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When one-time teenage lovers Jack Lewis and Carly Hughes bump into one another, they don’t expect to see each other again, but their fleeting encounter makes a lasting impression on them both. Jack and Carly each assume that, in the years they have spent apart, life has been kinder to the other than it has to themselves. An assumption that could not be further from the truth. While Jack is haunted by the tragedy that caused him to swap a successful career in journalism for teaching, dealing with yet another failed relationship and residing in his grandmother’s spare room, Carly, having dropped out of university to care for her dying mother, has given up on her hopes and dreams and is slowly suffocating in a loveless relationship whilst feeling duty-bound to look after her boyfriend’s ailing mother. When Carly’s hours at her place of work are reduced due to budget cuts, she finds herself enrolling in an evening creative writing class, simply as a means of keeping out of the house. Little does she expect, though, that the teacher of the class will turn out to be one Jack Lewis. With their paths unexpectedly crossing again comes the beginning of a friendship, with friendship soon blossoming into something more. However, with the realities of adult life now prevalent, will Jack and Carly be brave enough to start their lives over together, or will the demands and responsibilities of adulthood continue to hold them back?
376 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 19, 2021
10 people are currently reading
15 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
January 1, 2024
First book of 2024 complete ✅
The prologue of this story takes us back a decade or so to Carly and Jack in their university days, enjoying their relationship without a care in the world. But then Carly’s Mum becomes ill, and her life is suddenly on a very different track.
Flash forward to the present, Carly is stuck in a rut. Her life hasn’t gone in the direction she’d hoped. Having dropped out of university to care for her Mum, she never did graduate, and now works part-time at a bingo hall on the evenings. During the days, she looks after her boyfriend’s Mum May, who is bed bound. Carly feels she owes May as she took her in after her Mum died. Carly’s relationship with boyfriend Craig is not a happy one, but she feels trapped.
Jack’s career has also taken a swerve from the path he was on, and he’s now a secondary school English teacher living with his Gran. A chance meeting at a wedding of a mutual friend puts Jack and Carly back in each other’s lives, and as Carly starts attending Jack’s creative writing evening class, they realise just how much love their was between them and how those feelings have never really gone away.
What I liked the most about this story was that is was focussed on real people with real lives. It was realistic, relatable and believable. There was a strong sense of right person, wrong time and the mixed feelings that surround ‘the one that got away’. Lots of people find themselves in Carly’s position, stuck in a life that they never planned or wanted. But it’s about how you change your life to make it the one you want. This author is fantastic at writing stories all about hope and daring to dream. If you really want something, sometimes those dreams really do come true!
The prologue of this story takes us back a decade or so to Carly and Jack in their university days, enjoying their relationship without a care in the world. But then Carly’s Mum becomes ill, and her life is suddenly on a very different track.
Flash forward to the present, Carly is stuck in a rut. Her life hasn’t gone in the direction she’d hoped. Having dropped out of university to care for her Mum, she never did graduate, and now works part-time at a bingo hall on the evenings. During the days, she looks after her boyfriend’s Mum May, who is bed bound. Carly feels she owes May as she took her in after her Mum died. Carly’s relationship with boyfriend Craig is not a happy one, but she feels trapped.
Jack’s career has also taken a swerve from the path he was on, and he’s now a secondary school English teacher living with his Gran. A chance meeting at a wedding of a mutual friend puts Jack and Carly back in each other’s lives, and as Carly starts attending Jack’s creative writing evening class, they realise just how much love their was between them and how those feelings have never really gone away.
What I liked the most about this story was that is was focussed on real people with real lives. It was realistic, relatable and believable. There was a strong sense of right person, wrong time and the mixed feelings that surround ‘the one that got away’. Lots of people find themselves in Carly’s position, stuck in a life that they never planned or wanted. But it’s about how you change your life to make it the one you want. This author is fantastic at writing stories all about hope and daring to dream. If you really want something, sometimes those dreams really do come true!
December 15, 2022
I met the author on holiday in Tenerife and read the book in 2 days by the pool.
Really enjoyed this and couldn't put it down as I just had to find out what decision Carly made in the end.
Really enjoyed this and couldn't put it down as I just had to find out what decision Carly made in the end.
October 12, 2025
Carly and Jack used to be an item a long time ago but so much has changed since then. Carly has lost her mum and has settled into a relationship that doesn’t make her happy but she feels stuck for a number of reasons. Jack on the other hand has been through a number of relationships and quite frankly not known for being the most faithful of partners. But when the two bump into each other at a wedding, they both start to question whether their life is as it should be. When Carly unknowingly joins a creative writing class run by Jack, the pair start to reconnect. Could it be that something lost is not lost forever?
This was such a lovely, easy read and I was rooting for Carly all the way through so that she might find happiness. I could totally see this happening in real life - when Carly says “life happened to her”, I really felt for her and isn’t that just too true so often. We make plans, we have dreams but then life happens. Highly recommend this!
This was such a lovely, easy read and I was rooting for Carly all the way through so that she might find happiness. I could totally see this happening in real life - when Carly says “life happened to her”, I really felt for her and isn’t that just too true so often. We make plans, we have dreams but then life happens. Highly recommend this!
May 4, 2022
The plot was predictable and the characters were very stereotypical. However , I really enjoyed this book and wanted to carry on reading it desperate to find out if everyone got their happy aver after 🥰.
August 1, 2021
A story of lost love, lost dreams, and finding your way back to a happiness you never thought you deserved. 🥰
October 29, 2025
This was a really lovely story. It was a relatively good pace and there was a little humour too that I enjoyed.
The story follows Carly and Jack, and the story is told across both their pov throughout the story. They were in a relationship as teens, and by chance have bumped into each other in the present.
I liked how relatable the characters and the situations they found themselves in were. I loved seeing Carly and Jack reconnect. Grandma Barb was brilliant, and the way May could sense what Carly was feeling, even if Craig was completely oblivious.
Thank you so much to Samantha Kay for reaching out to me and gifting me a copy. It’s a beautiful story, and I wish I’d picked it up sooner! Highly recommend.
4.5⭐️ Opinions expressed here are my own.
The story follows Carly and Jack, and the story is told across both their pov throughout the story. They were in a relationship as teens, and by chance have bumped into each other in the present.
I liked how relatable the characters and the situations they found themselves in were. I loved seeing Carly and Jack reconnect. Grandma Barb was brilliant, and the way May could sense what Carly was feeling, even if Craig was completely oblivious.
Thank you so much to Samantha Kay for reaching out to me and gifting me a copy. It’s a beautiful story, and I wish I’d picked it up sooner! Highly recommend.
4.5⭐️ Opinions expressed here are my own.
November 20, 2025
A story of two young lovers at Uni, but it all came to a quick end when Carlys mum became very ill very quickly.
Fast forward 10+years and Carly is in a loveless relationship where she can't leave as her mother in law is dependent on her.
At a weddings here is where bumps in her old love Jack and the story unwinds.
Jack was a lads lad but as time has gone on has she changed his ways?
I fell in love with book and found it so hard to put down.
Fast forward 10+years and Carly is in a loveless relationship where she can't leave as her mother in law is dependent on her.
At a weddings here is where bumps in her old love Jack and the story unwinds.
Jack was a lads lad but as time has gone on has she changed his ways?
I fell in love with book and found it so hard to put down.
added-it
July 29, 2023🎁 FREE on Amazon today (7/29/2023)! 🎁
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews