Onward

by Mags Hayward

Jen’s had a tough year. Her mother’s sudden passing has created a void in her life and she’s uncertain how to carry on. Thankfully, Alyssa’s there to ease her pain. Originally an online chatroom acquaintance, Alyssa’s becomes the most important person in Jen’s life. She’s fallen for her -- but they live on opposite sides of the world making a real relationship impossible. Or is it?

Jen knows she must make changes in her life and an invitation to visit Alyssa could be the break she needs. Could her online love affair finally become a reality? Could she hold Alyssa in her arms and stay with her forever?

Kindle Edition

Published June 11, 2022

About the author

Mags Hayward lives in the UK Midlands with her family and a lazy, cuddly rescue dog. Theatre administrator by day, she spends her free time creating character driven romances of all flavours, from sweet first-time crushes, to blossoming love, to shamelessly explicit erotic liaisons.

Mags gets distracted by anything and everything - especially the dog - so writes short stories and novelettes while daydreaming about writing a full length romance novel. She’ll pull herself together and do it, eventually.

Reviews

[Cathy Lynn Brooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short but Sweet

This was a short book, almost a few chapters of what could be a novel or novella. I’m not sure why the author chose to publish such a brief short story. The premise is cute. Jen and Allyssa, two young women meet online and develop a serious relationship, even though they’ve never met in person. This takes place during the COVID lockdown, when everyone was homebound for months at a time. They become each other’s soulmates and the most important people in each other’s lives, even though it’s just over the internet. I’m sure many serious relationships start this way so it was entirely believable.

They want to meet in person but they live in different countries and hundreds of miles from one another. They discuss their relationship with other family members and gain advice from them, but the ultimate decision is up to them. Will one of them give up everything?

[Ellie Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a beautiful story about endings and new beginnings. After nursing her mother through her final illness, Jen is at a crossroads in her life. As she prepares to sell her childhood home with all the memories it holds, there is the promise of a new life and new love in Alyssa, a woman from New Zealand who Jen met in an online chat room during lockdown.

The author writes so tenderly of grief, nostalgia and letting go and as Jen gathers her courage to embark on her new life far away from everything familiar, I was cheering for a happy ever after for her and Alyssa. So much emotion in so few words.