📱E-Book Review📱


Things We Need To Say
Linda Middleton

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I hadn't noticed that this book is actually the second book in the Second Chance Love Stories series by this author - but luckily, these can be read as standalone reads and I had no problem settling into this read right from the start.

Having said that, I do think that some of the characters overlap between books, so if you really don't like that idea, then I'd recommend grabbing book 1 first to give you more insight into all the characters here.

I really loved this story, but it's a bit of an emotional one, so get those tissues ready.

I thought our characters were well drawn and developed throughout the story and their situation felt very relatable and realistic.
This helped us connect with both Emma and Jay and see things from their pov, whilst also rooting for things to work out.

I liked that the characters did have their flaws. This wasn't a hearts and roses love story.
The pair were already together when we meet them and we watch as the pressures of work and lack of time together put a strain on the relationship and widen the cracks appearing.

I was totally immersed in this storyline and appreciated that although I didn't love Jay's attitude at first, this was going to form part of the overall development of the book.

I really liked the writing style which kept me gripped and racing through the pages.
This was my first read by this author, but I'm sure it won't be the last.

Here is my review for Things We Need To Say by Linda Middleton

This was an emotional read but the characters' lives were relatable to real life relationship situations. The author had written the characters with a depth of realism that brought them to life. The story made you think and left you thinking about the story long after putting the book down. The story was well written and superbly thought out. There was a lot going on in the story with a lot of secrets too. I like the author’s writing style and I found it a very easy style to read. It’s a fascinating story. I would like to read more books by this author in the future.

Blurb :

Don’t let The One become The One Who Got Away.

Emma thought she had her life figured out — the career, the love, the future.

But her career feels like it’s going nowhere, and her once-perfect relationship with Jay is beginning to unravel. The life she’s always envisioned feels like it’s slipping away.

Jay has always dreamed of running his own restaurant.

But he never imagined that in chasing success, each step forward would pull him further away from Emma.

As cracks in their relationship deepen, Emma and Jay realise that their love story wasn’t as perfect as they once believed.

They must learn that finding where your heart truly lies means letting go of everything you thought you knew about love . . . and yourself.

This emotional and uplifting romance about a second chance at first love is perfect for fans of Shari Low, Amanda Prowse, Jill Mansell, Jojo Moyes, Julie Houston, Beth Moran and Jenny Colgan.

This is the first book I’ve read by Linda Middleton, and I really enjoyed how it let me step outside of my world in education and into the world of hospitality. I also enjoyed learning about the pressure, skill, and creativity it takes to become a talented chef, even though the characters’ emotional restraint sometimes left me wishing for a little more rawness in their relationships. Due to this I gave the book three stars.

The story follows Jay and Liz, longtime friends and chefs who run a catering business while chasing their own individual dreams.

Jay lives with Emma, a hospitality manager in training, but their relationship strains as his career takes off after joining a cooking competition and her own training ramps up, something the couple never talks about in any depth.

Liz is facing pregnancy and the changes it will bring, especially as she balances her health and history with anorexia while preparing for motherhood. Her relationship with Alex and her partnership with Jay force her to consider what her future will look like both personally and professionally.

While I could see how the story was supposed to be heartfelt, the restrained drama about what people should say versus what they don’t say fell a little short for me.

Thank you NetGalley, Linda Middleton, and Choc Lit for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for a review.

I didn't realise this was a second book, however I managed to read it as a stand alone. I really enjoyed it and I'm now going back to read the first book.

This is Book 2 in the Second Chance Love Stories, and I jumped straight into this Book rather than reading Book 1 first!

I have to admit that the lovely cover artwork and blurb combination PLUS the fact I easily navigated this book as a standalone makes for a great combination!

The story primarily follows Jay and Emma, who are already very much together and are navigating tough careers while trying to find time for themselves, plus their relationship. It's a tricky to-do and of course, we see how their story pans out within this book.

I loved these two characters and I loved the determination that noth half for their careers. I really felt for Emma as I have worked in hospitality and it's a really tough industry where if you let it, people can take liberties.

With Jay, he was also a good character and I was really, really hoping this pair had a HEA, even if Jay made some questionable choices along the way!

As a side story, we also meet Liz and see her story too. As a partner in a catering business with Jay, it was really great that this other important character was allowed to show her story ❤️.

The story is heart-warming and is truly a lovely read, especially given the character combinations and the overall story.

It's a story of love, relationships, determination and the journey one takes, when navigating choppy relationship waters.

A great read!

This was recommended by a friend and I really enjoyed it. Emma and Jay lose their connection when life gets in the way. I liked how realistic the situations felt, they could happen to anyone. Some great supporting characters made for an even better story.

Things We Need To Say by Linda Middleton is a heartfelt and emotional story about love, communication, and self-discovery. I enjoyed following Emma and Jay as they navigated the challenges in their relationship and confronted the truths they had been avoiding. The story is both touching and relatable, keeping me invested from start to finish. I truly enjoyed this book and rated it five stars.

There was A LOT going on in this book. There are multiple POVs: Jay, Emma and Liz. I didn’t realize until I finished reading and looked it up that this is meant to be a sequel and the first one followed Liz, so that makes A LOT more sense why she had a POV here, but I’m not sure it was entirely necessary?

Jay’s story follows his quest to entering a cooking competition to gain a reputation of his own outside of being Liz’s business partner. Emma’s follows her trying to win over her boss who bullies her for no real reason, and Liz’s follows her trying to balance her job with a surprise pregnancy. Emma and Jay are together, but their separate storylines are putting a huge strain on their relationship.

