Love and Devotion

by Erica James

Harriet Swift has her life organized just the way she wants it: a satisfying career, her own immaculate flat, and a new boyfriend. But her well-ordered world is turned upside down when her only sister is killed in a car crash. Harriet has never been the maternal type, but with an orphaned nephew and niece to look after, she has no choice but to leave her old life behind.

Divorced Will Hart also thinks he has the perfect life. A firm believer in living for the moment, Will has a terrific relationship with his teenage daughters and has happily swapped a career as a lawyer for that of an antiques dealer. Then a startling revelation causes his life to unravel. Both Harriet and Will have no choice but to piece together a new future for themselves.

Genres: Chick Lit, Fiction, Romance, Roman, Contemporary, Audiobook, Womens Fiction

536 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

With an insatiable appetite for other people's business, Erica James will readily strike up conversation with strangers in the hope of unearthing a useful gem for her writing. She finds it the best way to write authentic characters for her novels, although her two grown-up sons claim they will never recover from a childhood spent in a perpetual state of embarrassment at their mother's compulsion.

The author of nineteen bestselling novels, and the winner of the 2006 Romantic Novel of the Year Award, Erica divides her time between Suffolk and Lake Como in Italy.

Reviews

[Fred]

I gave up. It's okay, not bad by any means, but time is valuable to me and this is not a book I want to spend 500 pages worth of my time on.

[Jill · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really didn't fall in love with this book. I didn't like Harriet. I didn't like the characters. The back of the book states that the sisters' secrets would turn Harriets world upside down but i was completely dissapointed by those "secrets"

All in all, it wasn't exactly a thrilling read and i'm glad i'm done reading it.

[• Lisa • · Rating 4 out of 5]

This author writes brilliant, heart warming novels. I share a like with this author with my nana, she reads them and passes the dog-eared paperbacks on to me.

If like me sometimes there's a need to have a break from over angst and college drama then this is the ticket.

Sweet, Moving, captivating, well written stories from the authors heart, to the pages we read. A solid read with a great message of Love.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

For my full review, visit me at https://mrsbrownsbooks.wordpress.com/...

The circumstances in this book reminded me of Rubik’s cube: there are a lot of combinations to be had, many moves to potential take, before finding the solution and creating the correct pattern. In this novel, a tragedy forces Harriet to become the main carer of her sister’s children. She moves back in with her parents, has to find a new job and her fledgling relationship at home comes to an end. Harriet is desperately unhappy, the children are unhappy and confused, and Harriet’s parents are not too chuffed about the new living arrangements. With Felicity’s ghost haunting them all, can they ever find happiness again?

[Judith Cranswick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Though I enjoyed the basic story, I have to say I expected more from an author of this standing.I found much of the plot - the identity of the secret lover and Harriet's eventual choice of lover - predictable from the very beginning. It's greatest failing was that there were far too many different points of view - at least 10 on a quick count back, possibly more.

[Meteori · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poslednjih par godina izbjegavam knjige sa tužnim temama. Ne mogu, tuge je ionako mnogo.

Za ovu knjigu nisam pročitala kratak sadržaj pa nisam ni znala da je takva. U početku je puna tuge, svih tih osjećanja i razmišljanja i tada joj ne bih dala više od 3 zvijezdice. Sredina je malo življa, sa više akcije i tu zaslužuje jednu zvijezdicu više. A kraj... Samo malo bolji od početka tako da su mi osjećanja pomiješana, ali zbog nekog relativno pitkog stila i topline u izražavanju, ipak četiri zvijezdice.

[Eileen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed the humour and loyalty the author depicts in this book.

[Rosie Amber · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love and Devotion is a contemporary family drama.

Harriet Swift never thought that the promise she made to her sister about looking after her niece and nephew, should anything ever happen to Felicity, would ever come to fruition. However, here she is after the tragic death of her sister and brother-in-law, trying to be a parent to two lost and frightened souls.

Harriet has given up her job, her flat and her boyfriend in Oxford to return to her childhood home in Cheshire where she and her elderly parents are doing the best they can for the children. Grief is consuming them all in different ways and the story begins in August on the verge of the next school year.

Will Hart is moving in across the street from Harriet’s parents; an antique dealer with a fun laid-back charm which hides years of stress as a corporate lawyer and an unhappy marriage. His two daughters are the highlight of his life and it’s to him that Suzie, his eldest comes to when she needs his help.

