I savored this book until the very end. That was when I started to savor the next book in this series. Thankfully, I already a copy of it and was to imbibe that book and conquer my excitement.

This was a very touching story. A woman who's fiance goes missing two months before the wedding while on an unexpected rushed trip to Mexico. The book opens with Aimee, a sous chef at her parent's restaurant, attending her fiance's funeral on her wedding day. The funeral is at the same church, with the same flowers and mostly the same people. A total heartbreak scene that will gain your sympathy for sure. After the funeral, she is accosted by a stranger who tells her that James, her fiance, is till alive.

The book goes back and forth as to whether James is still alive. The blurb leaves you hanging, so I will also. I can say that I was mesmerized by the story and haunted. There were a few times when I thought Aimee might have went a little too far, but it didn't stop me from reading this book.

A very mesmerizing read that kept me very interested and entertained.

Thanks to Lake Union Publishing and Net Galley for providing me with a free e-galley in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

As previously noted I shall not be reading this volume having read volume two.

I found this book slow to pick up and get my interest. I persevered and will now continue to the sequel. They were sent together as arcs for comment. I felt this was predominantly a romance with some mystery thrown in and the tension did not really build until well through the novel. I hope the sequelputs some flesh on the characters

I really enjoyed this book. At first it just seems like a love story with family altercations mixed in. The further into the book you get you realise there is a lot more going on. Aimee thinks she has a wonderful life and is about to marry the love of her life but then with a tragic accident her life is turned upside down. Is the accident all it seems and is her future brother in law Thomas keeping things from her. Long after things settle down and Aimee should be getting on with her life something makes her drop everything and go to Mexico looking for answers. I don't want to put any spoilers in you need to read this book yourself to find out what it's all about. You won't be disappointed

This is the first book in the series and I'm looking forward to the next two.

The author had me as confused as the main character. Without giving away spoilers... is he James or is he Carlos? Very interesting subject. It's a book that you want to fly through but unfortunately my shoulder replacement surgery didn't allow for that. But I found this to be a well written enjoyable book.

* I was provided a copy from the publisher and NetGalley. It was my decision to read and review.

I received this book "Everything We Keep" from Netgalley for my honest review.

I really loved this book and I was happy that I had the second book in the series to read right after. Aimee is attending her fiances funeral on what was supposed to be their wedding day. How can she ever get on with her life! Aimee feels like maybe James is alive and things start happening that is telling her to go with her gut feeling. I'm not sure why I see lower stars on goodreads for this book because I really liked it. I like the characters and the story line too.

Great book, thoroughly enjoyed reading it. Looking forward to reading the next one

On the day that Aimee is supposed to be celebrating her wedding to James, the love of her life, a turn of fate results in her burying him instead. Wrecked with grief as she had known James for most of her life, Aimee is stunned when a mysterious woman approaches her, hands her a business card and tells her James isn’t dead. As the months pass, Aimee investigates the woman in bits and pieces but while she holds onto a small shred of hope that James is alive, her friends are convinced the woman is a con artist. As Aimee strives to move on with her life and the possibility of love again, she is haunted by the nagging feeling that the woman may be right.

Everything We Keep by Kerry Lonsdale is a masterfully written novel that will keep the reader on the edge of their seat till the very end. A page turning, plot twisting enjoyable read with believable dialogue, steamy romance and a mystery that unfolds a little each chapter. An intensely addicting beach read with the sequel out now for those dying to follow up on the cliff hanger ending.

Disclaimer: I received an ARC of this book on Netgalley in anticipation of the release of its sequel Everything We Left Behind and in exchange for an honest review.

Quick-moving story line with many twists and turns that keep the reader
wondering what will be next. Kerry Lonsdale is one of my new favorite
authors, and this is definitely a book to read!

"Everything We Keep" starts out with Aimee Tierney attending her fiancée's funeral on the day that was originally set to be their wedding day. This story pulls at the reader's heartstrings as Lonsdale makes Aimee's grief at losing her childhood sweetheart palpable. The mystery surrounding his disappearance and the family secrets that are slowly uncovered make for a real page-turner.
I look forward to reading more by Kerry Lonsdale.
I received a complementary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Aimee’s future just came to a halt. Instead of getting married she is attending the funeral of her fiancé, on the same day she is supposed to get married. But, as she is leaving the funeral, someone tells her that James is still alive. Who would do this to her? And why??

