A wonderful read!
This novel drew me in from the very first page and kept me hooked until the end. The characters were vibrant and relatable, the writing was engaging, and the story had just the right balance of heart and humor. Highly recommend!
Many thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

Omg tissues at the ready! Gigi and Rose; sisters who have been separated by an arguement that both their daughters only know involves a wedding dress they made together. Mallory and Penny are best friends as well as cousins and want to reunite their mothers and hatch a plan that involves the dress. Both know this could go horribly wrong but they have to try. However, Mallory is hiding a secret that makes it even more important that their whole family reunites. I absolutely loved this book.

Mallory’s mother, Gigi is lonely as her husband has passed away. This summer, Mallory and her cousin and best friend Penny are set to reunite their mothers, after sixty years of being estranged after a misunderstanding.
First book I read by the author and I enjoyed it.
It’s an uplifting story about friendship, family and how to surpass loss and loneliness.
Lovely writing style. Emotional story.
Thanks to the author, the publisher and Netgalley for the advanced copy.

3.5 stars

The Best Days of Our Lives is an emotional story about 2 cousins/best friends navigating some major life changes during midlife. There is some tension as well as some romance involved.

This is told in multiple points of views and periods of time. I was especially interested in the back story of the dress and how the relationship between the two sisters fell apart. I was kinda hoping for a bit more from that story which is why my rating fell a bit.

Overall, there are sad parts in the story and it does cover some heavy topics, but ultimately, it is a reminder to find the beauty in whatever time we all have left.

If you are a fan of women’s fiction then I think you will enjoy this one.

I absolutely adore Rolfe's books and can guarantee it's a five star read before I even open the cover!

She writes the most wonderful heartwarming reads and if you've never read one before, you should you're missing out!

The Best Days of Our Lives is a story of sisters and years later their daughters. It certainly puts your emotions in a turmoil and tugs on those heartstrings.

Chapters are told from alternate POV and I found the characters were so easy to become emotionally invested in.

A thoroughly enjoyable story of romance, relationships and reconciliation.

Can Penny and Mallory pull off the impossible and get their mothers, sisters who haven’t spoken in many decades, together again?
Rolfe made me wait for a few chapters before I found out what was going on with Mallory and it floored me.
I thought Penny was never going to take handyman Joe up on his offers!
Although the story is tinged with sadness in the background, it’s also about reunions, possibilities, and making the most out of life with the time that is left.
Good advice for us all.

When I picked up this booked I didn't expect it to be as emotional as it was.

I loved the 4 main characters, Mallory, Penny, Gigi and Rose. They came across as very strong, resilient women, each with their own solutions to find for their current situations.

Each chapter in the book is from the viewpoint of one of the main characters, which I really liked. I also enjoyed how there are 2 stories woven together, one from the present day and one from the past with the link being a beautiful wedding dress.

Despite this being an emotional read, I loved the way the author has managed to take a heartbreaking situation and turn it into an uplifting story with some added humour. The second chance romances that sneaked in were a lovely touch.

I think this is a book that will stay with me for a while.

Thank you to the author and Boldwood Books for my gifted copy and to Rachels Random Resources for inviting me on to the tour.

When Mallory receives some bad news regarding her health, she is determined to keep it a secret until she is ready to share the news on her own terms. She knows that she needs to get everything organised so that her daughter, Jilly, has all the support that she will need should the worst happen!

Penny is Mallory's cousin and best friend which is ironic seeing as their mothers, sisters Gigi and Rose, haven't spoken to each other for decades. Penny and Mallory really don't know what caused the estrangement. Now Gigi is a widow and Rosa probably needs to retire from her wedding dress shop in the small village of Saxby Green.

One day, Jilly comes home and shows Mallory a picture of a famous movie star from the 60s wearing the dress that Gigi wore for her wedding - a dress that the two sisters made together. What could have happened to cause such a rift between two sisters who used to be so close.

Mallory decides to spend some time in the village and Penny comes home from London to try and talk some sense into her mother, and to find out what is going on with Mallory. She knows something is just not quite adding up with her cousin and she is determined to find out the truth. And if a little well intended meddling could help reunite the estranged sisters all the better.

Gigi and Rose's story is interspersed throughout the book. Both of them have carried around the hurt of what happened for years, and as a reader you get to see both sides of the story. In some ways, some of the issues discussed about the past are very much of their time and yet still relevant in many ways, but the repercussions are felt through the years.

It did take me quite a while to get into this book, mainly because I had a bit of a book hangover from another book, but once I did immerse myself into it, I was very emotionally affected by it, and cried a couple of times. The way that the friendship between the two cousins, the fears that Mallory had for herself and her daughter were sensitively handled, and then there was a nicely nuanced romance that felt exactly right for the book!

I have read Helen Rolfe before. I really enjoyed her Skylarks series which was set in an air ambulance centre. If I'm honest, I was a bit disappointed that we weren't getting another book with that setting. However, I ended up really enjoying this one.

I am sharing this review with the New Release Challenge hosted by The Chocolate Lady's Book Reviews. Be sure to check out other stops on the tour shown below. Thanks to the publisher, Netgalley and Rachel's Random Resources for the review copy.

Rating 4/5

The Best Days of Our Lives by Helen Rolfe

I received an advance review copy for free thanks to Rachel's Random Resources and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Blurb

When Mallory receives life-shattering news, she decides to use this summer to make sure her family and friends are prepared for whatever might come.

But Mallory has a challenge when it comes to her mother, Gigi. Following the loss of her husband, Gigi is lonely. So when Mallory makes a shocking discovery that shows a new side to Gigi's relationship with her estranged sister Rose, she decides to intervene and make a last attempt to reunite them.

Returning to her mother’s quiet hometown, Mallory and her cousin Penny try to get to the bottom of a dispute that has lasted more than sixty years, involving a lost wedding dress and a heartbreaking secret. But with Rose and Gigi determined to ignore their daughters’ efforts, will Mallory be able to put her affairs in order before it’s too late?

My Opinion

What an emotional read. Helen Rolfe has written a lovely novel that will play with your emotions but is ultimately a heartwarming story. There is so much going on in this book that it was a relatively quick read. With a lovely writing style, Helen Rolfe is a must read author for me and I would not hesitate to recommend The Best Days of Our Lives.

Rating 4/5

Given Mallory’s “life-shattering news”, I’d rather expected this book to give me a bit of an emotional workout – but while that aspect of the story is sensitively and perfectly handled, the book’s focus is far more on friendship and family, fresh starts and putting right the wrongs of the past, making the most of special moments, and even a touch of unexpected but welcome romance. The balance of its content is beautifully done – every emotional touch judged to perfection – and I think I can honestly say that this has to be my favourite (so far!) of the author’s lovely books.

Mallory decides to spend the summer in the village of Saxby Green – it’s an opportunity to spend precious time with her thirteen-year-old daughter Jilly, but also to be closer to her cousin and best friend Penny who’s at a crossroads in her own life and helping her mother Rose run her bridal shop. She’s had to let down her own mother Gigi, departed on a cruise on her own – and she’s getting increasingly concerned about how she’ll cope in the particularly uncertain future. Mallory will know when the time is right to share her news with everyone – but she also needs do something about the estrangement of sisters Rose and Gigi after a major fall-out over a wedding dress they made together in their youth. They’re now in their 80s, and haven’t spoken in sixty years – Gigi is lonely in widowhood, Rose is thinking about retirement – and Mallory, with Penny’s help, is willing to take pretty desperate measures in an attempt to heal their relationship.

The story dips into Rose and Gigi’s past, when they were even closer than Mallory and Penny, making trips to London to buy material to make the wedding dress that might win a newspaper competition. Gigi has another reason for enjoying their outings, meeting a man from a very different background who she knows to be “the one” – but faced with insurmountable obstacles to her hoped-for happy ending, and following a betrayal she finds it impossible to forgive, flees from home, taking the wedding dress with her. And that same wedding dress, still in Gigi’s attic, might just be the key to bringing the sisters together after a lifetime apart.

