Finding Jess

by Julia Ibbotson

Single mother, Jess, has struggled to get her life back on track after the betrayal of her beloved husband and her best friend.

When she is on the brink of losing everything, including her family, she feels that she can no longer trust anyone. Then she is sent a mysterious newspaper clipping of a temporary post back in Ghana. Could this be her lifeline? Can Jess turn back time and find herself again? But drumbeats still haunt her dreams, so what, exactly, will she find?

Finding Jess completes the saga in a passionate story of love, betrayal and second chances – and of one woman’s bid to reclaim her self-belief and trust. Ultimately, it is a feel-good story of a woman’s strength and spirit rising above adversity.

Praise for Finding Jess

“The sights, sounds and even smells of the Ghanaian way of life are conjured up vividly” - Jo Lambert

“A powerful story” - Hannah Symonds

Praise for The Drumbeats trilogy saga:
“A wonderful ending to the trilogy … beautifully written … an emotional rollercoaster.” (Jo Lambert)

Acclaimed, award-winning author Julia Ibbotson is fascinated by the medieval world and concepts of time travel. She read English at Keele University, England (after a turbulent but exciting gap year in Ghana, West Africa) specialising in medieval language, literature and history, and has a PhD in socio-linguistics. She wrote her first novel at 10 years of age, but became a school teacher, then an academic as a senior university lecturer and researcher.

She has published a number of books, including memoir, children’s medieval fantasy, a trilogy set in Ghana, and medieval time-slip, as well as academic works. Apart from insatiable reading, she loves travelling the world, singing in choirs, swimming, yoga and walking in the countryside in England and Madeira where she and her husband divide their time.

325 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 10, 2018

About the author

Acclaimed award-winning author Dr Julia Ibbotson is fascinated by the medieval world and concepts of time. She writes the Dr DuLac series of medieval time-slips/time travel mystery romances: A Shape on the Air, The Dragon Tree and The Rune Stone are the first three. Her new series (Dr Anna Petersen mysteries) starts with Daughter of Mercia. She studied English at Keele University, England, specialising in early medieval language, literature and history, and has a PhD in socio-linguistics. She wrote her first novel at age 10, but became a school teacher, then an academic as a university lecturer and researcher. Julia spent a turbulent but exciting time in Ghana, West Africa, teaching and nursing, which inspired the Drumbeats trilogy (which begins in Ghana in the 1960s and continues through to the 1990s). Apart from insatiable reading, Julia loves world travel, choral singing, swimming, yoga, and walking in the UK and Madeira. Check out her website at http://www.juliaibbotsonauthor.com She is a member of the Society of Authors, the Historical Novel Society and the Romantic Novelists' Association.

Reviews

[Dash fan · Rating 4 out of 5]

4☆ A Wonderful Feel Good Read!

Finding Jess is the third book in the series but my first book. This can be read as a standalone but I did feel I missed out on getting to know the wonderful characters backstories. Although Julia give the reader enough story not to get lost.

I adore the cover to Finding Jess, it makes me want to travel to somewhere exotic under that gorgeous sunset! Very enticing!

Jess is divorced from her cheating ex Simon. After being married a while he cheats on Jess with a younger women, then dumps her for Polly.... who just happens to be Jess's best friend and also married!

Quiet rightly so, Jess and Polly fall out.
But Polly is back on the scene and wants to make up.
But you see.... Jess is sleeping with Matt... who is Polly's Ex. But Polly left him with three young boys.
The two found solace with one and other.
But Polly also wants Matt back!

What is a girl to do!..... I know.... accept a Educational job in Ghana where she has history. But can she move on and find herself again?

Finding Jess is a heart warming read, it's about moving on, finding oneself, love, relationships, heartache and new beginnings.

The pace flowed along beautifully, the trip to Ghana was wonderfully written, Julia soaked up the atmosphere and culture perfectly, transporting me instantly!
The characters are well developed, relatable and engaging, not all are likeable but I love a story where the characters challange your feelings towards them.
The plot was compelling, warm, uplifting, and had a wonderful layer of strength, courage and moving on.

I would definitely recommend reading this Gorgeous Book, but would also say to get the full beauty of this wonderful book, I would advise reading the whole series.

Thank you to Kelly at Love Book Group Tours for this copy which I reviewed honestly and voluntarily.


My Review is also on my Blog Website :-

https://dashfan81.blogspot.com/2018/1...

