Jennifer has just been given a diagnosis of a terminal blood disease and has 3 months to live. Deciding to put her past to rights, she sets about writing to the three main influences on her past, her ex-husband, ex-partner and her sister. Knowing she has nothing left to lose, Jennifer finds the courage to pour her heart out and address some difficult truths.

Sometimes I like to pop outside of my reading comfort zone, step away from the psychological thrillers and grisly crime and read something a little different so when I was asked if I wanted to be on the blogtour for a book about a woman who's been given 3 months to live after a diagnosis of a terminal blood disorder I said YES please.

Divorced, single 43 year old Jennifer Cole has just been given the worst news EVER; she has a terminal blood disorder, 3 months to live and it's too late for treatment so she decides to write letters to the people who have hurt her.  She writes to Andy, her ex-husband who cheated on her and left her after 3 devastating miscarriages; Her ex-boyfriend Harry, who she never got over despite her friends disliking him and her older sister Isabelle, who Jennifer idolised during her childhood.

Whilst writing the letters Jennifer has to face her impending death and re-evaluate her life and her relationships.  There were several moments in this book my eyes filled with tears and several moments when my heart felt like it was going to burst.  Although the subject matter sounds awful, this is a book of love, hope and happy endings.  Perfect light reading and I look forward to reading more from this author.

Melanie Cantor's piece of contemporary fiction explores one woman's response to receiving the news that she has but three months to live. To be honest, it took me quite a while to get into this book, but once I did, I really enjoyed it. Divorced 43 year old Jennifer Cole, an HR professional, is at the doctor's surgery, when Dr Mackenzie's gives her the shocking news that her blood tests show she has a rare blood disease, it's too late for treatment, with only palliative care an option. It takes some time for Jennifer to process this information as she rails at the fates. Once she starts to take it in, she knows she has no desire to draw up a bucket list, or to travel. She is going to stay put, continue with her job until she is unable to do so. The one thing that she does want to do is address three problematic relationships where she had never been able to speak her mind and be truthful about her real thoughts and feelings. Egged on by her best friend, Olivia, Jennifer decides to communicate through old fashioned means, by writing letters to the three individuals.

There are three letters, one to her ex-husband, Andy, a man with whom Jennifer had to face the trauma of three miscarriages, who cheated on her with the jealous and insecure Elizabeth and left her. Then there is Harry, an ex-lover she adored, who she failed to fight for when he left her for Melissa. Jennifer's friends hated Harry, viewing him as toxic, but to this day, she has never been able to let go of him emotionally, she has always been Sally to him, from the famous movie, When Harry Met Sally, their favourite movie, which they religiously watched around New Year. The final person that Jennifer writes to is her sister, the perfidious and beautiful Isabelle, now married to a wealthy man, with two children. For Jennifer, spilling her real feelings to these three people, is breaking the habits of a life time, requiring an inner courage that comes from knowing she now has nothing to lose.

Cantor's novel celebrates women and their friendships, unfailingly an essential provider of the necessary support when life throws nightmarish challenging and heart breaking events at them. jennifer's plight illustrates that sometimes the worst thing happening might just be the best thing that can happen to a person. There are life lessons, simultaneously joys and painful truths for Jennifer to face, but also opportunities to become more resilient, recalibrate relationships, learning to be and accepting of who she is, to be unapologetically truthful in her life without having to resort to letters, long after hurtful acts have taken place. This is a lovely and entertaining read, full of warmth, humour and wit. Many thanks to Random House Transworld for an ARC.

An absolute literary triumph!
This book is just brilliant - an original concept which is a perfect combination of seriousness and British wit combined, a very likeable main character and a really feel good ending - I read it in one night even though it kept me up until the small hours on a ‘school’ night! :)
I will be recommending it to all of my friends - it’s just so relatable and a fantastic read.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for letting me read this book.
It started off very differently to other books which was refreshing, however there was one moment I found slightly unbelievable. If someone told you they were dying, wouldn't you find out why before risking yourself? That was probably the only thing I had concerns with.
The rest of the story was somewhat satisfying, mending relationships, discovering what people are really like; valuing life. I liked the main character and the interactions with the sister. They were very real to me.
An easy yet honest read.
3.5 stars

Love this book needed tissues at times. Well written and gives you food for thought. Highly recommended.

I enjoyed this book and thought the premise was so unusual - who wouldn’t love to throw caution to the wind and tell certain people what you thought of them if you’d been given a death sentence and thought that you had nothing to lose? And then... what would happen if you didn’t die and had to live with the consequences of baring your soul?

I thought that the relationship between the main character and her sister was the most believable one in the book, and I enjoyed the way a few select characters were taken down a peg or two. But I would have liked to see more made of the lost friendship with Emily - it felt a bit like it had been added at the last minute and it would have been more impactful if more backstory had been given, or even if more attention had been paid to the consequences in real time. And Harry was far too good to be true, that house of cards was bound to come crashing down and quickly. I also thought that the mixup with Jennifer’s test results was glossed over, and she didn’t seem to think too much about the other woman past the initial shock at the doctor’s office.

All in all, a good read but I don’t know if I would read it again.

I really enjoyed this book. It is well written and flows beautifully.
It offers both life lessons and so much more. Jennifer is given some terrible news and as she takes stock of the news she decides to write letters to the people that have had an effect on her life.
The outcome is extraordinary- as the book progressed I did feel that it could do in any direction.
Without spoiling it - the twist that appears does for me change the direction of the whole book.
Excellent story even if 1 Part was a little far fetched.
Great characters
Highly recommended
Thank you to both NetGalley and Random House Uk for my eARC of this book in exchange for my honest unbiased review