‘Sometimes you have to leave the one you love … sometimes you’re the one who’s left behind.’
Love Them and Leave Them is the latest release from author Sue Shepherd.
Published by Corazon in September 2016, it is a ‘heartwarming and heartbreaking romantic comedy’
Read on for more…..
Book Blurb:
On his way home, Ed makes a split-second decision that changes the lives of all those who love him.
Six years on, Ed’s daughter, Jessie, is stuck in a job with no prospects, her dreams never fulfilled. It will take more than her unreliable boyfriend, Chris, and temperamental best friend, Coco, to give her the confidence to get her life back on track.
But what if Ed had made another decision? It could all have been so different …
Six years on, Ed’s daughter, Jessica, has a successful career, loving boyfriend, Nick, and a keen eye on her dream home. But when new clients, a temperamental Coco, and her unreliable boyfriend, Chris, walk into her life, Jessica’s perfect world soon starts to unravel.
Love Them and Leave Them is a story of love, families, friendship and a world of possibilities. Whichever decision Ed makes, the same people are destined to come into his daughter’s life, sometimes in delightfully different ways. And before they can look forward to the future, they will all have to deal with the mistakes of the past.
Love Them and Leave Them is a story reminiscent of the movie Sliding Doors. It is a book very much based on What-if???
The opening page of chapter one brought a tear to my eye…I’ll say no more!!!
Ed makes a decision that changes the lives of everyone close to him. His wife Lynda, young son Tom but mainly his daughter Jessie. Jessie had dreams for a future working in the legal world, but now her dreams have had to be put on hold. Stuck in a dead end job with no bright future ahead, Jessie feels robbed of life. Her boyfriend, Chris, is very unpredictable. Her best friend Coco is dealing with problems of her own and drawing Jessie in with her.
Jessie is a character with great empathy. She is one of those people who others are drawn to at times of crisis and as a result Jessie has little time for herself. Along the way though Jessie finds solace in unexpected places and she slowly finds the old Jessie within. Her confidence begins to return and Jessie realises that she can be strong, she can stand on her own two feet and that people will love her for herself.
In a parallel world Ed makes a completely different decision when faced with the same situation.
Here, Jessie appears to have it all – the high flying career as a barrister taking off, the handsome boyfriend who works in The City, the apartment and her ever improving financial independence. Yet Jessie choses a path that has repercussions right across her life. She comes into contact with Coco and her boyfriend Chris and her life ends up in turmoil. Her plans for her future, her dreams of the perfect life come crashing down.
Love Them and Leave Them is the perfect book to curl up on a sofa with if you are looking to escape life for awhile.
Sue Shepherd deals with the parallel scenarios in a very well-knitted manner.
At times, admittedly I shouted at Jessie and Coco as I thought…seriously? Why? Their behaviour is erratic and quite irresponsible at times, leaving the reader annoyed and frustrated. But sure isn’t that half the fun of a book – getting involved in the lives of the characters!!!
Sue Shepherd has written a charming book about love, loss and how to overcome the tragedies of life. It is a feel good novel that will leave the reader with hope.
Good things do happen 🙂
I was lucky enough to have Sue drop by recently for a Q & A…… such a wonderful lady. Here’s the link to our very interesting conversation :
Meet Sue:
‘I’m Sue Shepherd the writer.
Writing gives me the freedom to explore. I relish the fact I can place myself into the mind of an assortment of people; one week I may be narrating the emotions of a repressed Edwardian aristocrat, the next a modern day, frenzied crack whore!
Whilst writing my first novel, Doesn’t Everyone Have a Secret?, I found that the characters became my friends. They woke me in the night to tell me their problems; they let me in on their deepest secrets and frequently egged me on, encouraging me to ‘get on with it!’
My second novel, Love Them and Leave Them looks at the two possible outcomes of a single moment.
I sincerely hope you enjoy my books. They were both labours of love, as demanding as another child at times but most gratifying to write.’
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