[Zoé-Lee O'Farrell · Rating 5 out of 5]

How do you find the words to write a review on the last book in the trilogy. Knowing that the last words you read were the end of the most beautiful and breathtaking story. I’m broken, Jess is going to stay with me for such a long time and I am elated with the ending.

I didn’t say much in my review about my feelings about the previous book, I briefly touched upon one character. The behaviour of this said character carried on this book, I was shaking with rage, seething over how one person could act this way. It was absolutely disgusting and I was broken for Jess. She deserves so much better. And Polly, god don’t get me started on that jumped up so-and-so. Anyway enough of the negative horrifying characters and onto the beauty of the book.

Like Jess, the pullback to Ghana for me had been strong so when the mysterious opportunity came up for Jess to go back I jumped up and took it with two hands for her. I just wanted to go back and I wanted to hunt for Jim, my beloved…I mean Jess’ beloved. The drumbeats still when she was back in Ghana and the reasonings were all apparent, she was in her happy place. But the nightmare with Simon wasn’t over yet.

Each time Ms Ibbotson has described the setting, the actions of a character, I was there. I watched it all unfurl like everyone else, my heart sang for joy and broke in two with pain. Every word was so real, and at times with Jess’ realisation of how alone she truly is, resonated so deep within me and she made me take a long hard look at myself. Jess and her story, Julia and her writing are not going to leave me. It is untouchable, I cannot describe to you the magic that takes place in these three books. I am hoping Jess hasn’t finished her story, it would make my month to know she hasn’t. There is still too much to say. Who sent the newspaper clipping? Where is Simon? What happens in Washington?

Between my sobs, rage, joy, peace, I marvelled at how truly amazing and inspirational this story is. About finding yourself, about living your life not a shell of it, finding the right people to entrust and learning from your mistakes. Jess fell in love with an ill man and walked away from her true love. Fate had Jess and Jim lead similar lives, never forgetting their moments, their love, showing the reader the true light hidden within the drumbeats.

All three of these books are going to make my top 10 for the year. In fact, I will be buying copies of these for birthdays and Christmas (cringe at that words already) because that is how much these books resonate with me, the sparkle in life, the magic. I can not fault a word that has been written. In a nutshell, I bloody loved all three of these books. I hated having to write this review because I would have to try and accept Jess is safe living her life without me or any other readers and as much as I have been left feeling her happiness. I have a Jess shaped hole in my heart.

Until next time when I hear the drumbeats xxx

[Grass monster · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Blurb :
Jess has got a tough life back on track after love-of-her-life husband Simon walked out on her and their beautiful young daughters Katy and Abi. But she has long-time friend and confidante Polly to turn to...until Polly and Simon start having an affair together.
When Polly decides to apply for a job at Jess’s school, in the English department, Jess feels threatened. So why has Polly set her sights on the department head’s role? And why is the school now offering Jess a sideways ‘promotion’?
Jess can no longer trust anyone – including herself. Then out of the blue she is mysteriously sent a clipping for a temporary post in the Ministry of Education in Ghana, where she did a gap year as a teenager, and where she was happy. She is on the brink of losing everything at home but could this be a lifeline?

My Thoughts :
Sadly I havent read the first two books in the series and I wish I had just to of got a little background to the charactors and what was going on. Although this can be read as a standalone.
We catch up with Jess who is divorced from husband Simon and lives with their daughters Abi and Katy. She is a teacher at the local school and when Simon’s new girlfriend Polly, who was also a friend of Jess’s is thrown into the mix and is after a job at the school, Jess is then given a promotion she has had enough and takes a surprise summer placement working for the Education Department in Ghana, where she had visited when she was a teenager. Will she finally be able to be at peace with herself and life or will the new challenges she has to face prove too much!?.
This is a powerful story of love, learning, strengths and moving on.
I absolutely loved the setting of Ghana, I got lost in the descriptions of the beautiful surroundings. I sure felt I had escaped there!.
I really enjoyed Julia Ibbotson’s book and will be going back to read the first two.

[Kate A · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rating 3.5/5

I do feel a little lost now that I am at the end of this series since I read them over the space of a week I feel really invested in the characters and it’s almost strange that I won’t be checking back in with them.

I started on this book in a very similar vein to the last one Walking in the Rain, with a lot of anger. Anger because Simon, Jess’s ex-husband, is still causing her a lot of strife and because, to add to the misery, Jess’s ex-best friend Polly has now decided to muscle her way back into the fold, with some pretty dire consequences for Jess.

