Thank you to NetGally for letting me review this book! This book is yet another great one from Katherine Turner! This one definitely has some trigger warnings but overall the message is great about finding yourself and finding the person who truly loves and cares for you!

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC of this book. I loved this book! The author did a fantastic job with this tough subject matter. The story was heartbreaking and wonderful. The characters were very well done.

I just read Believing in Never by Katherine Turner and I enjoyed it. I’m not saying this was an easy read because it wasn’t by any means. This book deals with domestic abuse.

I received this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

First off, what an amazing book and writing. This book had me through a roller coaster of emotions not to mention me yelling "don't do it, no no no." Not a lot of books do that to me and very happy to say this one did.

There are trigger warnings in the beginning thankfully but I had totally spaced it because I was so invested in the storyline. Katherine took great care in approaching sensitive topics in the storyline including how a person can be in denial and make the same mistakes in relationships over and over again thinking they were the problem when it's the total opposite. Childhood trauma is real and unless you've processed it, some times you still suffer in adulthood not realizing that you were a victim and it wasn't your fault. Although we the reader could recognize it, it's what people do go through and denial is a hard thing to see when you are in that moment.

The one thing that stood true throughout the book was the friendship the two main characters had. Even when they don't see or talk to each other in long lengths of time, the friendship is still strong as ever and that is the main focus through the book. Having someone there for you to be your support and strength when you may not have it is a treasured friendship not a lot of people may have. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and highly recommend it. Just warning, emotions. So many!

Thank you to NetGalley and Josha Publishing for the ARC. Also thank you to the author, Katherine Turner for the amazing writing and great read! Looking forward to reading some more of your books!

This book was incredible! I spent way too many hours reading well into the wee hours of the morning, knowing work would suffer the next day, because it was just that good! I laughed and cried and felt for these characters so much. Incredible writing, character and plot development and a HEA – what more could we ask for?! As I’ve never crossed paths with a DV survivor, I had always struggled to understand why they endured the relationship(s). The way this amazing book was written helped me to understand the mental process of being in that situation. Owing to the tremendous mental, emotional and physical @bu$e that is worked through in this story, the relationship development between the MMC and FMC is a slow burn, but so worth it. Needless to say, trigger warnings are significant and should be checked before reading.

Thank you to NetGalley and Katherine Turner for the ARC of Believing In Never. It was such an amazing book. I was hooked right from the beginning. It was a gorgeous love story about two childhood friends who slowly fell in love after they became adults. The two main characters both grew up in horrible conditions where they were abused repeatedly. Turner wrote about their abusive family situations with extreme kindness and sensitivity. She was able to show how their awful childhood living conditions affected everything else in their lives. I was also extremely glad to see there were trigger warnings included for this book. I plan to look up other books written by Turner. All and all, I would highly recommend this book to others.

Drew and Tasha stole my heart. Kat Turner's writing did it again for me. I was so sucked into their story and everything they felt was so real I could not put the book down. I loved how I was able to connect with the characters' thoughts and feelings throughout. I could understand how they were thinking and the struggles they were going through mentally. Katherine Turner was able to write these character perspectives in a way that I could understand more of what they were going through even though I did not have those personal experiences. I also liked how we were taken through their mental and emotional healing process instead of just being given the typical "happily ever after" ending that so many books now have. Reading this book truly felt like I was going through the process with the characters.
I highly recommend this book to others but I suggest they read through the trigger warnings beforehand.

This review is based on an uncorrected e-galley of this novel.

Summary:
Ever since the night Drew snuck out of his parents’ house and found a tearful Tasha hiding outside her bedroom window, they’ve been the best of friends. Their bond strengthened throughout their childhood, forged by their mutual struggles with abusive families, and they swore to be in each other’s lives forever. Life, however, had different plans for them, and following college graduation, their careers and shifting priorities pulled them miles apart.

When Drew is nominated for a professional distinction that will be awarded in the city where Tasha now lives and decides to stay for a week, he and Tasha reunite without knowing this trip will change the course of their lives and challenge the connection they were once so certain of. The trip brings to light Drew’s years-old feelings for Tasha, but while he’s ready to see where a new kind of love could take them, Tasha pulls away from him, plagued by the unhealed wounds of her childhood.

