This book was so beautiful. The chararacterisation (including the places Pepper visited) was incredible. The story kept you guessing until the last word of the last chapter, and the epilogue, wow!!!

Pepper is a bit of a lost soul having lost her sister at a young age. She resigned herself to the fact that she should give up her dreams, stay in her home town and look after her mother.

This changed when she met Josephine who took her abroad to start an adventure of a lifeline, where Pepper finds love and life reboots.

The relationships in this book with tangible as if you are standing alongside the characters. You cannot fail to fall in love with them, want to travel with them and see the sights for the first time and cheer them on.

This is a must-read!

A tender and sweet read. I love Isabelle Broom’s writing, it whisks you away and her characters are likeable and have you rooting for them.

Thank you NetGalley, Hodder & Stoughten and Isabelle Bloom for gifting me an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!
This was my very first Isabelle Broom novel and according to fans of her writing, I am seriously missing out! I’ve been in quarantine since March and I am dying for a vacation. Hello, Again took us on a literary journey through to Barcelon, Lisbon and many more beautiful and culturally rich places. Isabelle Broom really brought these forgeign cities to life for me. The detail put into each spot as they discovered new things about themselves and remembered things long forgotten I was totally swept away.
While at the end of the day this is a romance, I really think there is so much more to this one than that. Pepper’s relationship with her mother is both heartbreaking and relatable. We are all reminded at some point that are parents are flawed humans just like us. Josephine’s story was beautiful and I really felt connected to her. I absolutely would have travelled abroad for her too.
Hello, Again will redefine what Happily Ever After means for you.

I absolutely loved all of the destinations "we visited" in the course of this book - Lisbon, Barcelona, Hamburg and Guernsey. Isabelle's writing is always so beautifully descriptive.

I have to confess, I was becoming extremely concerned while reading the first 65% or so that the book wasn't going to be the one I wanted and that the ending was going to be wrong, in my opinion. I wasn't feeling a connection between characters that I normally would. Thankfully Isabelle had planned all of this and I got the ending I was very happy with!

As usual with Isabelle's books, the story will stay with me for a long time.

Be prepared to be swept off your feet, just like our heroine Pepper as this delightful romance takes you on a whirlwind journey from Aldeburgh, Suffolk to Lisbon to Hamburg to Barcelona to Guernsey.

Artist Pepper is about to embark on a journey of self discovery thanks to her lovely friend, Josephine who although elderly is still bursting with joie de vivre and harbouring a mischievous streak. Accompanying her on a trip to Lisbon, Pepper helps Josephine indulge her desire to reminisce about her long ago romance with Jorge whilst she still can and revisit their old haunts. Stepping out of her comfort zone but wholeheartedly relishing in all Lisbon has to offer, Pepper is captivated by both Josephine’s stories of her first love as much as she is by this artists paradise. With an incredibly chance (and highly convenient!) encounter with handsome stranger Finn, could Pepper be following in her friend’s long ago footsteps and find love??

Hello Again is a charming life affirming read perfect for lockdown escapism with wonderful characters. As I read this on a gloomy drizzly summer’s day in July I welcomed how this storyline enveloped me in a cozy bubble of happiness, every fibre of my body warmed by an imaginary sunshine. I felt as if I was being treated to a whistle stop tour of Europe where I could soak up the sights and smells of Portugal, Spain and Germany alongside Josephine and Pepper, gorging myself on Portuguese custard tarts, Spanish tapas all rounded off with far too many sangrias or beers or Josephine’s favoured G&T’s.

With characters as likeable as Pepper and Josephine it’s hard not to let these imaginary people into your hearts especially when you understand that Pepper and her mother are still reeling from a tragic event that happened years ago, one that still has a powerful hold over them in the present. Both Pepper and her mother Trinity are like light bulbs that have been permanently dimmed thanks to the tragic death of sister/daughter Bethan years ago. The difference between these two women is that beneath the heartache and guilt Pepper’s true spirit is laying dormant, aching and ready to be set free. Underneath her sorrow is a colourful character wanting to be brought to life, her yet unexplored sense of adventure waiting to be ignited. To me,Pepper has a true zest for life that has been well and truly buried until Finn enters the frame and sweeps her up in a whirlwind of romance that makes you wistful for those heady days of a new love, experiencing all those intense exciting emotions that can make you feel invincible. Her hunger to devour all the wonderful sights these countries have to offer, satisfying the artist within whilst falling head over heels in love makes your heart swell with hope that Pepper’s future can be bright. Love may pose all kinds of risks such as hurt, rejection and deception but there’s nothing quite like falling in love as Pepper will undoubtedly discover.

Finn is perfectly cast as Pepper’s knight in shining armour, reawakening her thirst for love and adventure and believing she is a credible artist. It’s impossible not to hope that he can be her Prince Charming, that love at first sight truly does exist.

Trinity on the other hand is a character devoid of any light or colour, it’s as if it’s all been drained away with the death of her daughter and the break up of her marriage. Left behind is a shell of a woman whose sadness emanates from every pore, her misery casting this huge shadow over the pair of them, her bitterness preventing their ability to move on from the past. This mother/daughter relationship has been fractured for a very long time but maybe there’s still chance for the cracks to heal.

Although I don’t have a creative bone in my body I loved the combination of art and romance this storyline provided. I marvelled in Pepper’s abilities to create beautiful pieces of art, spreading this love to other people through teaching. References to Gaudi and azulejos are sprinkled throughout the narrative, vividly bringing alive the history and delights of these regions.

There are many life lessons to be learned by both Pepper and her mother along the way, aided by the wise and incorrigible Josephine. Life is precious and they need to learn to leave the past firmly where it belongs whilst recognising they’ve been looking at life from entirely the wrong perspective. I loved the analogy between the broken fragments of their lives and the mosaics so adored by Pepper. There is beauty to be found in these broken pieces shaping the people they are today so that Bethan’s death doesn’t have to define their futures.

Blissfully romantic and hopeful, Hello Again is a book I thoroughly enjoyed reading and would recommend to those who revel in the chance to (virtually) escape to sunnier climes and daydream to your hearts content about being swept off your feet by a charming handsome suitor such as Finn.
My thanks as always to the publisher and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read.

Thank you Netgalley and Hodder & Stoughton for my ARC.

Pepper is an artist still living with the grief and guilt over her sister's death, an event that destroyed her family, leaving her mother perpetually grieving and her father leaving them to find happiness elsewhere. Disillusioned with life, when Pepper's elderly friend offers her a trip to Lisbon to reconnect with her past, Pepper agrees. What follows is a story about friendship, grief, and beauty as we follow Pepper through Lisbon, Barcelona, and Hamburg.

To be completely honest, the main reason I decided to pick this book is because I'm Portuguese and there aren't many books set in my country. So I was curious to see what Lisbon would look like through the eyes of a foreigner. It was a very interesting read, the author clearly knows Lisbon and it's landmarks, and is appreciative of our azulejos, like the lovely ones we see on this cover. Perhaps, that was the reason I couldn't connect with the characters as much as I wanted. There wasn't anything wrong with them, but I found Pepper and Finn's encounters rather forced. This was a story about an English woman with other countries and it's people as the background of said story, though I appreciate the author's ability to catch the beauty of these countries.

I loved the tag line for this about life not being about the destination but the journey, because it’s so true, but also that’s how I felt reading this beautifully written book. The author takes you on a well crafted and skilled journey. I loved how you travel with Pepper and watch her grow and learn, that due to the wonderful descriptions by the author you feel like you travel with Pepper to Lisbon, Barcelona etc. I absolutely loved the journey this book took me on because it was one of joy and happiness, please pick this book up to read, it will make you smile and take you on a journey you can’t currently take, but this book may just make up for it.


Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

This is my first book by this author, and I can’t believe I haven’t read any of hers before now! Such a charming story. A moving story, which was easy to read and had great characters in.

Thank you NetGalley for my complimentary copy in return for my honest review.

Despite not having yet read them all, yet, I absolutely love Isabelle Broom’s books and this one may just be my favourite so far.

Hello, Again is an enchanting love story that transports you around the world.

Pepper is lost in life and takes the opportunity to travel to Europe with Josephine, her elderly friend who has her own love story to tell. It is as they travel to Lisbon and Barcelona that Pepper learns lessons about love and life from Josephine and also Finn.

The characters of Pepper and Josephine are captivating and both have aspects that I am sure everyone can relate too. It is how their stories entwine that is one of the many reasons why this book is so lovable.

One of the features of Isabelle’s books that always makes me pick them up is the escapism and her ability to transport you across the world with her writing. In this book alone she features, Suffolk, Lisbon, Barcelona, Hamburg and Guernsey. She writes in such a way that not only are you caught up in the characters stories but also as if you are right there on the streets of the places you are reading about.

I adored this love story and can’t wait to pick up another of Isabelle’s books.

This is a story about Philippa Taylor and her journey through life. Pepper is her nickname and she is just about managing to live her dreary life as best she can. Her relationship with her mother is fractured and her dreams have been put on hold. Memories from when she was thirteen haunt her and prevent her from moving on in the direction she knows would have been her destiny. If only it had not happened she knew she would have bloomed. Her main favourite activity was always art, so naturally that was what she had always wanted to be, an artist. Now she teaches art but her creative flair has almost ebbed away, as has her ambition. She lives alone with her guilt and memories of times past, both good memories and bad.
Her family split up as a result of the one thing that she regrets most in her entire life. Her mother can scarcely look at her and she feels her judgement all the time. She is never tactile or encouraging; she does not love and cherish Pepper and has been cold with her since that fateful day. Her absent father is not much better. He is planning to get remarried to a girl years younger than him and will most likely start a family with her after they are married. Still single and living alone in the cottage in coastal Suffolk that once belonged to her grandmother, Pepper is dragged down and disappointed with herself. She lacks self-confidence and has well and truly lost her mojo and her creative streak.
One day, out of the blue, her elderly friend Josephine invites her to travel to Lisbon in Portugal as her companion. She wants to see the sights she enjoyed with the love of her life and share her romantic memories with Pepper. Josephine is the one shining light in her life, her very best friend despite the difference in their age, but Pepper is unsure about accepting the generous offer. She was in a rut and just cannot see herself as a traveller or an adventurer. She has never flown in an aeroplane, never even ventured out of the country on a ferry for a day trip. She takes her time to make up her mind, but finally agrees on accompanying her to assist her in her quest. Josephine is overflowing with happiness and has plans to stir up Pepper’s non-existent zest for life and indulge her and treat her for four whole days.
Not long after they arrive they meet a tall, handsome German tourist. He invites them to join him and is obviously intrigued and interested romantically in Pepper. She brushes off the encounter although she knows she is attracted to Finn. She doesn’t want to start anything with only four days before their journey home. It just isn’t worth the hassle. But Finn is persistent. He knows what he wants and is driven, determined, and persistent. This is their story of what happens next in a whirlwind where Pepper steps out of her usual dull life. Hang on to your seatbelt, read on for yourself and you may get a heck of a surprise, just like Pepper did.
Romance, friendship and family are at the very heart of this story. It is life affirming and you’ll be on tenterhooks until the very last few pages of the novel. Isabel Broom writes compelling and tender romance stories straight from her heart and her characters are interesting, diverse and full of surprises. She is both talented and compassionate and this story is heart-warming and well planned. I enjoyed the issues that came with this book: grief, guilt, love and loss. My favourite character was Pepper because she learned a lot about herself throughout the story and I thought ultimately that she was very courageous. The way the story ended surprised me and I thought it was thought-provoking.
I received a complimentary copy of this novel from Hodder & Stoughton through my membership of NetGalley. Thank you for my copy sent in return for an honest and unbiased review. It’s a 3.5* review from me.

Hello Again is a delightful story which transports you to lovely locations. Home for Pepper, the main character, is Aldeburgh in Suffolk but early on through circumstances Pepper for the first time in her life, sets out on journeys that enable her to explore and experience a whole new way of life. First stop is Lisbon in Portugal with its beautiful colourful city where she meets and has a mutual attraction to Finn a handsome German. Their fondness for each other is so strong that Pepper agrees to go to his home town of Hamburg a few weeks later. Here she gets to know Finn and his way of life bit more while soaking up the atmosphere and friendliness of another country. Pepper is not long back home when her dearest friend Josephine arranges a trip to Barcelona in Spain. Visiting places that Josephine had been to many years ago and sharing her knowledge Pepper is again enthralled to be part of new cultures. The final destination is Guernsey to her Dads wedding which is problematic from the onset to say the least.

A lot of soul searching and ups and downs are packed into this story as Pepper overcomes her guilt that she has been carrying around since the death of her sister. I particularly liked Josephine with her straight honest and exuberant traits. Being transported to different locations is always a plus when I read a book so to visit so many in this story made it a joy to read.

My thanks to Net Galley for the ARC , this is my own opinion of Hello Again.

If like me you are missing your summer holiday and craving a change of scene you can always rely on Isabelle Broom to take you on a voyage of discovery and a little literary sightseeing. Her books are always the most perfect descriptions of the cities and destinations and <em>Hello, Again</em> is no exception.

Phillipa Taylor - Pepper to her friends - has always lived in her small coastal town in Suffolk. As a child she had dreams to travel around the world but a series of events have conspired to leave her back where she always has been. When her elderly friend Josephine begs her to join her on a trip across Europe to relive the heady days of her youth it seems like a dream come true. While searching for Josephine's lost love in Lisbon they literally bump into Finn and it seems like he and Pepper may be destined to be together.

