I've just finished The Pieces of You and Me by Rachel Burton and I just loved it. Having fallen in love with my husband as a young teenager I loved the love story of Rupert and Jess. An emotional.roller coaster this book will not fail to pull on your heart strings. Cam true love conquer all or will they break each other's hearts again

The Pieces of You and Me, Rachel Burton

Genre: Romance, Women's fiction

Ah Darn, women's fiction again – and why assume men don't want romance :-(

I loved Rachel's The Things We Need To say, and really expected to love this one too. I didn't. though its beautifully written and tackles some tough subjects. As someone who has CFS myself I understood how ill Jess felt at times, and how others simply can't understand that overpowering fatigue.

I loved Jess and Rupert as people, and indeed there were some great secondary characters. It was just the main thrust of the story, the break up and getting together, that didn't work for me.
I didn't really understand why they parted, and felt when they resumed their relationship they still didn't understand themselves what went wrong. I felt like I had all these questions about it, and I was waiting all through for answers but never really got them. In contrast to TTWNTS I felt there wasn't any real focus for me in this story, that it just didn't have anything I could grip, any hopes of solutions, just unanswered questions. Without those answers I wasn't sure if the same thing would happen all over again to them.
Relationships take work, and somehow I felt for these two to have a permanent HEA they needed to do so much more.

Stars: Three, a well written story, but it just didn't work for me. Could be just what you want though, reading is incredibly subjective.

ARC via netgalley

In this second chance romance, I somehow was never able to get into the story. I did appreciate the fact that the author gives us a real life situation of dealing with an illness and how it affects the person that has it as well as their friends and family.
That said, I never got involved in either the plot or the main characters, Jess and Rupert.
I was entrusted a copy of this book by Netgalley. The opinions expressed are solely my own.

It seems as though Rupert and Jess have always been friends, even in their childhood. They were soul mates and knew each other so well and felt a connection that was all encompassing. As they grew up they were only parted by attending different schools, but as soon as they were back at home again, the resumption of the old friendship seemed the most natural thing in the world. It was cherished and it blossomed into a teenage romance.
Then suddenly it was all over; they weren’t a couple any more. Rupert moved to a college in the States, and that was that. Neither of them could really understand how it suddenly happened or even why it happened. Their trust in each other was fractured. There was nothing else to say, although they both felt distraught. They got on with their thereafter lives and they both had other relationships. In fact they only met again by accident ten years after they first parted. Rupert was back but he wasn’t living at home, he was living miles away. They were both single through choice.
This heartwarming story tells the whys and wherefores and the intricacies of Rupert and Jess’s relationship. It is a compelling story about missed opportunities, misunderstandings, misapprehensions, lacking experience and misreading between the lines. The attraction between them was immediate. Everyone could see it. Should they try again? Both felt incomplete without the other, but the gap of a decade made their second chance fledgling romance a huge step to take, with neither of them unable to forget the hurt, the devastation and the aching pain of separation. Could they resolve their issues? Secrets held by both of them would surely ruin their second chance romance, or could they work through their issues and become the perfect couple once again? It was a choice for debate: What might have been or what could be?
I really enjoyed reading this tender romance story. I loved both of the main characters. I saw their frailty, their flaws, their hopefulness, their care and compassion for each other and I really wanted their relationship to be successful. It was just their secrets that hung between them, made them each vulnerable and reticent, but also having faith in their feelings for each other. I loved the way the author created two characters that were so similar but also so dissimilar. I loved the issues she introduced and dealt with masterfully.
I would like to thank NetGalley and publisher H Q Digital for my copy of this beautifully written story, sent out to me in return for an honest review. These are my own opinions and are uninfluenced by anyone else. It’s a solid 4* review from me and a recommendation that this is a really lovely story.

The Pieces of You and Me is about flawed, Imperfect human beings trying to make the best of the second chance they have of being in each other's lives.

The theme with both characters having emotional and physical restraints is a pretty gutsy one. I believe it's handled pretty well and makes for a emotional read.

The Pieces of You and Me is a sweet romantic story about reconnecting. The story is a classic one of love lost to time then returning later in life. It's a charming story and the characters are loveable and entertaining. A nice light read. Thanks to NetGalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

This is a story about the testament of love and despite time and distance, it never fades if the couple really wants to be together. I wish Rupert kept a diary as well to know how he felt walking away and coming back.