST A LIFETIME.

What do you do if you’re marriage is on rough ground, and then you unexpectedly run into your first love? The one you always felt was your soul mate, and the one who got away.
This is Erin’s dilemma.
Erin and Greg are struggling to hold their marriage together. Then purely by chance, Erin stumbles across Adam, her ex-boyfriend.
Adam has his own issues, and maybe, Erin could be the one to help him.
Should Erin focus on her failing marriage, and try to re-connect with Greg? Or should she chase her dreams of the one who got away?

I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
The characters are well crafted and drew some real emotion from me as the reader.
I wanted to give Erin a slap, but I loved how her friends and family were honest with her.

A Love To Last A Lifetime is a touching read. It dragged me through a range of emotions.
It’s well written and hooked me in from the start. Once I was in, I kept turning those pages to the very end.

This is one of those books that has stayed in my head and found a place in my heart.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

With thanks to Netgalley and Boldwood for a digital arc of this title.

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Erin can't believe it when she spots her first love Adam, busking on a street. When she works up the courage to speak to him, she is shocked at what she finds out. Erin is also married. But things are getting complicated with her husband Greg. Is it a sign that Adam is back in her life? When he asks her for help, Erin knows she needs to tell Greg. But who is the man for Erin? Her first love or her forever love?

This was an easy flowing read that had me flipping the pages pretty quickly. I loved the supporting characters of Erin's best friends and her parents but didn't love a lot of the decisions that Erin made. After reading 90% of the book, you can bet I was pretty invested in the storyline hoping for an ending that would put a smile on my face but sadly this wasn't to be. The ending that was written left me speechless and also seemed too rushed. I am keen to read more by Clare Swatman though as I do like her writing style.

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Stories about the one that got away are so emotional and just all the feels. Then when you add a second chance plot twist when that one who got away comes ... back ... ahhhh. Meanwhile the main character is married to someone who never felt he could measure up to "the one that got away." What? How can this story work?

A LOVE TO LAST A LIFETIME was interesting because it's a love triangle and we haven't seen too many of those in the last few years.

The blurred lines of meeting up with that old love (as a friend) while telling or not telling your spouse - well, these are all issues Erin had to deal with. Oh, and on top of that her husband is a gambling addict, her father is a hoarder and her mother has dementia.

This is a love story about loyalty. There were so many facets to it. You really felt for Erin, but honestly, her two loves were not that great. They really weren't. I kept wishing she had believed in herself more and realized she deserved better than both these fellows.

However, we see Erin grow and realize things in her life needed to change.

This book deals with heavy topics, including a troubled marriage on the verge of a cheating marriage is a big topic. Gambling addiction and dementia are other situations the characters tackle.

I think the premise was different from what is out there. I enjoyed it, but I suspect a lot of people will be turned off by the love triangle. Stick with it!

Thank you NetGalley and Boldwood Books for an e-copy of A LOVE TO LAST A LIFETIME to review.

I rate A LOVE TO LAST A LIFETIME four out of five stars.

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Wow, reading this book really resonated with me on many points. There is always one person in a relationship that loves more than the other.
I felt bad for Greg because he always knew Erin didn’t love him as much as she loved Adam.
I thought Erin was quite unfair to Greg. Yes, he messed up, but she hadn’t been truthful with him either.
So much of the book was just sad. People hurting each other and trying to figure stuff out.
In the end, Erin made the right decision, probably the decision she should have made years ago.
I did like all the music mentioned because some of the songs are personal favorites of mine.

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My heart went out to Erin as I understand the attraction of the one that got away, it’s an ache that whilst dull, never really leaves you. Of course, you can show it the proverbial door, but need to be sure that your heart is ready to let go.

The relationship that Erin shared with Adam had all the signs of the infatuation that comes from young love. The desperation and need to spend every moment together and the fear of missing something important that may let another person in. As the pages turned, her passion was palpable, and I completely understood her obsession. However, if you’ve read the synopsis, it was a love that was destined to fail.

We then meet Greg who brings the adoration that is usually associated with a new puppy. Happy to pick up whatever crumbs Erin is offering. He’s loyal and seems completely flawless. Their relationship should have been everything that was needed to exorcise the spirit of Adam, but something caused the door to her heart to remain slightly open.