There was so much I enjoyed about this book. I found the closeness between the cousins particularly special – and a pattern for the support and friendship their mothers might be able to share if they can get past the feud that tore them apart. It’s an emotional story at times, but there’s humour and lightness too, even a few laugh-out-loud moments. And the romance fits really well into the story – nicely accompanied by memories of teenage years with all their awkwardness and embarrassment. It’s almost possible to forget about Mallory’s situation, the news she must share, and the heartbreak to follow – but it’s always there, waiting in the shadows, realistically handled, sometimes making life difficult, but never weighing down the story as reuniting the sisters takes centre stage.

The whole book is the very definition of heartwarming – actually, let me add “uplifting” too – although it did move me to tears at times. The story is so beautifully told, with individuals at its heart who were entirely real and who I really cared about, the bonds of family so perfectly captured. It really moved me – and the ending really couldn’t have been any more perfect. One of my books of the year – and one so many other readers will enjoy it every bit as much as I did.

The tone of this book felt different to Helen’s usual offerings and I’m hoping that’s not a push too far in a different direction. Don’t get me wrong, I have genuinely loved each of the books that Helen has published to date, but the life shattering news for Mallory had me feeling pessimistic, which is an unusual feeling for reading Helen’s books. That said, the whole tone was more about restoring relationships than anything else which is definitely familiar territory.
Rose and Gigi were inseparable whilst growing up, but after meeting a man, Gigi’s loyalty shifted, and her focus pointed her to new horizons. Their childhood dream of designing, making and selling wedding gowns in their own shop flittered away like a leaf on a breeze. I absolutely loved the sisters as their bond may have become frayed, but it was made of more that lightweight thread, meaning that despite their differences, their initial bond remained. Granted, it was well hidden.
We also meet the cousins, Mallory and Penny and in their relationship there are echoes of the connection the sisters once shared. Mallory is protecting a devastating secret that could blow the family apart, but she is determined to protect those that she loves and keeps her secret to herself until she feels the time is right. Penny loves having Mallory in her life and values their relationship above most other treasures in her life.
The key to this story is stitched into the fabric of the first wedding dress the sisters made. They had planned to use the dress to promote their business, and each hoped to wear it to their own weddings, but when Gigi discovered Rose’s betrayal, she fled their hometown taking their dress with her.
I flew through the pages of this book and enjoyed the warmth of the story, despite feeling totally aware of Mallory’s situation. That said, it didn’t feel overwhelming, it felt more like a whisper of what may come.
Beautifully told and absolutely moving. I loved it!

The story is told from a third person point of view and it switches from Mallory to her cousin/best friend Penny and occasionally to Mallory’s mother, Gigi, and her estranged sister, Rose. As Mallory seek to come to terms with a devastating news, she also hopes to help Rose and Gigi reconcile their differences.

I loved the close relationship between Mallory and Penny, and their scheme to help with the reconciliation was really good. That scene where their mothers finally met was epic.

There is also a romance plot here which was quite sweet. Will was such a gentleman especially when Mallory was unwell. In contrast, Gigi and Hector definitely had a more angsty romance due to the time period causing havoc upon their interracial relationship!

All in all, this book had a lot of plots going on, but the main idea of forgiveness and reconciliation stood out for me. When we are finally forced to decide what is truly important in our lives, we soon realise that holding on to grudges is pointless.

Thanks to the Publisher and Netgalley for an early review copy.

Mallory has been given some devastating news, she remembers her father’s saying “get your ducks in a row” and now, she has to do that for herself and her loved ones.

Her Mom and her sister Rose haven’t spoken for years, so she and her cousin Penny, plan to reunite them.

Being a nurse, Mallory’s job is offering support to patients, but she’s never needed that support herself. She has a daughter Jilly.

Penny’s job is a stressful and busy one, so she decides to have a break and visit her mother's village and help in her bridal shop.

Mallory also plans a holiday to the same village, where their plan will take shape and hopefully bring the sisters together. As well as that Mallory plans to break the news to them of what’s to come in her life.

We read about what happened to make the sisters split, how they feel bad about it, but won’t take the first step to try and forgive, as the story goes back to when they were young.

We also see some happy times in the book, when both sisters meet old friends.

I highly recommend this book.