Aimee was a bit of a struggle for me. I did not have the expected connection with her. She was more of a blah character. She also did not act the way many people would have in her situation. Aimee has been told by a psychic her fiancé is alive. She receives several major hints and clues. But, she waits 17 months to try and search for James. I understand it is a psychic which tells her about James. But she receives several great clues but does not pursue. It is not really clear in the book why she waits so long.

I know it sounds like I did not like this story. Oh….but I did!! This is only a minor set back in this tale. There are still many great qualities to this book. I was completely caught up in the mystery of James’ disappearance and kudos to the author for several unexpected plot twists and turns. This really kept me reading and enjoying till the very last page! And guess what!! There is another book in this series!! To be continued……

I received this book from Netgalley for a honest review.

Although there were points where this read like a first book by an author (which in fact it is), I very much enjoyed reading it. Just like in real life, there were times when characters annoyed me with their decisions or actions. I liked the story, and while I knew some of the truth behind the mystery (because I’d read a blurb on the follow-on book) it still held my interest in the details of how those things happened. There were some convenient coincidences, and yet I know in real life those convenient coincidences actually do happen. Overall I did enjoy it, and that epilogue! My next read will definitely be “Everything We Left Behind”!

Copy provided by Netgalley and Lake Union Publishing in exchange for an unbiased review.

3.5 stars

On Aimee Tierney's wedding day, she buries the man she was supposed to marry. Promising a quick - but necessary - trip to Mexico in the days leading up to the wedding, James departs to take care of some business. He returns in a body bag.

Aimee's devastation and heartbreak is intense and immense, and it is exacerbated by the appearance of a psychic who tells her that James is alive.

From there, Kerry Lonsdale takes you on a mighty chase, both physical and emotional, as Aimee pursues the truth about James.

But first, Aimee has to do some healing.

Lonsdale takes you into the heart of this character, making you grieve as mightily as Aimee does. She also shows you Aimee's strength and belief not just in herself but in her relationship with James. Theirs was not a perfect union, but James, to a great extent, completed her. He understood and supported her, and his loss devastates her.

Meanwhile, there is the mystery surrounding James. Is he still alive, or is this some kind of trickery being woven by the psychic? Aimee pursues this in fits and starts, almost as if she needs to take an occasional breather to stay grounded in the truths she knows. There is also a hint of a possible new love, but is it something Aimee will - or can - pursue?

Lonsdale has a lot going on in this book, some more successful than others. There is a subplot involving James's family members that makes you think Aimee is far better off without James, who does something almost unspeakably cruel to her. You also may question why Aimee not only chooses to open up a cafe in a location where a previous eatery went belly up, but she does so right as she's considering tracking James's last days in Mexico. There are some confrontations that bring closure, and there are some confrontations that lead to the next book in the series, Everything We Left Behind.

I liked this book, but its pacing occasionally threw me off. I needed more explanations than I was given, so of course I read the sequel. Aimee annoyed me a little too often, but I liked her friends and family, and I did want the best for her.

And then there is that whole thing with James's family. Tune into the sequel for more about that.

Everything We Keep by Kerry Lonsdale

For years Aimee had dreamed of marrying her first and only love, but on their wedding day her fiancé, James, arrived at the church in a casket.

Two months ago James had gone missing whilst on a family business trip to Mexico. Then according to his brother, Thomas, James’s body had washed up on shore.

At the funeral, the day they had planned for their wedding, Aimee is approached by a psychic, who tells her that James is still alive. Aimee tries to overcome bereavement in the months that follow by making a fresh start in life. She opens a coffee shop and gets involved romantically with a photographer, Ian, but there is always a small part of her that wonders if James really is still alive.

Nineteen months after his funeral she sets off on her mission to Puerto Escondido, Mexico, with Ian in tow, to confirm or erase her doubts once and for all.

I was approached by Amazon Publishing to read this book with a view to reviewing the sequel, Everything We Left Behind, due for publication. The story starts out to be promising, but becomes long-winded and improbable. It's told through Aimee’s eyes and she is not the most likeable of characters, even making allowances for her confused and bereaved state of mind. She uses Ian badly, trying to keep her options open, if it all backfires on her. There are a few half-hearted psychic moments, which really don't hold water and make the plot even more implausible.