Words cannot tell you how much I despised Simon, the author has created the perfect most unlikeable character, and I was annoyed that he still had such an effect on Jess, that he was still able to control her in subtle ways even though he was no longer really a part of her life. I also still did not understand Polly’s motivations, her actions helped to further things for Jess in the story but I really wanted to understand why, why she suddenly had such a different personality than in book two, I do wish there had been some kind of explanation there.

There was also another little thing that I found a bit unusual, there were a number of flashbacks during the book, which of course are super helpful if you haven’t read the two previous books. However, if you have just read them you realise that large chunks of text have been copied from the previous books and pasted into this one. I just feel like these could have been a bit more natural so it wasn’t quite so jarring for people who have read all the books, I kept getting this horrid deja vu feeling and then I’d realise it was another flashback scene.

I am so glad that we got to go back and visit Ghana again in this book and it was nice to get the contrast of how it was when Jess was there originally and how it was in the modern day. I was happy to go back and visit the places that Jess had been in the first book and hear the stories of how characters we had met there had got on.

Also, I was completely over the moon to find out what happened to Jim, I was anxious to know whether their paths would meet once again, and was so grateful that they did. I couldn’t help but feel hopeful at his reappearance and glad that his days of secrecy were behind him.

Even though at the start of the book I was angry with certain characters and felt despair at the situations that Jess kept finding herself in, by the end of the book I was left with a wonderful feeling of optimism. It was nice to get to know Jess and I’m glad that she eventually had some happiness.

Originally posted on everywhere and nowhere

[Kerry https://likeherdingcatsblog.wordpress.com Robinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Do you know when you're reading a book that you love and you want to finish to find out what happens but don't want it to ever end as you are so invested in the characters? That's me! I'm devastated that I've actually finished this trilogy and I can't believe I'll never find out any more about Jess.

I've spent the past few weeks heavily invested in the character of Jess.  In Drumbeats (Read my review here), I was in Ghana with her, teaching and nursing the locals.  In Walking in the Rain (Read my review here) I was angry for her and I hurt when she did.  My poor husband even got snapped at during a particularly frustrating event.  There is just something about the character of Jess that crawls into your heart and embeds itself there.

After the events of walking in the Rain, Jess had finally found a semblance of happiness but of course, things never seem to work that way for long for Jess and we soon find her thrown into more heartbreak and intimidation.  At this point I believe she is so broken and worn down, there isn't enough fight left in her to stand up for herself.

Mysteriously,  the post comes, offering the chance for Jess to go back to where she was happiest.  With nothing to lose, Jess returns to Ghana but can she find peace?

Such a beautiful way to close off the trilogy.  There was no doubt in my mind that Jess would return to Ghana but the ending I was very unsure about.  I wasn't disappointed.  Julia has such a talent for the most beautiful and emotionally engaging storytelling.  She has created a character that you want to mother, take as your best friend and at times give a little slap too.  Equally, some of the more unfavourable characters in the book are also written with great skill.  I can imagine it's much harder to create a convincing character with such undesirable qualities as Simon and Polly (and a few others) and to do so in a way that they make the reader so angry and invested.

I cannot recommend these books enough and I want to say thank you to Julia for bringing the character of Jess into our lives.

[Joy Corkery · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review originally published here: https://joyfulantidotes.com/2018/11/0...

This book fooled me. When I began reading, I didn’t realise it is the final book in a trilogy. That’s a good sign though! It means that you can read Finding Jess without having read the other installments. I didn’t feel like I was missing information. There were plenty of (what I believe to be) flashback scenes that provided the catch up I needed.

Jess is a lovely character and you really find yourself rooting for her. However, it was more what Jess represents that sold the book to me. Jess really has the worst of the worst flung at her but yet she pushes on. Therefore, for me, this is not so much a story of love and betrayal but one of survival and the resilience of humans. It is not a simple story of getting over an ex, nor is it about finding love again. It is a feel-good story of a woman’s strength and spirit rising above adversity. Finding Jess is not a story with frills about it.

The beautiful writing style of Julia Ibbotson also added to my enjoyment of this book. There are scenes full of raw emotion where we can really understand the turmoil that Jess is going through but also just how strong a character she is. However, it is the scenes in Ghana that excited me the most. The descriptive prose of Jess’s arrival in the city made me feel like I was stepping foot there myself.