When she hits rock bottom, Tasha finally acknowledges the harmful patterns she’s been perpetuating in her own life in a bid to outrun her past. No longer able to run from Drew’s feelings for her—or hers for him—she must summon the courage to heal... or risk losing Drew forever.

My Thoughts:
If a book makes me cry, it's an automatic 5 stars. This is at least the 3rd Katherine Turner novel I've read and I don't think I've given any of her novels less than 5 stars because they always make me tear up. Turner's characters always battle some form of trauma, whether it's abuse, mental health, physical injuries, etc. and they're always written so well. Her writing makes readers feel like they're right there with the main character going through the same scenario and it's fantastic. I wish more authors were able to capture this the way that Turner does.

Thanks to NetGalley, Joshua Publishing, and Katherine Turner for an e-ARC of this novel.

I just read Believing in Never by Katherine Turner and I enjoyed it. I’m not saying this was an easy ready because it wasn’t by any means. This book deals with domestic abuse. I finished this book a couple of days ago, but I needed to marinate and get my thoughts together.

Natasha “Tasha” and Drew met when they were kids, grew up together and became best friends. They formed a strong bond over their struggles, both being abused by their parents, and promised to always be in each other’s lives.

Years later Tasha has become a writer and Drew a physical therapist. Drew is flying to get an award in Tasha’s town and ask her to be his date. Their significant others are not happy with their friendship and have issues with how close they are. Drew doesn’t like Duncan, Tasha’s boyfriend because he’s so controlling and Tasha doesn’t like Becky, Drew’s girlfriend.

Drew and Tasha love each other, but don’t realize that they are in love with each other. The baggage of their past plays front and center. I got so frustrated with Tasha, her doubts, lack of trust, and fear of being with Drew. Tasha went through so much in her life that she didn’t feel worthy of being loved or respected. She only knew she didn’t want to be alone. She was robbed of her self worth at such a young age. She didn’t know how to be Tasha, allow herself to be loved, or worthy of the good she deserved in life. Until one day she realized she needed to find out who she was alone, learn to love herself, learn who she was, and find her strength. Drew was a dream man!! Even though he had been through so much in his life he never wavered when it came to Tasha.

I love Katherine’s writing and how she deals with real life issues. She takes you through the trials and heartbreaks, through the journey of breaking the cycle, into healing. Thank you to Josha Publishing, Katherine Turner and NetGalley for letting me read this ARC and for wanting to know my honest thoughts and opinions.

Title: Believing in Never-a standalone

Release date: 12-4-23

Author: Katherine Turner- read Madly, Deeply, Wildly- I gave it 4 ⭐

Genre: Adult Fiction, Women's Fiction, Romance

Tropes: childhood friends to lovers

Rating: 3/5 

Quick summary: After enduring tumultuous childhoods together, Drew and Natasha reunite after years separated after university. Drew visits Tasha while being honored for his work as a physical therapist. They have feelings for each other, but knowing their pasts are reluctant as they struggle within their own relationships.

Content warnings/triggers: Physical and sexual abuse, DV, SA

Characters:
Natasha-FMC
Drew-MMC
Duncan-Natasha's bf
Watson-Drew's dog

Review: It was an emotional rollercoaster especially with Tasha's ever-changing feelings. As BFFs they know the worse about each other, and slowly get to know each other again. Tasha has the added problem of not dealing with her past as demonstrated by her current relationship with Duncan. Drew tried to help her but at times she just pushed him away. I didn't care for Tasha sometimes because she couldn't appreciate Drew. He helped her through surgery, court, and even moved to be closer to her. Thank goodness Drew finally walked away to give Tasha time to get her life straight. When they finally get their HEA, it is truly earned.

Thanks to NetGalley and Josha Publishing for this ARC! I voluntarily give an honest review and all opinions expressed are my own.

