Thank you to Netgalley and One Chapter More Chapter for the eARC! All opinions are my own.

Have some tissues ready!! This is a romance but it also explores the grief of losing a loved one and how to move forward. I didn’t care for the characters very much in the first half. But by the second half I grew to love them both! Fantastic character development for each of them although I felt like we got to know Becca better than Charlie.

The story could drag a bit with how long each chapter is, making it hard to focus at times. I really enjoyed the switching POVs and that we get to see Becca and Charlie over the course of ten years (as the title suggests). Also I’m a sucker for slow burn enemies to lovers, and this one was an extremely slow burn!

Overall an enjoyable read about grief, love, and hope.

Genre: Romance, Contemporary
Troupe: Enemies to lovers

Overall: 5/5
Characters: 5/5
Plot: 4.5/5
Writing and Setting: 4/5

Content warning: *mentions of terminal illness, mentions of death, some swearing, mentions of ‘adult’ themes*

The gist of my review:

How do I even begin…? 

This book is simply to die for. It’s stunning in its approach to life, death, love, and raw reality that I have been left with such a complex devastation now that I am finished the book. 

I have read some incredible works, but this story will give you one of the greatest book hangovers you will ever come by. I really cannot recommend this book enough. 

Characters: 5/5

Let’s start off with Becca - props for the awesome name if I do say so myself ;). Becca is an angry, firecracker of a woman that wakes up every day and actively chooses violence. I love how upfront and demanding she is as a character as she strives to be successful in a career she’s incredibly passionate about. She has so much depth outside of the main plot on a totally individual level, and I find that aspect of her so captivating as a character. Her inner monologue is hilarious, and I absolutely adore her obsession with Haribo gummies. 

Then there’s Charlie… Charlie is almost everything that Becca isn’t. He has an almost gentle nature, he’s indecisive and willing to roll over and allow others to be in charge of his life. Initially, I was put off by this, but Charlie has a very logical and straightforward approach to a lot of things and he’s willing to put a lot of hard work into everything he does. I love how charming and flirty Charlie can be, and I found the way his family history shaped his approach to his working, daily, and love life, so relatable to the reader. 

Plot: 4.5/ 5

When I first started reading, I initially felt like I was thrust right into the middle of the story, however, it’s very easy to catch up with the chain of events and the subsequent plot that follows. The main plot of the book is unlike anything I’ve read before in a romance novel, and I thrived off the book’s brilliance. 

Writing and Setting: 4/5

This is the first time I’ve read one of Hughes’s books, and I simply adored the writing style. Each character had their own voice which remained consistent, fiercely recognisable, and strong as the story progressed, even as the relationship between the two main characters changed. 

Sometimes I find that romance writers have a habit of including grand locations and lavish houses within their works and they become unrealistic or unrelated to the story itself, and the settings throughout this story were stunning and imaginative, but they felt genuine to each character and the plot itself. 

Thank you to Pernille Hughes and the team at One More Chapter for giving me the incredible opportunity to read the advanced copy of ‘Ten Years’ in exchange for my honest feedback. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and I am excited to read more of Hughes in the future.