This is a sweet story with just the right amount of pathos and interest, liberally combined with a vivid travel guide to some of the most beautiful European cities. Travel restrictions aside it makes you want to jump on a plane and discover the sangria and paella for yourself. The sights and sounds of travel come alive in this book as the story of Finn and Pepper unfolds.

Supplied by Net Galley and Hodder &amp; Stoughton in exchange for an honest review.

UK Publication Date: July 9 2020. 320 pages <

DNF at 10%. I was so bored and uninterested and I could barely make it through a couple of pages without leaving it. I found the writing style and Pepper so proper and dull, it was all very stuffy and I couldn’t force myself to hang in for when it got exciting. I don’t think this is a bad book, it’s just not for me.

This is another beautiful book from Isabelle Broom. In this book the main protagonist is Pepper, like many of the Authors previous characters, she is struggling with a life changing incident. The death of her Sister has left feeling guilty and her grief means that she is struggling to live her life and be happy. Her family is fractured and each of them blame themselves. It is a complex and delicate subject, but it is well thought out and well written.
Isabelle's books always feature an exotic location. This book takes us to Lisbon, Barcelona and Hamburg, 3 locations instead of the usual single location. This means that the locations are not described in as much detail as they usually are, but it is enjoyable and interesting to read about the different locations and Pepper's reactions to them.
I enjoyed reading this book, the characters were relatable and likeable. There were scenes that were very emotional, but also amusing and uplifting moments. The only thing that I can fault this book on is the ending. It would have been nice to read about Pepper instead. I look forward to reading more books by Isabelle Broom in the future.
Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for my ARC.

So I don’t think I’ve requested a book so quickly! I absolutely adored One Winter Morning when I read it last year and knew I was going to love Hello Again.

Isabelle Broom has this amazing way of writing that captivates you and leaves you in absolute awe. Her writing makes me want to travel to every destination in this book simply for how beautiful she describes them. I felt myself being transported to these different locations alongside Pepper and Josephine.

Pepper was an interesting main character. Not only is she struggling with grief and how it has ultimately affected her family, she’s struggling to get her life to where she dreamed it would be. She hates everything that she creates and has no faith in herself or her talent. She’s an incredibly strong character who has gone through so much in her life and I grew to really love Pepper and her journey in this book.

However I must admit that my favourite character in the whole of the book was Josephine. I couldn’t help but become so attached to her character and her mission. She had a great sense of humour and I loved learning more about her life.

Hello Again is a story about friendship, it’s about finding love and allowing yourself to be open to the opportunity and most of all its about the journey and not the destination. This book had a couple of amazing twists that had me audibly gasping. My only qualm with this book was that at points it felt a little bit slow but otherwise it was such a fun, adventurous read.

Although I have only read two of Isabelle Broom’s books she has already become an instant read/request/buy. I definitely recommend picking up Hello Again if you’re a fan of beautifully written contemporaries that take you on an amazing journey!

Thank you to NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for providing me with a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

My Thanks to Netgalley and Hodder and Stoughton for an ARC of this book in return for an honest review. I’ve enjoyed writing reviews for Netgalley for several years, but a family tragedy meant that nearly a year ago I stopped. If any author could tempt me back it’s Isabelle Broom. Having been a fan of hers almost from the beginning. I was delighted to receive this book. Again it’s a brilliant read, but it leaves me conflicted.

I love this author’s work because each time she takes you travelling to a new destination her description conveying her excitement for the place she has seemingly discovered for the first time. Lake Como is still near the top of my must go to places and she has confirmed my need to get to New Zealand one day. In these pandemic days, there is so much attention on watching box sets or reading the whole series of books in order to follow the development of the characters. Isabelle Broom’s series of novels are linked by the exotic-sounding places to which she takes her readers. The glorious descriptions make you feel the need to be there. But underlying her joyous portrayal of place is always a love story, although you won’t meet her characters again in another novel. This time it’s the romantic element that’s dominant. Apart from her being an extremely good writer, this is why I’ve always read her books. But this time I feel a little bit let down.

She does take us to Lisbon, Barcelona, Hamburg, Aldborough, her home territory, even St Peter Port on Guernsey and the tiny mosaic chapel of Les Vauxbelets, which I remember as a child. However, I felt that there were far too many places involved to get a real feel for any of them. But I loved her theme of mosaics, hence the Gaudi in Barcelona, of shattered ceramics put back together in a different, more beautiful form. This is an allegory for the lives of her characters, shattered and rebuilt into something more worthwhile. Not always what you would expect, but allowing them to go forward in a fulfilled way. She digs deeply into the complex emotions, allowing her people to come to terms with what they have and who they are rather than following some fantasy or resentment for what might have been. She has shown great understanding and skill in the way that she works out the relationships in her story. I loved it. This is one of the better books of this genre. But there are many skilled authors doing the same sort of thing. The joy of an Isabelle Broom novel, for me, was being taken to an exotic place that I knew and remembered or had yet to visit. Hence my conflicted feelings. But definitely a five star book, especially if you are reading Isabelle Broom for the first time.

Isabelle Broom is never afraid to tackle sad and difficult themes in her book. Loss, pain, tangled webs and not just sugar coated happy endings.

An enjoyable novel - I like the travel element and the complexity. Strong women who become stronger, great male characters and some real chemistry.

At times it perhaps dragged a little bit and was a bit too tangled but the fact I read it in a little over 24h is a great sign! Enjoy.

Pepper runs art classes where she helps others to realize their artistic potential, but has no faith in her own talent. She has lived all her life in the Suffolk coastal town of Aldeburgh, where a family tragedy has haunted her for the past twenty years. When her elderly friend, Josephine, requests her company on a trip to Europe to revisit old haunts associated with her first love, Jorge, Pepper decides the time has come to broaden her horizons.
It is in Portugal that Pepper first meets and falls in love with Finn, who runs a restaurant in Hamburg with his friends; he is also in the process of setting up a website for artists to display and sell their work. He and Pepper are trying to make their long distance relationship work when something happens that puts all their plans in jeopardy – no spoilers here though, so you’ll have to read Hello, Again for yourself to find out.
Lisbon is described by Isabelle Broom with an artist’s eye – the pictures made from brightly coloured mosaic tiles everywhere they look, rows of houses where each one is a different pastel hue, and the Banksy-style arty graffiti decorating the walls. I started out knowing nothing about the city but would definitely love to go there now. Same goes for Barcelona with its colourful, vibrant streets and all the wonderful buildings designed by Gaudi.
Hello, Again is a beautifully written story with vivid descriptions and totally believable characters. At the beginning, Pepper seems weighed down by grief and guilt at the loss of her sister so many years before, but when Josephine encourages her to spread her wings, and Finn convinces her that she is talented, she takes the first steps on the road to recovery.
This is the first book I have read by Isabelle Broom, but I fully intend to explore her back catalogue as soon as I can. Thanks to the author, Hodder and NetGalley for a review copy.

This book took me on a lovely holiday from life, filled with eloquent descriptions of beautiful cities, and heart warming lovely characters, I feel sad to have returned to real life.

Pepper has lived with the guilt of her sister dying for years, and has struggled to move on with her life. As a result she has never been abroad. Her friend Josephine changes all of that, and what ensues is an adventure of a life time.

This was an easy read, one in which I was invested in very early on. Pepper was a lovely main character, who I immediately felt an affinity for. I loved her friendship with Josephine, and how over the course of the book she starts to believe in herself again and starts to see the love she is surrounded by. The romance between her and Finn was sweet and reminiscent of first loves (although I found myself hoping she would meet someone else? He was a bit too sweet for me), however for me this was not the most interesting part of the book. The exploration of grief, family relationships and self belief was actually the central part of the book for me, and made it a real joy to read.

The ending was satisfying and stayed true to Pepper's journey throughout the novel although I would like to have known more of what happened next!

Thanks to Isabelle Broom I am now wanting to book a holiday immediately! Isabelle Broom will definitely be an author I will read more of in future.

I’d like to thank Hodder & Stoughton and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘Hello, Again’ by Isabelle Broom in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

Pepper has never been abroad and has lived all her life in Aldeburgh, Suffolk, so when her elderly friend Josephine invites her to fly to Lisbon to reminisce the love of her life, Jorge, Pepper is only too pleased to accept especially as her friend is getting frail and needs an arm to lean on. What Pepper doesn’t expect, though, is to literally bump into a young handsome German called Finn and promptly fall in love with him. When Finn gives Pepper some unexpected news it leaves her with a dilemma.

‘Hello, Again’ is more than just a normal love story, its pages give such vivid descriptions of places that they make me want to visit Lisbon, Barcelona and Guernsey, and glimpse for myself what Pepper experiences. It’s a warm, deeply moving and thoughtful novel and I became more and more involved with the characters as I continued to read, wanting to know what Pepper was going to do next. I was so pleased with the way the epilogue ended this delightful novel as it left me with a warm and happy feeling.