27 March 2016

Review #380: The Years of Loving You by Ella Harper



My rating: 5 of 5 stars


“The future for me is already a thing of the past - You were my first love and you will be my last”

----Bob Dylan



Ella Harper, an award winning author, has penned a tear-jerking romance, The Years of Loving You that narrates the story of a woman, who when diagnosed with the early onset of Alzheimer's, starts to put her feelings forward and realizes that she has never let go of her first love, who evolved in her life as her best friend and with whom she feels at ease while sharing difficult situations of her marital life. This is her story as well as that man's story whose heart was broken many years ago and it still remains broken.




Synopsis:

What if your first love was your only love?

When Molly is diagnosed with a life changing illness, it feels like her whole world has come crashing down. She hopes the news will make her marriage to Sam stronger. But why does Molly always call best friend Ed in a crisis?

Ed. The very same Ed that Molly fell in love with at a party when they were teenagers, underneath a star-filled sky. Then life took them in very different directions. They could only ever be friends.

Suddenly Molly starts to question every decision she’s ever made. What if they could turn back the clock? Back to the very beginning. When the only certainty they shared was each other.



Molly is diagnosed with the early onset of Alzheimer's and Molly wishes that it does not weaken the bond of her marriage with Sam. On the other hand, her best friend, Ed, who was her first love long time ago, embraces her diagnosis with his open arms and vows to support her. Ed is suffering from his troubles, as he is stood up by a woman he gave his heart to. But after all this time, Ed's heart still longs for Molly and Molly is caught on a cross road on whether to trust the man who once ran away from her life.

The author's writing is eloquent and is laced with deep and heart-felt emotions that will move the readers. As the story progressed, it turned painful and heart-breaking as the narrative shifts from the present times to the past when Molly and Ed met for the first time. Those scenes between Molly and Ed are written evocatively. The medium paced book will certainly keep the readers engaged to the tale of Molly and Ed's sad love story.

The love story has lot of dynamics and is constantly shifts with its own pace once from happy to sad to extremely heart-rending. Molly and Ed's story will make the readers fall in love with the idea of first love yet once again, yes the book definitely make me think about my first love. The love depicted between the two characters with lots of passion, feelings, sweetness, promises and realism. There are some love stories which hold the power to make the readers think different or rather with new perspective and this is one such story, which is neither cheesy nor that romantic, but it is real.

The characters are also drawn with lots of realism in their demeanor. The characters are thrown under lots of real-life challenges, and how they react to those situation are also projected with authenticity. The main character, Molly, who is a married woman, annoyed me a bit in the beginning, but later with her diagnosis, my heart felt sorry for her situation and pain. Ed is projected with challenges right from the beginning and his back story break my heart. These two characters are quite evolving in nature and they will make the readers root for them until the end. The supporting characters are made thoughtful, realistic and wise.

In short, if you are a big fan of Nicholas Sparks kinds love stories, them this is a must read for you. The book is enthralling yet poignant right from the start and I did not realize when I got so lost in the tale of Molly and Ed, that even after the end of the book, it was hard for me to let them go.

Verdict: A captivating love story!

Courtesy: Thanks to the author, Ella Harper, for giving me an opportunity to read and review her novel. 
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Author Info:
So. I’m Ella Harper. I write novels and here on my website, you’ll be able to find information about all of my books, news about any upcoming events and lots of other exciting stuff.

I was an avid reader and my fascination with words and language led me to a degree in French and Russian. I then rather randomly, went off at a tangent and worked in banking for eight years, a job I loved and which at its peak earned me the title of Assistant Vice President. After using my commute to start writing my first novel, I realised I had to leave to pursue a career as a writer and I published four successful novels under the name of Sasha Wagstaff.

‘Pieces of You’ is my first novel under the name of Ella Harper and it was inspired by a personal loss and also fertility issues suffered by friends.
Visit her here


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