The Love We Found is an emotional story about grief, love, and family. The follow-up to The Light We Lost, this book follows Lucy through her journey of grief. After finding a hidden address of Gabe's, Lucy decides to investigate. Ten years later, Lucy deals with the repercussions of her own secrets and investigates some of Gabe's own.

The different characters were really interesting to read about, especially Lucy's relationship with her kids. The moments where Lucy reminisced about events with Gabe added depth to his character and allowed the reader to experience the grief with her.

Overall, The Love We Found was a story filled with hope and provided a solid continuation to The Light We Lost.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for this ARC!

I loved The Light We Lost and consider it one of my top 5 books of all time. I recommend it to everyone who loves reading. However, The Love We Found was a bit of a disappointment for me. It started very strong for me, but I found myself losing interest as soon as Lucy met Bashir.
Once she returned home to New York I found myself still struggling to stay interested. I don’t know what it was but I just couldn’t connect with Lucy’s decisions. She seemed to be all over the place: one friend knowing her secret, one friend not knowing, to her blurting it out randomly. The ending wrapped up way too quickly. Perhaps it was because I had such high expectations for this sequel, but I found this book to be not nearly as compelling or enjoyable as The Light We Lost.




Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for a digital ARC of The Love We Found.

The Light We Lost is one of my favorite books, so I enjoyed following up with these characters and seeing where they are 10 years later. This book started off strong for me, but the story seemed to slow down in the middle, and I did start to lose interest at some points. However, the writing is beautiful and kept me reading, and I enjoyed the romance. Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for the arc.

Let me first say that The Light We Lost holds an honored spot on my favorites shelf. I have recommended it multiple times and have gifted it as well. I LOVE that book. I was actually rereading it via audio this summer (and Jill does a stellar job narrating) when I saw the news of this sequel and I smashed preorder with zero hesitation. My jaw hit my counter when I was approved for the ARC. And then it sat on my kindle for a few days because I was afraid it would not live up to TLWL. Unfortunately, I was right to be hesitant.

This was...not good. I connected with literally zero characters. The entire story seemed forced. Insta-love is my least favorite trope, and there was absolutely no build-up to the relationship with Lucy and Dax. The conflict at the end was completely unnecessary. Absolutely nothing was fleshed out and out of nowhere Lucy brainstorms a new TV show? I'm giving two stars because I did finish it, and I do love Jill Santopolo, but it really could have been a DNF. Once I finished I actually canceled my pre-order.

Also - I never liked Darren and still don't.

It’s rare that I love a sequel as much as I loved the first book. This book delivers! I cried so much while reading this…not only from sadness but also because there were so many times I was happy for the MC. Lucy’s heartache from The light we lost continues in The love we found but so does her growth.

I absolutely loved the format this was written in. As if the whole book is a letter to Gabe. It’s written in a way you can almost hear Gabe’s responses as she talks to him. A perfect conclusion to Lucy and Gabe’s story. But I would like to go on record that I think Darren is a schmuck.

Thank you Central Avenue Penguin Group Putnam for this Advance Readers Copy ebook in exchange for my honest review

Thank you to the publisher, author & NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review an advanced copy of this book! I voluntarily read this book, and all thoughts and opinions are my own.
I read The Love We Found in one day. I love the authors writing style. Unfortunately, I don’t remember the first book The Love We Lost, very well, as I read it years ago. I really enjoyed the sequel though. I feel like Lucy made some growth in the time between the 2 books. And was happy to see her finally try to move on. I found the characters and situations to be true to life, which I appreciated. Darren frustrated as much as he did in the first book and I found the instant love a little unbelievable. Overall I enjoyed this book and hope to read more by this author.

I loved the first book, The Light We Lost. There was a melodic cadence to it that was captivating. I loved this book too, but in a different way. It was the perfect sequel to an incredible story.

Thank you NetGalley & PENGUIN GROUP Putnam for sending this book for review consideration.

Jill Santopolo's novel, "The Light We Lost," is an unforgettable book about two college students in New York City on 9/11. I have always wondered what happened to Lucy and Gabe. Well, I was excited to hear that Jill had written a sequel to the book and it was fantastic!

This book picks up ten years after the death of Gabe. Lucy is dealing with motherhood, divorce, and a sense of loneliness. After being asked to help coordinate a photography show of Gabe's work, Lucy goes on a quest to uncover more about Gabe's life. In the process, she falls in love again and learns more about herself.

I was excited to read this book. It was easy to read and I fell in love with all the characters!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book before publication. The opinions expressed here are mine.

Woohoo!! At long last! It’s been seven years since the release of Jill Santopolo’s smash hit, The Light We Lost, where we fell in love with Lucy and Gabe’s story that began in New York City on September 11, 2001. Finally, the long awaited sequel is almost here! The story picks up ten years later and as much as I want to share some details, I don’t want to give any spoilers for those that never read the first book. If you already have, you may want to do a quick refresher of the last few chapters in case you forgot where they left off. I must admit I did. But in all likelihood, you WILL remember the tears you shed which left your heart ripped in shreds. I would not recommend the sequel as a standalone so if you did not read The Light We Lost, I recommend you read it first. If ever there was a story meant for Netflix or the big screen, this is it!!! So please, do yourself a favor and add this wonderful book to the top of your TBR list. I promise you’ll be happy you did. Publication date: March 18, 2025

This was a nice follow up on The Light We Lost. Definitely need to read it before this one. It's almost 10 years after the death of Gabe and this book gets us caught up on Lucy's life and where her family is now. She meets Dax on a trip to Italy and starts to open her heart to love again. Some ups and downs along the way just like real life, but a good conclusion.