After Mallory receives some devastating news , she and her best friend/ cousin Penny hatch a plan to bring their mothers back together.
This was an emotional story. It’s full of happy and sad moments. You won’t be able to put this book down!
It’s another good book by this author

What an emotional read that really pulls at the heartstrings. Beautifully written this follows the stories of sisters Gigi and Rose and their daughters, Mallory and Penny respectively. The two stories are entwined and each chapter is written from the viewpoint of one of the four main characters. Rose and Gigi have been estranged for over sixty years but their daughters met by chance and have been best friends ever since. When Mallory receives some devastating news she decides to try and bring the family back together. Along with Penny a plan is hatched and the real reason there is a rift is revealed. Alongside this Mallory must try and prepare for the future and letting her family know what that will look like. This covers so many topics and all are written so sensitively. Family, friendship, grief, forgiveness and fresh starts among them. Heartbreaking and heartwarming in equal measure this is a gorgeous book. Thank you to Boldwood Books and Netgalley for the ARC

An emotional journey of grievance, forgiviness, past secrets, and.new ones, friendship and family. The lives of Mallory and Penny, best friends and cousins, their strangled mothers, Gigi and Rose, and Mallory's daugther Jilly will defintively change this summer for the best even with devastating news for all of them. Wonderful, powerful and great story. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. This is my honest review.

After Mallory receives some devastating news she decides to work with her cousin Penny, who is also her best friend, on reuniting their mothers who had an acrimonious split decades before.
This is a very emotional story, slow paced to suit the subject matter, showing how long held fueds impact those around them. Mallory is a nurse, used to supporting others rather than needing support herself, and mother to teenage Jilly. Penny is a high flying consultant in the city but decides to take a long-needed holiday in her mother's village, helping with her bridal shop. Mallory joins them there where they have hatched a plot to try to reunite the sisters. The story really pulls at your heart strings, making you wonder what you would do in the same situation as Mallory. It gradually reveals through flashbacks the reason for the sister's split, and how they both regret it whilst refusing to forgive each other. There are plenty of lighter moments to stop the book being too disheartening, along with how the power of love can help. Definitely recommended.
I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher through Netgalley, however this did not influence my review of the book.

3.5 Stars

This was a lovely book to read over the weekend. The story is about how complicated families can be and about finding happiness in everyday life; the little things matter. The book is about two women, Tess and Ginny, who are best friends and happen to be cousins. Their mothers are estranged, so it makes the family dynamics difficult. The author writes these characters with vulnerabilities and strengths, making them relatable and true to life.

I liked that the book focuses on how special ordinary life can be. The author writes about the simple pleasures masterfully, she elevates even a cup of tea with a friend or dear relative to significance. The pace is on the slow side but I felt like that allowed me to get sucked into the characters' lives, and connect with them and their emotional journeys.

The way the dialogue and inner thoughts of these ladies were written gave the story an emotional depth I wasn't expecting. The book makes you realize you should appreciate what you have and try to find joy in the simple things. This was a charming read for anyone looking for an uplifting story that is like eating comfort food or getting a warm hug.

Oh, what a beautiful, sad, yet heartwarming story!
Mallory receives some devastating news and just knows that she has to 'get her ducks in a row' as her father used to say, before life for her and those she loves the most implodes.
There are two stories entwined within this book; one following two sisters, Rose and Gigi, who become estranged after a misunderstanding, and one, thirty years later, of Mallory, and her cousin Penny as they try hard to bring their mothers back together, using a special wedding dress.
for Mallory, this is a chance to not only get her mother, Gigi, and her aunt, Rose, back in touch, but to finally tell them her awful news.
I was hooked from the beginning.
The story covers a few topics, such as racism, loss, grief, but we also have more than one second chance romance touched upon, too.
There is such sadness within the story, but it is filled with light-hearted humour as well.
The situation Mallory is in is one no mother would ever want to be put in, and that made my heart bleed for her. I feared for an ending that would have me in tears, but instead, hope and positivity shone through.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for an ARC.

This is a delightful read with a sensitive subject that will resonate with many of, which Helen has tackled in a most delicate way. Helen always writes such heart warming books and never fails to disappoint.