Advertised as a romantic novel with laugh out loud moments, but not for me, unfortunately.
I felt some of the humour to be inappropriate and the storyline too contrived.

Unfortunately, I have not been able to read and review this book.

After losing and replacing my broken Kindle and getting a new phone I was unable to download the title again for review as it was no longer available on Netgalley.

I’m really sorry about this and hope that it won’t affect you allowing me to read and review your titles in the future.

Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity.
Natalie.

I have read many books by this author and usually the great comic storylines keep me gripped however in parts this book left me a little confused - there were the normal great characters - father of the baby turning out to be gay - and once a fair way into the book it did all come together to redeem itself. I think for me the present/past chapters took a while to get into

Really enjoyed reading this book.
It tells the story from both the perspective of Rachel in present day, and the deeply troubled Shirley in the 1980s.
Rachel's mum has just died, and whilst clearing out her house she uncovers a secret about her past that challenges everything she thought she knew.
An interesting mix of characters, well written and really draws you in to the story.

First book I have read by this author, and will definitely be looking out for more.

The years she stole was an enjoyable read. We follow Rachel as she uncovers a secret from her past that her mother has kept hidden and taken with her to the grave.

The characters were well written and believable (bar Rachel’s boss Ben).

The blurb describes this book as a bit of a comedy but I wasn’t belly laughing, having said that I enjoyed reading the story and was hooked until the very end! This was an easy to read book that I would definitely recommend for a holiday read or if you want a book to have on the go!

In 2017, heavily pregnant (and newly single, since her boyfriend unexpectedly came out as gay) Rachel Taylor is called home to the New Forest as her mother Jane is dying. Rachel and her mother have never been close - there’s always been a distance between them, for some reason - but she’s her mum, after all. But the long-kept secret which Rachel discovers after her mother’s death will turn her world upside down.

Nearly forty years earlier in Oldham, teenage Shirley Burke lives in the shadow of her beautiful older sister Josie. When a married man takes an interest in her at a Butlins holiday camp, it feels like a new life is opening up for Shirley. But the relationship will lead her down some desperate paths and what Shirley does on the day of the Royal Wedding in 1981 will echo down the decades.

Clearly the lives of the two women are inextricably connected in some way, but how?

I love Jonathan Harvey’s books, which are full of humour, warmth and brilliant (mainly female) characters. The Years She Stole is no exception and Jonathan (a Coronation Street writer, by the way) is particularly strong on the voices of the working class northern characters. (Something which, having myself grown up in Lancashire around the same time as Shirley and co, I can appreciate.)

Not all the characters are likeable. In fact a lot of them aren’t at all, and behave in appalling ways. But this doesn’t make the story any less engagingly readable.

A great read with an element of mystery. All the way through I knew there were connections between the characters which I was missing - I just couldn’t figure out what they were. I got there in the end - just.

Thanks for the opportunity to read and review!