This book has me hooked from page 1. It didn’t take long for me to figure out what kind of storyline it would take, and as anxious as I was to see how it would be written, I couldn’t put the book down.

This is the first book I’ve read in a long time that’s touched on domestic violence and done a really good job of it. It wasn’t over-exaggerated and the emotions Natasha went through were very real and relatable. There were a couple of scenes where non-consensual acts were mentioned, but overall it focused more on the physical abuse and the injuries she suffered.

I will say I did feel like this book was too long. It got to a point where I felt like a chunk had been put in as a filler, as suddenly other characters were coming into the story but it felt very last minute after spending a good 40 chapters focused just on Natasha, Drew and her partner. I would’ve liked for there to have been other characters from the start.

This was a good book and I’d recommend it but it did feel repetitive at times - saying the same lines over and over again, and having the same situations reoccurring. I also really didn’t like Natasha’s character and how she’d go from 0 to 100 over absolutely nothing, but for no reason.

I might get the book to read in the future but it’ll be on kindle.

I was sent this book by NetGalley to provide an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Drew and Tasha. They grew up together and both survived childhood trauma, but with different baggage. The warmth and history between them is obvious from the first chapter and I knew I wanted them to be together. It was clear though that it would not be easy, and it wasn't. The throughline of this haunting novel seems to be the impact of family abuse on self-esteem, and how this can have shocking effects and after-effects that continue to resonate far into adulthood..

No spoilers here, but Tasha is a people-pleaser who forgets to consider what she actually wants for herself, or what she believes she deserves. She's trapped in negative and unhelpful thought patterns that keep her from Drew for years. Yes, it's frustrating for us to witness, sometimes it's excruciating, but I suspect this is Katherine's intention - we go through the wringer as much as Drew and Tasha do. They do get their HEA, but it's a long time coming.

Persevere if you love angsty and insightful writing, and are not afraid to face the difficult things about human nature. The writing is beautiful, and heartfelt. Drew is the best kind of cinnamon roll, and has his own issues but he's gorgeous - and a perfect match for Tasha. It's not full of obvious tropes, there's music and kindness and caretaking, and matching tattoos, and eventually some comeuppance. Recommended!

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and publisher for the ARC.

Emotional and heartbreaking story. Domestic violence is the main topic, which was handled well. Tasha and Drew are childhood friends and taking care of each other for a long time. Their bantering is very cute. The support Drew gave to Tasha after suffering from domestic violence is incredible. They both loved each other from the start and finally got together at last. I liked both the characters and the situations that are realistically described. Just find it predictable. I find the ending perfect. Overall, it's a good read..

Tasha and Drew have been best friends since they were 14. They had a lot in common and were there for each other. After University, they went separate ways, until Drew was going to be going to where Tasha lived to accept his awards.
When they reconnected, they still needed each other, and it seemed to become a roller coaster ride. Drew had to walk away when Tasha, wasn't standing up to her boyfriend and just did what he wanted. It was too hard for him to see her this way, and she wouldn't see the red flags.
They were in and out of each other's lives, they wanted to be best friends and be there for each other, but they weren't seeing that the one they loved was standing in front of them. It is an emotional story, but one of hope that they would see what they needed to see, and they would have the life they both wanted, because they never stopped trying to achieve it. This is their life, story, and all that happened when they faced it head on and moved forward.
I received an ARC from Josha Publishing through NetGalley.

This is a lovely feel good happy ever after book that really gets you in the feels. The ending couldn’t be any different and I love the author for it. So thank you.

Believing in Never by Katherine Turner is an emotionally moving and gripping story of abuse within intolerable situations. It's about the characters facing the horror that is going on in their lives and searching for healing, faith, peace, love, hope, friendship, joy and so much more! About ways to find a way out and create safe and beautiful lives they are yearning to live. This book truly captivated me! I couldn't with this book from start to finish! The characters are well rounded, the story is amazing! This book grabbed my heart and still hasn't let me go even after finishing it!

I received this book for free. A favorable review was not required, and all views expressed are my own. Thank you to Katherine Turner, Johsa Publishing LLC and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this delightful book.

⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Author: Katherine Turner
Publish Date: 4/12/2023

Review:
First of all, I want to say thank you to NetGalley UK, Josha Publishing and the author for giving me the opportunity to read this book as an ARC.

Tasha’s story really broke my heart, and the fact that there are many woman out there with a similar life story to hers really makes me feel sad, sick and angry. I think that her story was written in a very realistic way and that’s the thing I most appreciated about this book. Talking about Drew, he also had a very difficult life and the author did - again - a great job at describing his trauma. Since abuse is pretty much the center of this story, I’m so thankful that Katherine Turner was able to tell a story with such a beautifully written and especially very realistic representation: it is such a great message for who is going through/went through the same things as the main characters.

However, I found the writing also very repetitive at times, and there were some chapters - especially in the first half of the book - that were kinda useless to the story as a whole. Although I was rooting for the main couple, they honestly made me just so angry: they just kept pushing each other away over and over again. Like I get it, but I also was just tired to read about the same situation in every chapter. I couldn’t stand the miscommunication trope any longer.

To sum it up, this book wasn’t perfect but it definitely has an important message and the author did a great job at writing about such delicate topics.

I wanted to like this more than I did. There was more repetition than necessary. The descriptions of domestic violence were well written and portrayed realistically. Often in books, it's taken to the extreme, where women are thrown across rooms or something more dramatically,

I did feel that the romance part of the friendship was a bit forced. Like, this almost wanted to be "One Day" but...not as good? But because this book deals with such hard topics like trauma and domestic abuse it's hard to rate this as a "good" slash 'feel good' sort of book, you know?

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I had high expectations for this book.
The premise is somewhat different from the popular romance books on the market where nowadays we see an abundant of enemies-to-lovers, coworker, marriage-of-convenience stories.
This book started out with the two best friends and how they find their way to each other.

Let’s discuss the plot.
Drew and Tasha has been best friends since they’re fourteen years old but unfortunately after graduating from university, they drifted apart. They lived in different cities and they both have significant others who didn’t like the fact their respective best friend is the opposite gender.
But Drew is nominated for an award regarding his work as a physical therapist which will take place in Brinkley (the city where Tasha lives).
He’s staying for the whole week and Tasha is excited to see him again.
Unfortunately, Tasha’s boyfriend Duncan didn’t take too well to the fact that Drew would be staying in Tasha’s apartment.
From the get go you could tell that there’s more between Tasha and Drew. They’re very much acting like a couple.
Drew didn’t trust Duncan but Tasha begged him to be friendly with her boyfriend.
At the end of his trip, at the airport, Drew kissed Tasha. It was their second kiss and they both secretly liked it.
And then for remainder of the book, it feels like miscommunication after miscommunication happened until I started to doubt whether I wanted these two to be together.

The premise is cute and fun.
The author is not shy to write about abuse and trauma which is refreshing and necessary.
But the story unfortunately fell flat for me.
There are a lot of back-and-fourth, to the point that it feels too much.
Tasha’s story is heartbreaking and Duncan is a menace but even then, the main female character is just… unlikeable.
She seems so indecisive and she keeps doubting Drew’s feelings for her.
Whenever push come to shove, she’s always taking the easy way out and thinking the worse of Drew.

When you think about it, Drew has always tried to be there for her as much as he could.
He even moved cities to be closer to her.
He showed up for her surgery and stayed even when she’d told him to leave.
He took care of her when she broke her femur.
He was there for her when she had to testify in court.
But she’s never there for him?
Not only that, but she kept thinking he cheated on her even though she should have known the kind of person he is.
By the end of the book, I actually hoped Drew had moved on and found someone who would appreciate him.

It’s a three star for me.
This is purely my opinion.
If the story I describe appeals to you, please don’t let my review discourage you from reading this book.
Thank you to NetGalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review

I really wanted to love this book; however, while it had incredible potential, this book simply fell flat for me. I think it does a great job of tackling domestic violence, but I found myself continuously wanting more information about the characters' childhoods and in general just more information.