“But anything is still possible,” Erin exclaimed.
abby williams-the time of our lives
“What’s stopping you? What have you always really wanted to do?”
Publication Date: August 8, 2019
Publisher: Aria Books
Genre: Contemporary or Women’s Fiction
Pages: 423
Dates Read: July 26-27, 2019
Format: eARC provided by NetGalley & Aria Books
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My Goodreads Review
GOODREADS SYNOPSIS
📖 “Two women from two very different generations are brought together by life’s messes and help each other to forge new paths.
Twenty-six-year-old Erin has everything she’s ever wanted – a good job, a gorgeous fiancé and a best friend who’s always there for her. But suddenly her life comes crashing down around her. Unable to return home to her parents, she takes a room in a house nearby and her life starts over in the most unexpected of ways…
Seventy-six-year old Lydia, who, shocked by the sudden death of her husband, is devastated to discover that he has left her in crippling debt. With no choice but to take in a lodger, Erin comes into her life. When they find a letter hidden in the attic old secrets come to light and, with Erin by her side, Lydia finds herself going on a trip of a lifetime” 📖
⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
3.5 STARS
This is a wonderful story about enduring friendship. A very fun summer read! I loved reading the different POV’s from Lydia and Erin—two women sharing their lives and learning from each other.
While Lydia (76) is reeling from her husband’s sudden death, and finds out that he has left her in crippling debt. This leaves her wondering if she really knew her husband well at all, and no choice but to take in a boarder for some extra cash.
Erin (26) has an amazing life. She has the job she wants, an amazing boyfriend, and a great best friend. That is, she does until all of that comes crashing down around her and suddenly Erin is left with nothing and nowhere to go. Desperate for somewhere to go, she rents a room from Lydia.
When these two women from two very different generations are brought together by life’s messes, they form a special bond and help each other to find their way. This is a powerful story about being able to change your life around when you have hit rock bottom.
The writing was done well, but I did feel that the author could have cut a lot of it out and still had a great story. That being said, it did drag a little bit for me in some parts pretty slowly. I also think the author could have come up with more creative adjectives. There were a lot of repeats (enough to notice).
Overall though, this was a beautiful and touching story about taking chances. Would highly recommend!
Thanks to NetGalley and Aria Books for the eARC in exchange for my honest review and opinions.
Alicia Reads It 
Looks like a lovely story. I would say though, that as an author myself I wonder if any bloggers consider the time constraints frequently put on an authors. I know myself I have been asked to write books like these in just six weeks – perhaps this was the case for this author, and had she been afforded the luxury of more time she might have been able to get a little more creative with the adjectives rather than having to focus on the very tight deadline her publisher insisted upon. In this day and age its so easy to criticise, especially when we don’t always know the full story (excuse the pun) or do the job ourselves.
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Oh, of course! I have no idea of the circumstances behind the book, whether she was under strict time constraints or not. I would hate to be an author with those kinds of pressures. I’m just stating my honest opinions. I thought the book was great, but I’m also not going to lie if I don’t like some aspect of it. The fact that the book even got a review on my blog is a testament to how good the book is, since I don’t post 1-2 star reviews on here. My comments weren’t meant to be hyper-critical, I’m sorry you saw it that way.
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I definitely didn’t find your review to be hyper-critical. I was merely trying to present the other side of the coin. I just think that as an author (and first and foremost a reader) that it’s interesting the actual pressures being an author involves. I had no idea until I started, and assumed that as an author I would make huge sums of money, and write one book a year! That was definitely cloud cuckoo land and that’s not the case for the majority of authors. Most barely make minimum wage, most write three to four books a year with ridiculous kinds of pressures to make ends meet (writing the story is almost the easy part, there’s all the promotion they have to do as well, which includes writing a lot of stories for free etc) and most wish they had a lot more time to make things perfect (because every writer wants things to be perfect) but they know they can’t because they just don’t have the time. Constructive feedback is always important to authors as that’s how they grow. Reading your comments on this novel have made me go back and check my own WIP for too many adverbs for example. Equally, I would just ask you next time you read something to review, and perhaps you do think its a 1-2 star book, then consider just how much pressure that author was under. Was she juggling a second job, motherhood, household chores, demands of family life while trying to get this book out? Does this author probably know this novel is not perfect and hates reading these reviews because they shine a light on all her insecurities about the boo?. Is it likely that the author knows that if she was getting paid a fair day’s wage for a fair day’s work and wasn’t having to stay up and write until the small hours of the morning when she was exhausted then its quite possible she might have realised the book was filled with too many adverbs for example. Its also worth remembering that not everything is an author’s fault – this author for example would have had at least two editors go over this, the fact they didn’t spot the use of too many adverbs and gently had a word with the author before it got to publication ought to be considered as well. My point, is (and sorry for the very long reply) is that there’s an awful lot that goes into a book, and an awful lot we don’t see as readers. Let’s be kind to all authors, they’re on a pretty tough road, unless they’re Stephen King or JK Rowling.
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