Never Say Never

Lakeview #3

by Melissa Hill

Sometimes hopes and dreams don't go according to plan - sometimes, real life gets in the way.

On a mild May evening, a group of friends on the verge of graduating speculate on what the future holds. Will Leah be a chef? Robin an accountant? And Olivia the one who holds it all together? The one thing they know is that they'll always be friends - no matter what - but they make a pact to meet up in five years, just in case fate intervenes.

Years later it's clear that life has not gone according to plan. Why is Robin in New York determined never to go back to Dublin? Why is Olivia grieving? And why does Leah feel so left out as she heads towards the big three-o?

When Robin is forced to return, they all find themselves face to face with the past - suddenly nothing can ever be the same again. And they start to realize that sometimes it's best never to say never ...

Genres: Chick Lit, Romance, Fiction, Contemporary, Contemporary Romance, Summer Reads, Adult Fiction

512 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Melissa Hill is a USA Today bestselling author living in Ireland’s beautiful County Wicklow. Her page-turning contemporary novels of family, friendship and romance are published worldwide and have been translated into twenty-six languages.

A Hollywood adaptation of her international bestseller Something from Tiffany's, by Reese Witherspoon's production company Hello Sunshine and Amazon Studios, was released worldwide in Dec 2022.

Other novels including A Gift to Remember and The Charm Bracelet have been adapted for screen by Hallmark Channel USA, with multiple other titles currently also in development for film and TV.

For more info, visit her website at www.melissahill.info

Facebook: facebook.com/melissahillbooks

Instagram: @melissahillbooks

Melissa also co-writes forensic thrillers with her husband under the pseudonym Casey Hill. http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/...

Reviews

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it!

Great read and I really thought I had the whole book sussed out but I SO didn't.

Excellent.

Five stars.

[Sherri · Rating 3 out of 5]

If ever a case can be made for a copy editor, this is it. This book is full of typos, grammatical errors, missing words, extra words .... It was completely distracting and I nearly just put the book down and said, "Forget it!"

But I was curious as to what happened to these college friends, in particular the person who was never mentioned in the prologue, yet we were supposed to understand that she was a key player. Again, FRUSTRATING.

The thing is, this author was touted as a really good writer but with all those errors, I couldn't feel it.

In the end, I had a couple of feelings about the characters, whom I had been prepared to like. (NB: There are a LOT of characters, and it takes awhile -- and a lot of flipping back -- to keep them all straight.) One was too good to be true. Another was so bossy and opinionated it would have been hard to keep her as a friend. A third was far too sanctimonious and unforgiving, to her own detriment. I wanted to shake her and say, "What the hell is your problem, lady?" The other female characters were fine. They fit their tropes, and all was well. The men in the story never really developed; they were all pretty much the same -- but that was more or less fine, because overall, they weren't the story. They were critical to the story, but their development (or not) wasn't a factor, really.

There were a lot of interesting aspects to this story -- so it was not at all a cookie cutter chick-lit novel. But some of the story lines ended a little abruptly or weren't completely resolved. (Do X and Y decide to get married? Will X want a baby? Do A and Z overcome their issues with B? Did we even need C and D as characters?)

Were it not for all the frustrating editing errors, I probably wouldn't have bothered with a review, but THAT, more than anything, was what stirred me to write this, because it was so annoying. It also probably contributed to me being much more critical of the story, and not in a very positive way.

[Donna Weber ( Recuperating from Surgery) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good beach read about friendship and relationships while touching on heavier subjects. There are many characters that at times I got confused, but got it straight. As others have said, it's a shame there were so many typos, missing and extra words and grammatical errors, on kindle, that should have been caught in editing or proofreading. Still, I would check out other books by Ella King.

[Blair A. Edwards · Rating 1 out of 5]

Almost DNF

I honestly don’t know what I read. Friends made a pact to meet up again in 6 years. But they all remained friends except one so they always hung out. There is a secret in the book that isn’t a secret to them, just the reader and it really didn’t help or hurt the book.