I don’t always hate age gap romances but they’re not my favorite. In this one, Emma is 22 and Jay is 29 and they’ve been dating for 18 months, which means they got together when she was 20- there’s a huge power imbalance as they’re in very different stages of their careers/lives. I just couldn’t get behind their relationship at all.

A lot of “meh” saying by a lot of people who really weren’t particularly engaging or likable. Not for me.

Thank you to NetGalley for the free ARC. Opinions stated here are wholly my own.

“Things We Need to Say” is by Linda Middleton. I wish I’d know that this was a sequel to a previous book, because I kept wondering why a character was being followed when she wasn’t the main one. I did, however, like the culinary arts and hotel hospitality aspects - both are things I find interesting to read about. I found the characters fell a lot into the miscommunication trope (my least favorite) and at times they felt a bit immature (one character is young, so I gave that person slack - but the other - no much sympathy). For me, this could’ve been a lot stronger read - the premise was great and the job details really interesting, but I think if I’d read the first book I’d feel a lot more positive about this one. I may give this book another try - if I read the first book.

I really enjoyed the culinary/hospitality aspects of the book, but didn't realize it was a sequel, so was a bit lost with character reference.
Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher, for access to this eARC.

I absolutely adored Jay, Emma, & Liz’s story. The descriptions of the food were exquisite, and as a (now) Canadian citizen who was born and raised in England, this book had me lounging to go back and visit. Whilst it took me a few pages to get into, once I did, I was hooked.

Trigger warning: attack thwarted mid-progress before anything more serious could happen, hospital stays.

there was a lot of sadness when reading this book. how far two people can let things go or not notice they go and then find themselves in this questioning place. it can take hard work to both realise and come back from that. this isn't your norm romance. this is about a romance smack bang in the middle of tough times. where its going to take 'romance' and all that comes with that to find their way back to each other. this is a relationship in trouble and about to move too far away from each other and possibly bringing it back.
i was still as in deep with this one though. i was intrigued to see how different this was. we dont usually see this side of relationships. maybe its not escapism enough lol. we dont want to see the tough tough bits do we!? but all the same it had once again the seem deep dive and heart in it. there were moments i was screaming at the characters and for them. a few times i wanted Jay to not do that for sure.
there seemed to be pasts that needed healing outside of their relationship but also a present about not taking each other for granted and needing to say the important things to make this work.
i followed this book and was so invested in their story. i was genuinely emotional at times and had that weighted heavy chest wondering if they would make it.
but Linda has written a book to think of long after it closes. and it was just so well written it had me sat with it pretty much start to finish.

The description of the story got me hooked, but going into it left me wanting a bit more. It confused me at first why they kept mentioning Liz, and followed her as one of the main characters, then I figured it was because of a previous book.
The story was captivating inn a way that made it too real; I could understand why the characters were feeling the way they did, and a patch in a relationship while common, is always hard. I loved how Emma managed the Heather situation, however at moments I doubted about Jay’s feelings towards Emma.

This story is mainly focused on their careers, the things we do for ourselves and finding ourselves, and the relations that matter most to us.

This is the first book I have read by the author, I wasn't a fan of the writing style and was confused at times as it went back and forth so much but I did love the hospitality and culinary aspect to the story. Overall didn't love it unfortunately and took me a while to read. Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for this arc.

This book was not what I was expecting. The writing felt to “as a matter of fact” too much telling not enough showing of that makes sense. It was difficult to finish it. Did not root for our male main character not one bit. Definitely felt flat.

Emma pensó que tenía su vida resuelta: la carrera, el amor, el futuro. Pero su carrera parece que no va a ninguna parte, y su relación una vez perfecta con Jay está empezando a desmoronarse. Ella teme que la vida que imaginó se esté escapando.

Jay siempre ha soñado con dirigir su propio restaurante. Pero nunca imaginó que en la búsqueda del éxito, cada paso adelante lo alejaría más de Emma.

A medida que las grietas en su relación se profundizan, Emma y Jay se dan cuenta de que su historia de amor no era tan perfecta como alguna vez creían. Hay cosas que nunca se han dicho el uno al otro, cosas que deben enfrentar si van a salvar lo que alguna vez tuvieron.

Si no toman el control de su propia felicidad, podrían perder lo único que no pueden permitirse: el uno al otro.

Emma y Jay están a punto de descubrir que encontrar a dónde perteneces realmente significa dejar ir todo lo que creías saber sobre el amor... y sobre ti mismo.


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Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the ARC in exchange for an honest

I was hoping to like this story. I found it hard to follow since Iit jumped back and forth with each chapter. I thought the characters were kind of flat and I was disinterested by chapter 13.

The storyline idea was compelling, and I found the detailed insights into culinary arts and hotel hospitality management genuinely engaging. However, I could only give it 3 stars because the narrative relied heavily on dialogue between characters. While that may appeal to some readers, I personally prefer a more descriptive and metaphorical writing style, which made it harder for me to fully connect with the book.
Thanks to NetGalley and Joffe Books for providing me with this ARC.

Thank you to NetGalley and Joffe Books for this ARC.

This book is primarily about Emma and Jay's relationship but I realised, when the author spent a lot of time explaining things about Liz, Jay's business partner that it's a sequel to a book called Things They Never Said, where Liz was the main character.

Emma is a trainee junior hotel manager, Jay is a chef. Both are career-oriented and don't have much time for each other. Both are also prone to misunderstandings and miscommunication, getting jealous for no reason. There isn't really much plot apart from a cooking competition that Jay participates in.

I didn't quite get into this as I felt I should have read the first book before this, plus I thought some of the people quite immature. Emma is 22 so it's understandable but Jay is nearly 30 and should know better. I loved Jay's Nan and how Emma dealt with Heather. Read if you like relationship driven stories with a lot of career talk.