I loved the way Clare stripped back the layers of both relationships and slowly revealed the truth. There is no such thing as perfect, that’s something that the mind and memory create. The moments may feel euphoric, but the truth is usually hidden near the surface. The story picks at the scab that has formed over Erin’s relationships and while painful, the truth slowly emerges and proves to be cathartic.

On a personal level, I was soothed to read about Erin’s work with dementia and music. We used favourite tunes to bond with Mum until her slip into the awful grip of Alzheimer’s cut that final tie.

I don’t believe in spoilers and won’t reveal the ending other than to promise you that she chooses someone who will always have her best interests at heart and will never let her down. That love is definitely one to last a lifetime and one that we all have in us.

This is a must-read book and I cannot recommend it enough.

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A Love to Last a Lifetime (eARC) — 2 ⭐️

𝐏𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞: January 23rd, 2023

𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐟 𝐃𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: Erin’s heart is at-war with choosing between the one who got away vs the devoted husband who made a major mistake. Not only is she dealing with the love of her life being back in her life at the worst possible time, but she is also dealing with a sick mother and grieving father.

𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰: I really wanted to like this one, but overall, I felt like there was too much going on in the story. I liked Erin’s occupation and the idea of using music to bring back memories of her client’s pasts. However, this one fell flat for me, and the ending felt rushed and unfinished.

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞𝐝 —
⏳ Multiple Timelines
🌍 Based in Europe
❤️‍🩹 The One Who Got Away
✌️Second Chance Romance
💗 Contemporary Romance
🔺 Love Triangle

𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐢𝐟 —
🎶 Making playlists is one of your favorite hobbies
🚣‍♀️ You enjoy being out on the water
💬 A loved one has dementia
🍷 You believe cheap wine is still good wine
✨ Your bffs have your back

𝐓𝐖: emotional cheating, anger issues, strained parental relationships, alcoholism, dementia,

Thank you, NetGalley and Boldwood Books, for providing me an eARC copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

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🎶Book Review: A Love to Last a Lifetime 🎶

Book: A Love to Last a Lifetime
Author: Clare Swatman
Rating: ⭐️
Genre: Contemporary/Romance
TW: Dementia, gambling addiction, emotional cheating

Where do I start with this one? Maybe with a short synopsis of the book?

Erin has it all. A husband (Greg) who loves her dearly, friends who adore her and a cat named dog (I know, so quirky 🥴)
But everything changes after 18 years, when her Highschool sweetheart Adam shows up again.
They dated for about a year when they were younger and Erin was absolutely in LOVE with Adam. Adam however seemed like he couldn’t care less about her, as being a Rockstar was the most important thing to him.
After she leaves him, she gets together with her best friend Greg. Greg was seemingly perfect, except that he had a gambling addiction, which he was trying to get under control. One day, she discovers that Adam is back (with no memory of the past) and immediately falls in love again.
Life with Adam was always wild and passionate, whereas life with Greg was comfortable and safe. Who will she choose?!😱
Spoiler alert 🚨 She chooses herself and her dreams. Not that we really know her and her dreams, since she has the personality of a sour patch kid.

➕The Cover is pretty? And I didn’t hate Erins friends, even though they were a big cliche

➖The story and the writing was very repetitive. It’s crazy how many times Erin went to meet Adam to tell him they can't see each other anymore.
I couldn’t care less about the three main characters. They all just had one personality trait and that’s it. They felt shallow, one dimensional and frankly just stupid. 40 year olds, who resolve conflicts like teenagers? No thank you.
Erin had zero redeeming qualities and was just selfish throughout the whole book. She fantasized about kissing Adam every time they were together and it seemed like she saw nothing wrong with this. It’s not like she’s emotionally cheating on her husband or something.
There was also a subplot with her parents that felt so unnecessary and was just there to make us think she’ll choose Adam.
The ending was very sudden and confusing and did not conclude the story at all.

Overall I wouldn’t recommend this book.

Thank you to #netgalley & Boldwood Books for my review copy. All opinions are my own!

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This was a light story that is well suited for a beach read or day long binge read on a cold snowy day. The parent’s subplot was much more thoughtfully developed and executed than I felt the main character arc was. I didn’t connect well with the main character and felt she was a bit selfish and repetitive in her decision making. Still a good read.

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This is a fabulous book by Clare, and in my view her best yet. An emotional read with relatable central characters.

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