The Love We Found was a good follow up to book 1 - The Light We Lost. The Light We Lost was amazing. I cried like a baby. It was soooooo wonderful and difficult and beautiful and frustrating, and I figured there would be some of that in book 2. There definitely was, and while I Dax was ok as Lucy's love interest in this book, he was no Gabe. And, with a love as big as big as Lucy's was for Gabe, it is hard to convince me that Dax was really anything special. The author wrote Gabe as Lucy's big love so it is just hard to buy anything else. The book was good overall It was enjoyable to read and brought some closure to Lucy's next chapter.

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for a digital ARC of The Love We Found.

Once again, I was pulled into Lucy's story. Jill Santopolo has a way of making you grieve with her characters and root for them to find joy. I loved how the setting was ten years later and we were able to see how Gabe's loss affected the family still. It was a well-done, emotional read, from beginning to end.

I did quite enjoy The Love We Found, however, I struggled a bit with the concept of being so obsessed (I honestly can't think of a better way to describe it) with someone who was essentially never more than a good friend with benefits. Lucy thinks and speaks about Gabe as if he was the absolute love of her life, yet they were never really a couple, and she married someone else. It seems that Lucy holds on to this idea that Gabe was a perfect man who could do no wrong. Putting all this aside, I did appreciate that there was a bit of mystery to solve, a new romance to enjoy, and real life divorced mom problems to contend with.

I loved The Light We Lost, and for so many reasons felt I could relate to Lucy’s story. So of course I was so excited to read The Love We Found! Ten years after Gabe’s death Lucy has a call that sends her on a path that revisits her choices after Gabe’s death, her love for him, and what life has been without him there.

While I loved the story, I did feel this was a touch slower than the first. I loved the kids characters, and how Jill Santopolo wrote those subtle differences that mothers notice in each of their children. I felt as though we could truly see the families sweet routine. I don’t know that this was the closure I expected for Lucy, but it did feel right, and I enjoyed seeing her ten years later! I’d recommend to anyone who wants to know how Lucy’s doing these many years later!

WOW. This book sucked me in and I could not stop reading! Picking up from the last book "The Light We Lost" we are taken back into the journey with Lucy and her family as she lives post Gabe and experiences the continued fallout from his death and finds the possibility of love again. The entire story is as if she is speaking to Gabe and I loved this style. You could feel her passion and love and all the emotions as her and her ex deal with the continued share of the kids and the secret they struggle to share. The writing is gorgeous and pulled me into tears as you can FEEL this loss the character is experiencing. Even if you didn't read the first book (you totally should!!) you can still dive into this one easily. Highly recommend reading with tissues! Thank you to NetGalley and G.P. Putnam's Sons for this ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I am so sad I didn’t love this! I loved the first book so much and re read as soon as I heard there was a sequel. Just didnt hit the same but the writing was still just as beautiful!

WOW. I absolutely LOVED this book. I really liked The Light We Lost but this one was even better, it dove deeper and really explored emotions, life’s journey and love.

*3.5 stars*

I remember the first book DESTROYING me so I was excited to see how she got on after Gabe. This was emotional but heartwarming. It was more s story of self discovery than a second romance but the romance we got was cute but wished it had been more. It almost felt too instant love once they did meet. I found this one to be quite slow and I was losing interest which some of that maybe due to my mood and life stuff going on. But it was sweet "recovery" story just not a ton to the plot. I didn't have me sobbing like the first one thankfully??! I remember being so mad at the ending to the first book so it was nice to get some closer.

A meaningful, heartfelt follow up to the book that shattered ALL of our hearts 10 years ago. It was difficult to enter back in to Lucy's world only to find she was still paralyzed by the loss of Gabe. But, it seems that Gabe was the only one that could bring her out of it, and he ultimately does when Lucy discovers the address hidden in his belongings. It felt like a weight off of the readers shoulders as well when Lucy finally opened herself up and began to truly start living again, even if it meant facing her deepest secrets.

Imagine my excitement and surprise when I saw this was the sequel to “The Light We Lost” by Jill Santopolo (which if you haven’t read that book, please do yourself a favor and have tissues ready 😭). With that being said, I went into this book with super high expectations and I if I’m being honest, I still enjoyed the first book better.

In this story it is ten years later, and Lucy receives a call from Eric Weiss (Gabe’s former editor), to commemorate the tenth anniversary of Gabe’s death. In doing so, Eric wanted some old photos that Gabe took to put into a new book to be published. While going through some of Gabe’s belongings that Lucy kept, she found an address in Italy with a drawing of a young boy on it, and she wasn’t sure why Gabe would have kept this address. With this new information, Lucy flies to Italy to do a little research of her own…

Essentially this book deals with what has been going on in Lucy’s life since the previous book, up to the present day. We learn how Lucy has coped with life, loss, grief, and secrets. I still loved Lucy’s character- but… I just feel that no book can top “The Light We Lost” (so that just might be a me thing).
The chapters in this book were nice and short (my favorite), and I was still left in tears 😭. In fact, I’m starting to think this is the only author who can make me cry ugly tears every time I read one of their stories. So for that, I definitely recommend reading this book (and The Light We Lost).

Many thanks to NetGalley, Penguin Group Putnam, and the author for an ARC of this book in which I had the pleasure of reading. Publication date: March 18, 2025