This is a story about tragedy, loss, grief and moving on. It is filled with loveable and not so likeable characters who have their own subtle story threads which all add to the richness of the writing. It’s about family and friendships and human nature in its most complex and natural forms. I really enjoyed the book, reading late into the night before putting it down. I am pleased to see that I have another book by this author on my bookshelf which I shall pick up soon.

[Ducky · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a really good book! One of my favourite reads this year.

Greatly written. With an unexpected plot twist, to say the least. As well as having its own little mystery, which left me guessing until it finally unravelled.
For those reasons, amongst many others, I think it deserves 5/5 stars.

I highly recommend this book to anyone that enjoys romance, great story telling and a little bit of drama.

[Louisa Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this. It took a while to warm up and I considered abandoning it at some points but curiosity got the better of me and I’m glad it did.

The book twists and turns in every possible way. Some of the twists I called before they were resolved. I had figured out ‘the big reveal’ as it was, about halfway through the book. However, there were some twists that I didn’t see coming from a mile away and some of them were so desperately sad!

This is definitely a book that tugs at your heartstrings. I definitely cried along with the characters at points. The characters are very well developed. Harriet is likeable but flawed and watching her grow through the book was a pleasure. What I loved is that James took the time to develop even the smaller, less important characters such as Jennifer and Dora and Edna from the corner shop. I still felt I could clearly see them in my head.

All in all, a great read. Slow start but left me wanting more.

[Debbie Gascoyne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. Maybe I'm turning into my mother, or maybe I'm just developing a taste for books about ordinary people and complicated relationships, but there was a lot to enjoy in this. I particularly liked that the characters were so well rounded and ... well... complicated, and that she didn't pull back from looking at the way nice people can have difficult or even horrible aspects of their characters. Like a father acknowledging to himself that he loved one daughter best. Or a mother who was so stupefied by alcohol one evening that she couldn't pick up the phone when her daughter was having a medical emergency. I had some reservation about an event towards the end that I felt was a bit arbitrary, and I felt that things were tied up maybe a bit too neatly at the end, but I enjoyed spending time with these characters and will seek out more of this author's books.

[Yvonne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Aangrijpend verhaal over een jonge tante die ineens voor haar neefje en nichtje moet zorgen na de dood van hun moeder en haar zus. Het boek is een soort achtbaan langs allemaal mensen en gebeurtenissen die op de een of andere manier met elkaar te maken hebben (gehad). Jammer van de vele overspelige verhoudingen, had niet gehoeven wat mij betreft. Daarom 3 sterren.

De ontwikkeling van de hoofdpersoon is wel heel gaaf om te zien groeien.
"Will had gelijk over de kinderen, dacht Harriet toen ze even later bij Joel ging kijken. Ze betekenden alles voor haar. Ze kon zich haar leven niet meer zonder hen voorstellen... Ze stond nog steeds af en toe stijf van angst bij het idee dat ze in haar eentje verantwoordelijk was voor deze twee kinderen, maar ze leerde het te aanvaarden en er misschien zelfs wel een beetje van te genieten door de uitdaging aan te gaan."

[Amanda Bennett · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ve always loved stories written by Erica James, but I don’t feel the same with this book. I think it’s because I found the story a bit depressing and couldn’t take to Harriet’s character. It hasn’t put me off reading any more Erica James books though.

[Georgina · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one had great potential, but the delivery was a bit underwhelming. Too much melodrama, too much padding, and sadly not a story that needed to be dragged out for over 500 pages. The bones of the story were good, but it just felt far too long and drawn out to be enjoyable.

[Leanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reasonably enjoyable light read. Characters were annoying and stupid at times, but story had an interesting premise.

[Nicola · Rating 4 out of 5]

Started off promising but then fizzled out. I normally like Erica James

[Belinda Vlasbaard · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 sterren - Nederlandse paperback

Het hoofdpersonage in dit verhaal is Harriet, een sterke vrouw, die de opvoeding van de twee kinderen van haar zus en zwager op zich neemt.

Haar zus en zwager zijn omgekomen met een auto ongeluk en Harriet had ooit beloofd dat zij voor de kinderen zou zorgen als hun wat overkomt.

De onzekerheid en de wetenschap dat ze veel dingen fout aanpakt, breekt haar op. Daarbij heeft ze het emotioneel zwaar met het rouwen en ziet ze dat haar vader eronder door gaat.