Overall, I totally recommend Finding Jess, specifically if you are looking to pull out some of the inner strength I know you have inside you.

I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Yvonne · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this third and final instalment, Jess finds that after finding herself as a single parent life for her does not get any easier. Simon and his parents will not allow it. As Jess’s daughters enter their teenage years they add their own pressures and stresses. One daughter wanting to remain in touch with her Dad believing him to be wonderful, the other wanting to keep her distance and knows what he has done. This causes added tension to their family.

Jess has always worked and her career has always been promising and rewarding. She is respected by her colleagues, that is until a new staff member starts. Tensions and stress start to play havoc in Jess’s life and she can feel herself spiraling out of control. She makes the decision to return to Ghana, with the blessing of her daughters. A step into the past and memories of a special time in her life.

Oh this author has done it yet again, a beautiful final instalment that had my heart in my mouth. Poor Jess has been pulled and pushed emotionally so many times and it has been so unjust and unwarranted. It was nice this time to see Jess realise she needed to look after herself and to finally put herself first. Going back to Ghana was a chance for her to try to take back control of her life, reassess it and then work out her future. Things in the UK with her daughters take a bad turn, but in someways it was also a good thing as it brings them back from being a fractured unit into a family again.

By the end of this instalment I was gutted, gutted to have finished it as I could have quite happily read more. But at the same time it is a wonderful place to end, with a wonderful future waiting for Jess and her daughters.

[Joanna Lambert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having read the other two books in the series I was keen to discover what was in store for Jess in this final part of her journey. We catch up with her in 1990. She's divorced, lives with her two teenage daughters Katy and Abi. She owns her own home and is head of English in a local comprehensive school. It seems on the surface that her life is settled. However it's not long before her unpleasant ex-husband Simon resurfaces and someone she has regarded as a close friend comes back into her life to cause more misery. Eventually during the summer holidays, with her daughters' planned trip to Cornwall with Simon, she returns to Ghana on a summer placement working for the Education Department. It's there she finds peace and a new challenge, although she still worries about her children, not trusting Simon. That's as far as I can take this review without giving too much away. All I can say is that this is an emotional roller coaster of a read, one which has enough back story to be read as a stand alone. Ex- Simon and close friend Polly are absolutely awful people and there were times when I couldn't see how Jess was going to survive what they were putting her through. Her return to Ghana is beautifully written, conjuring up the colour and culture of the country. A wonderful ending to the trilogy.

[Natalie Gardner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yay – Jess finally makes it back to Africa for some of this book which I was really excited about. After seeming to lose herself in the last book, I was pleased to start seeing some of the Jess from back in book one.

At the beginning of the book we find Jess still struggling. Now a single mother, it wasn’t quite as simple as leaving her husband and being happy again. When she finds herself back in Ghana I feel like we see Jess back where she belongs, her spiritual home. Of course, she now has the added worry of her daughters back home in England so it isn’t quite as simple as that.

I felt a little sad at the end of the book. Following Jess throughout her journey in life over three books has been a wonderful experience and I will miss her. These books are a trilogy but can be read as standalones. The third book includes passages from the first two, which were the only bits I found a little tedious. They would be perfect for people who haven’t read the other books in the series, or if you don’t read them all in one go like I did, as they remind you of the story, but I wanted to get to what Jess was up to now. This is literally the only niggle I had with it though!

This final book doesn’t let the series down and was a joy to read. I would highly recommend the whole series to any fiction fans.

I received this book in return for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

[Louise · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was quite sad to be reading the final part of this trilogy. I feel like I have invested a lot of time into getting to know Jess over the last couple of weeks. It has almost been like saying goodbye to a dear friend, someone you care about and wish only the best for.

In the last book Walking in the Rain. Jess is a troubled soul and I was really hoping that she would find some peace in her life. This didn’t appear to be happening until she makes a decision to go back to Ghana, a place where she worked during her gap year. I knew that if there was any way Jess could find contentment it would be back in the searing heat of Africa and I had always had my fingers crossed that she would return. Of course, the stunning cover for Finding Jess hints that it is a strong possibility!

The Drumbeats Trilogy is the story of a woman who comes close to losing everything, even her identity at times. However, she still endeavors to regain her own self-worth, which will enable her to love and trust once again. The books are atmospheric, emotive and inspiring. I particularly enjoyed the time that Jess spent abroad where the description of the intense heat and the drumming beat really bought Ghana alive to me.

A truly wonderful and reflective journey.

