Only Love Can Hurt Like This: an unforgettable love story from the Sunday Times bestselling author

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They meet on a rooftop in Boston on the night Ryle loses a patient and Lily attends her abusive father’s funeral. They keep crossing paths, Wren is moving toward Anders, certain he feels the same way, but never acting on his connection. It is sappy in all the best Nicholas Sparksy sorts of ways and will probably make a lot of people who have functioning human hearts shed some tears. Her books take place all around the world, and even though she is clearly a British author, I felt completely transported to the small-town rural Indiana setting and life on the farm.

A lifelong bookworm, she aims to provide readers with literary inspiration in the form of book reviews, reading lists and more. Author Mallery has created a delightful story of friendship between three women that also offers a variety of love stories as they fall in love, make mistakes, and figure out how to be the best—albeit still flawed—versions of themselves. But Wren doesn’t know that Anders is harboring a secret, and if he acts on any feelings he has for Wren it will have serious fall-out for everyone. This is the first book I’ve read by this author and even though I rarely read books that are slow burns, i enjoyed this one.Feeling broken hearted and unsatisfied with her job, Wren decides to take a break and visit her father and his family in Indiana. From her relationship with her ex to her relationship with her dad and stepmum, her feelings towards her half sister and her sisters own relationship. thank you so much to penguin cornerstone for this arc via netgalley in exchange for an honest review!

Only Love Can Hurt Like This made my heart smile, shatter, and then put it all back together again in 400 pages, and not only did I absolutely adore it, but it might just be, dare I say it, one of my all-time faves! Wrens stepmom was written like she’s an insecure homewrecker and only married wrens dad bc she got pregnant. Lily marries Ryle hoping the good will outweigh the bad, and the mother-daughter dynamics evolve beautifully as Lily reflects on her childhood with fresh eyes. Wren was a really easy character to love, she wasn’t perfect but she wasn’t afraid to apologize when she was wrong and make amends. Paige hits that perfect balance between heartwarming and bittersweet to create a story that will stay with you.I know characters just coming out with a blunt, devastating question can be done on purpose, and it can have a meaningful impact when done right but based on the rest of the book that I read I don’t have hope that this was purposeful.