Thank you to Amazon Publishing, Netgalley, Lake Union Publishing and Kerry Lonsdale for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

What was that?! I was told this was a mystery.

It is not a mystery. Everything We Keep is an extremely long-winded "getting over someone" story, complete with the logistics of opening a cafe and a boring romance. Well, two boring romances. It's like After You, except it doesn't follow on from a book that was actually good.

Aimee Tierney's fiancee, James, dies during a boating accident in Mexico. She attends his funeral, buries him, and spends the next two years opening a new restaurant and refusing advances from guys who keep asking her out. That's the fist two hundred pages of the book. Aside from a strange encounter with a psychic at James' funeral, who claims James is still alive, nothing else happens for more than half the book.

It took forever to go anywhere. I cannot believe how many pages I sat through of Aimee talking about food and art and maybe opening a cafe and how she could date if she wanted to but she's not ready to let go of James.

Plus, Aimee is a chronic blusher. She is the standard blushing white romance novel heroine who feels her cheeks heating every time a guy talks to her. Mention anything sexual and she's red from the roots of her hair down to her *cough* lady parts. I lost count of how many times she blushed.

How much do you want to read a slow tale of cafe management? Because that's a large percentage of this book. In "Part 2", we start to finally get somewhere as Aimee digs deeper into the possibility that James is still alive. This takes us away from the cafe at last, but it's still dull. There is very little drama or tension; no climax either - Aimee's story simply seems to end with a shrug that says "Oh well, that's it then."

The problem is that the book isn't thrilling or fast-paced enough to be a mystery, but it also lacks the detailed characterization and excellent writing required for a successful family drama. I am fine with slow character studies like A Spool of Blue Thread and Everything I Never Told You, but Everything We Keep is nowhere near strong enough to sit among those either.

I found it to be a bland romance without a single memorable character.

Everything We Keep was amazing, fantastic. It was gripping and powerful. So well written and the story sucked you in from the very beginning! Highly recommend!!

I found Everything We Keep to be a story that started with great potential but lost it over time with too much extraneous and unbelievable stuff. Did Claire really have to have an affair with her own brother in order to produce a son who didn't get along with his siblings? Is the gorgeous sister-in-law of the widower the best idea for a new love interest? Why does everyone fall head over heels for Aimee when she's such a milquetoast? If I thought there was a chance the greatest love of my life was still alive somewhere, I wouldn't wait years to check it out. And the mysterious lady with the ever-changing name made no sense. Add to that some repetitious descriptions of how people move, and eventually, I had to make myself finish this book.

Thank you Netgalley and Lake Union Publishing for a digital copy of Everything We Keep in return for a fair and honest review.

I have had this book on my to be read list for quite some time. For some reason I kept passing this one up and reading other things. Once I finally sat down and gave this book a chance I was glad that I did. What a great debut novel. I absolutely will be reading more things by Kerry Lonsdale in the future.

This story had a good amount of suspense and many twists and turns which I enjoyed. I really was dying to know what happened to James and found it interesting that Aimee just couldn't let it go. She knew that something wasn't right. I would also like to note that I really enjoyed Lonsdale's writing style. I felt like she left out all the "fluff" and included the perfect amount of detail without giving away too much.

If I were to recommend this book to someone I would just say... "I liked it a lot you don't need to know anything about the plot before you start! :) "

Looking forward to book two...

I am blown away by all the twists ans turns that came up in this book. The characters were well developed and I found them all to be and absolutely lovable. I don't mean that in a cute adorable sort of way, but in a way that I fell in love with each of these characters, with both men and my heart was everywhere. There was ache and pain and love all at once, I couldn't gather my emotions at times. The author did an amazing job of using the perfect words that evoked the right emotions at all the right times. The plot is as unique as ever and I didn't get what I was expecting, but I mean that in the best way. It's books like these that keep my love for reading alive and burning! It's the type of read that will remain on my reading device, because I know I will pick it up over and over again. Highly recommended!

Kerry Lonsdale brilliantly told a story of unbelievable heartbreak trough all the stages of grief. There is a deep struggle between wanting to hang on to your loved one, to move on from it, and build a new life for yourself. A life that will no longer include the one you loved most, and that is a bitter pill to swallow.