When you’ve loved and lost, how do you find the strength to let love in again?
Jemma thinks she’s found the love of her life. Scott is everything she ever dreamed of and she can’t wait to begin the next stage of their life together. But just as she is heading for her happy ever after, a shock revelation shatters Jemma’s life as she knows it. Left to pick up the pieces, Jemma's friends and family rally round to help her find the courage to move on.
Sam think he has his future all worked out. A thriving career, lovely home and an amazing fiancée. But when tragedy strikes, he finds himself alone, far from everyone he cares about. Did he do the right thing by running away and trying to rebuild the tatters of his life alone?
This is the story of Jemma and Sam. Two lost souls, desperately trying to find closure and happiness. When a chance meeting brings them together a friendship is formed, but the guards are up.
Will it finally be their turn for a happy ever after? Or will the secrets from their pasts prevent them from moving on?
Review: I was delighted to have the opportunity to read this latest novel from Jessica Redland. As with so many of her books, this one is set in the fictional Yorkshire seaside town of Whitsborough Bay and features a few of the characters who will be familiar to readers of her other books. This book was previously published under the title Bear With Me, the name of a teddy bear shop that features large in the story. I was drawn into this emotional story very quickly and finished it in no time.
This is the story of Jemma and Sam, both from Whitsborough Bay, but both residing in London at the start of the book. Jemma’s mum is owner of the teddy bear shop in the town, where she makes and sells designer bears as well as running workshops. It is her illness that ultimately brings Sam, a neurologist, and Jemma, a museum curator, together. Both of them are suffering broken hearts, Sam having lost the love of his life who died in his arms, and Jemma having found out in shocking fashion that her fiancé was not the man she thought he was. When they meet, there is friendship there, but as time goes by they begin to wonder if there could be more than that. Both are worried about moving on with their relationship, especially as all manner of obstacles move into their path.
Although this is a love story about Jemma and Sam, it is so much more than that. There is real depth and emotion to the narrative, several serious subjects, especially Jemma’s mum’s diagnosis with a cruel illness that affects so many, being covered with great sensitivity. The book is filled with likeable and strong characters and so much drama; the revelations just keep on coming. There are lots of tear-jerking moments in this story, but also many lighter parts to balance it out. As you can probably tell, I loved this book and would recommend it to absolutely anybody. I have read a great many of Jessica Redland’s books, but I think this one is my favourite so far.
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