What I liked:
I like multi POV books

What I didn’t like:
The book didn’t pick up until page 220 and it was only listed as 292 pages in my book. I didn’t even realize what it was building up to. Matt was a butthole. Catherine was really pointless. Why was Kate necessary. This book was a really difficult read

[aja nicole · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF. The book mentions 7 friends, the prologue only covers 6. Then the first chapter is about 2 new characters which neither were mentioned in the prologue. Super distracting and hard to follow. Difficult to make the connection from the prologue to the first chapter!! So much missing. I couldn’t continue reading. I felt completely lost and it couldn’t keep my attention at all. Many other readers said to wait until page 223 or so…why?! If the book can’t keep my attention from the beginning and jumps all over the place why continue on.

[Stacy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have very mixed feelings on this book.

The bad: The book was confusing from the beginning. Many of the characters were extraneous or underdeveloped with storylines that went nowhere (Catherine, Amanda, Andrew, Kate). There were so many “or so I thought,” and “little did I know” type moments that were nothing short of annoying and childish in the writing. Lots of grammar/typing/spelling errors in here.

The good: the ending was truly a surprise. Some of the story you could figure out, but the way it all came together was a total surprise. The story was compelling enough to keep me hanging on as a reader, with just enough hints that made me want to finish this “mystery” of friendship gone awry.

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found it to be pretty meh until about 80% but still an enjoyable read because you were waiting to find out the surprise.

[Ruth Manmiller · Rating 4 out of 5]

A surprise made all the pieces of the story come together.

[Sammie · Rating 5 out of 5]

well this was one hell of a read!!! i love the characters of this book they each are so unique and different from each other. but what brought me into this book was the plot! i usually can tell you the storyline of a book once i read the first chapter but in this book i never suspect a thing right until they spill the beans! this was really caught me off guard. i actually believed the rumors of Olivia. ugh i wanted to kill myself when i found out the truth. i should have suspected it from the time that she wanted to tell the truth about her husband! but what can i say this is what made me love the book more!!!!

hey does anyone know if there is another book after this one?? if there is please inform me!!! :)

never say never....

100% compelling read

[Carrie Walshe · Rating 1 out of 5]

I’m sorry but this book was just so so bad.
I should have put it down and DNF but stupidly I persevered.
For starters it was so poorly written and or edited it was impossible to get past. Bad grammar, spelling, sentence formations, the works. A 10 yr old could have done a better job.
And then there is the Non existent plot, chopping and changing you’re kept wondering what the hell is this actually all about?? Not to mention that it has hardly anything to do with the initial ‘book blurb’ that drew me in and the constant character name soup. All so unrelatable & completely inconsistent.
Honestly, just don’t bother.

[Shaztwirl · Rating 3 out of 5]

So Much Missing

Very much a character driven story than plot driven despite the revelation towards the end. But I'm left with questions...
1. Why was Robin not mentioned in the prologue? They mentioned 7, 6 were named and once the story was complete there was no clear rwasin.
2. What about Catherine? Issue totally unresolved.
3. There was something else but I can't remember now.
4. Loads of unresolved issues...Amanda and the shop, Ben and Robin,Olivia and Matt. What happens to all of them?
So, ultimately I kept reading for curiosity and none of it was sated.

[Jacki Patterson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not sure where this was going but ended with a twist. Liked it a lot but was slow in the beginning.

[Cheryl Killion · Rating 1 out of 5]

Doesn't hold my interest. Dropped it at 53%.

[Mack Goodling · Rating 3 out of 5]

Out the gate this book was a confusing start. As has been mentioned there are too many characters mentioned at the beginning that it’s impossible to keep it all straight. This did require frequent back and fourth and writing on sticky notes to keep all the characters and their stories together. However, once you get past that and the flashbacks not being dated (impossible to know which timeline you are in) the book is not half bad! I thought I had it all figured out, however there was a fairly unexpected twist or two that I found exciting!