Het trieste verhaal is heel goed neergezet door Erica James. Je voelt de pijn van ieder afzonderlijk en ik had geregeld een brok in mijn keel.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would prefer three and a half stars for this. Three feels churlish as it was a page turner and I was caught up in the characters, loved the settings and hung in there with the plotlines... but four stars is too many for a book that I felt tried too hard in terms of plot twists and enmeshed characters. A good read (but not a great read) :)

[Renata Dingemanse]

Gestopt op blz 80.

[Britt Eberson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ik las dit boek alsof ik een heerlijke serie keek op Netflix! Hele fijne roman

[Monika · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5/5

[Tricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story is about a family that is recovering from grief after one of the daughters died in a car accident and left her two children orphans. The death, and how each person handles it, starts to reveal secrets.

This took me a bit to get into but overall it was an ok read.

[Donna Ann Sutcliffe · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am not usually a chick lit kind of girl, but I guess the current world crisis is making me meloncholy. This books was pretty captivating. The story intertwining characters and showing people for their weaknesses and frailties. Happiness and heartbreak this is a story of growing up and accepting who you are. It was beautiful.

[Leanne Hunt · Rating 3 out of 5]

My overall impression of this book was that it dragged. The story of a young woman who finds herself the appointed guardian of her dead sister's two children, it has all the elements of a really heart-warming novel, yet it lacks drama and pace. I think this has to do with the character of Harriet, who is strictly objective and analytical by nature. Compared to her dead sister Felicity, she has no secret passions or fierce inner conflicts because she habitually scrutinises her motivations and actions. While this makes her a strong central character with lessons of her own to learn, it means the reader is stuck with the viewpoint of a rather pedantic individual, and is only exposed to colourful emotional responses through the narratives of the children.

This said though, the book does have thought-provoking themes. I enjoyed the opportunity to compare examples of love and devotion as played out in childhood friendships, work relationships, family connections and forbidden love affairs. Erica James is an author with a keen eye for what makes people tick and her insights into life's challenges are illuminating.

[Ann · Rating 2 out of 5]

Probably should be 3-4 stars since it engaged me enough to read it through, but….

I hated it.

I know that death is a part of life and the things that happened in the book can & do actually happen.

But it was just a bit too much and too macabre for me.
(And a bit predictable- I guessed early on who the affair was with as well as who our hero would ‘end up with’.)

But the deaths disturbed me. If you think or worry a lot about death (your own, or loved ones) as I probably do (“I’ve imagined death so much it feels more like a memory”, Hamilton), or if you’ve had one in your life recently, I would say to avoid this book.

[Janet farrow1 · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like Erica James. This was not a favourite. It was a good story but very sad and I felt it was a bit depressing in parts. However, the satisfactory ending earned it 3 stars.

[Bookworman · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too gloomy for me and way too much infidelity. It started out pretty good but, frankly, I didn’t like any of the characters. I kept hoping it would get better but never did.

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Slow to start but intrigues of family relationships worth sticking with.

[Lori · Rating 1 out of 5]

Couldn't get into this book. Ditched it at page 45 - unlikable characters, dragging storyline.

[Dorothy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a novel about complex family relationships. Harriet is a career woman who does not have time in her busy life for a husband and children, but this changes when her sister and brother-in-law are killed in a car accident, leaving 2 children orphaned. Harriet is tasked with the job of taking over the raising of the children, a job that she approaches with great reluctance, feeling that she does not have the skills or personality to be substitute mother. Harriet's parents have their own problems. Her mother suffers from ME (CFS) and tires easily. Her father cannot come to terms with the grief he feels for the loss of his favourite daughter and begins a relationship with a woman he meets along the nearby canal. At first things do not go smoothly. Harriet does not know how to talk to children and has to learn as she goes along. The children themselves are naturally upset and grieving and are not always easy to handle. Harriet has to give up a job she loves in Oxford to move in with her parents and the children and this means leaving her lover behind who shows no interest in what she is taking on. As children and teenagers, Harriet and her sister Felicity formed a group with a pair of brothers who live nearby, and both men now feature in Harriet's life again. There is also another man living nearby who has his own family problems but may be a possible love interest for Harriet. I found the story very engaging. Some mystery is involved when Harriet finds her dead sister's emails on her computer and believes that she may have been having an affair. A rewarding light read.