[Caroline Venables · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the third in the Drumbeats trilogy and I enjoyed it as much as I did the other two, Drumbeats and Walking In The Rain. This book finds Jess trying to rebuild her life after her disastrous marriage to Simon and being betrayed by her once best friend Polly.

Her two daughters Katy and Abi are growing up and her ex husband is not beyond playing on their emotions to still get his own way, years after they split. Jess finds it hard to cope with the added pressure of maybe losing her children and being stuck in a job where she has accomplished everything.

That’s when someone send her a clipping showing job in Ghana. Could going back to where she was happiest be the answer? She has never stopped hearing the drumbeats since she left Ghana, maybe they won’t stop until she returns.

[Chelle W (teaandplottwists) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jess is recovering emotionally from the betrayal and trying to make sense of everything, as well as trying to build the best life for her daughters, but the poor woman never has it easy! Throughout the beginning of the book, again I was so angry for her! I don’t understand how the people she cared about could be so mean! But then we come to second part of the book which made me smile and happy :). Does Jess end up with a happily ever after that is thoroughly deserved? You’ll have to read these books to find out!

[Hannah Symonds · Rating 5 out of 5]

After reading the first two books I was excited to read this one which is the last book in the drumbeats trilogy, whilst I was sad to finish the trilogy I still couldn't wait to get stuck in and catch up with Jess. I think the personal issues are dealt with sensitively and I found it quite sad what Jess has to go through. A powerful story.

[Melanie Robertson-King · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read the first two books in the trilogy and looked forward to the final book. I think what drew me to the series in the first place was the setting - Ghana. I had a friend who lived there with his family years ago. Reading Julia's words brought his stories of the country to life.

Even though it had been some time since I read the first two books, I recognized the characters straight away and picked up where I left off. I loved Jess's character and sympathized with her when Polly showed up at the school gunning for her job.

The ending tied everything together nicely, although I thought it was a bit abrupt. As I read, I thought there was more to the book and then I was finished.

[Kaisha (The Writing Garnet) · Rating 4 out of 5]

All reviews can be found on my blog at https://thewritinggarnet.wordpress.com


Is it weird that I now feel a little bereft that I have reached the end of the trilogy? I've literally watched Jess grow up over the space of three books, walked alongside her as she made multiple journeys which carved both her present and her future, as well as feeling an emotional connection towards her and the unfortunate events she became involved in.

Jess has come a long way since the beginning, and in the third instalment of the trilogy, she still finds herself battling with that character who I would not wee on if they were on fire. At times I wanted to shake her because they had no longer had a hold over her so why was she turning into a doormat? I guess confidence is one thing....or lack of, especially as it had been knocked. It was just hard watching her melt as though she was in the wrong. No. The only thing she was in the wrong about was not telling them to go and fornicate oneself!!!

Whilst it was brilliant that the author wanted to keep readers up to date with snippets from previous books, (I'm assuming it was mainly for readers who were reading the books out of order), I did feel a little bit cheated by the fact that there were quite large chunks of a previous storyline merely pasted into the new one. It did feel as though I was just rereading past storylines when I just wanted to read more of 'Finding Jess'. Like I say, I can see why the author did it and I can't fault her for that at all, I just think that there could have been smaller references to the two previous books as opposed to substantial blocks.

However, I really did enjoy the storyline of 'Finding Jess' - I couldn't believe how invested I had become! I got so annoyed by certain things that it affected me when I wasn't even reading. I mean, that just goes to show how powerful Julia Ibbotson's writing is!

I loved the way that Jess came into her own and flourished as her own person, yet part of me couldn't help wonder whether we might see a storyline coming from Katy's viewpoint instead. She seemed like such a troubled individual who needed steering in the right direction - it would be very interesting to see how her personality flourishes, I must admit!

'Finding Jess' cements Jess' journey to self discovery and learning the ability to try to love the skin that you're in. Jess' story highlighted the fact that not everyone will like you, love you, want to be around you, and that's okay because as long as you're proud of yourself, and as long as you love a part of yourself or are willing to try to love yourself, that is what matters the most.

This storyline, as well as Julia Ibbotson's poignant narrative, took me on my own little journey. I am so thankful that I was able to get the chance to open my eyes to a path I never would have found otherwise. Jess' story is one that I will remember for a very long time and, as long as Julia Ibbotson keeps producing novels, I will be reading her meaningful, heartfelt and enchanting words for a very long time to come