[Courtney · Rating 4 out of 5]

At times the book felt like it dragged a little … the beginning was confusing with the different characters and relationships, a character map would have been helpful but 75% in it ended up really picking up and being a sweet story of friendship, relationships, tough choices and grief

[Reilly Trieloff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Between 3.5-4! Plot twist like 80% through that I didn’t see coming

[Victoria Nelson · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was so boring, the only reason i gave it 2 stars and not one is because of the development at the end

[Lauren Vandelist · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF. There are a million characters and it’s impossible to keep track. The medical misinformation is what put me over the edge. They talk about a nut allergy as if it’s the world’s most debilitating condition. My husband has a severe nut allergy and I’ve worked in critical care for almost a decade, treating many patients with anaphylactic shock. It’s certainly not a reason to avoid having kids for Gods sakes. More importantly, it does a disservice to the thousands of people who suffer from ACTUAL debilitating and severely life-threatening conditions. It appears the nut allergy is going to continue to be a huge topic in this book and I can’t handle the way it’s presented, it’s so ridiculous.

The abundance of Irish colloquialisms made it difficult to understand some parts.

I LOVE Liane Moriarty and Elon Hildebrand so I was really looking forward to this book. Beyond disappointed.

[Alyssa Beachum · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not even 50 pages in I almost gave up. The characters are one dimensional and therefore hard to follow who is narrating any given chapter. The writing… did an actual editor pass eyes over this?? There was a lot that made me scratch my brain trying to figure out what I just read.
The blurbs and endorsements for this author/book made me think this was going to be a much better written and more intriguing story than it was. The only good thing I’ll say is while I started to piece together “the betrayal”, I didn’t see the full twist coming until just before it was actually revealed.
Wouldn’t recommend, and probably wouldn’t pick up another book by this author.

[Lindi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would say this is a 3.5 stars from me. I liked and appreciated the ending, but I was so frustrated with the characters at the beginning of the book, most of them seeming very one dimensional… and then, the one good love story part of the plot never went anywhere. It was so weird! And I couldn’t believe that you were made to think one of the key characters’ husband had died and he comes back in the last 30 some odd pages - not dead, just departed and the whole time it was a child that died that he and his wife adopted from a woman he slept with that was good friends with the wife!!! Have mercy

[Megan Aguilar · Rating 2 out of 5]

ughhh

I really struggled with this book. It didn’t start getting interesting until more than halfway through. I finished it though if only the first half was intriguing, not a nailbiter couldn’t put down type of book

[Jade Davis · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn’t understand where it was going until about 70% of the way in which is way too long. There were some very cryptic last lines of chapters insinuating a secret was about to be revealed. I felt like I powered my way through the book just to find out what the twist was going to be. However, I felt that the twist made up for the first 30-50% of the book but it was a huge drag until the end.

[Anna Bostwick · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was in my list of Kindle books that I hadn’t gotten around to reading. Now that I’ve finished reading it, I wish I had left it in the pile of unread books. Grammatical errors, miss spellings, so many that even Evelyn Wood speed reading couldn’t help getting snagged up. I love the author, but this book sucked.

[Theresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

i thought this book was good didnt like how it kept going to different people was getting a bit confused who was who. Then there was a twist and wasnt expecting it would definatley read books by Melissa Hill againg.

[Julie · Rating 2 out of 5]

There are a lot of characters which was a little confusing, but it is a series, so maybe as the series goes in it is easier to keep them straight. There were some characters and story lines that did not move the plot along. The ending felt rushed after a very long g buildup.

[Maria Hamidi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Farfetched

The storyline was a bit far-fetched at times with the fake deaths and marriages. I also found it ironic that Olivia liked Matt whilst she thought he was married. Catherine was so nasty to Olivia and Matt just let her. He wasn’t a lot better than Peter.

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

My first read by this author. It was okay. The storylines seemed to drag out and there were times I felt like I was forcing myself to get to the next chapter. Once I was about half way through the book, the story seemed to pick up a little, and I did not expect how it ended.

[Ashley Marsden · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first 50% of this book felt unnecessary to me. There were too many characters, several of whom didn’t seem to serve a purpose to the story. Some of the storylines were unfinished. I enjoyed the last 20% of the book though and wish that story had been the main focus of the rest.

[Mrhoden04 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rounded up to a 3 for the totally unexpected ending. Took a while to get through so many characters (while questioning how central to the story they actually were), then seemed to drag a bit, then the twist came. Worth it? Not sure, but it was a beach read.

[Addy Murphree · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story concept was there, the execution was not? At so many times the characters seemed cheesy and surface level, so that made the twists unbelievable, almost like the entire book was written purely just to have an “aha!” moment rather than the readers know the characters.