Before I get into what this book is about, I just wanted to save I loved this book. This is only the 2nd book I've read by Barbara Davis and I plan on reading many more. I wish I would have found her sooner!

This book follows a few lives with the main one being Mallory Ward. She is a social worker that works in an at risk youth center in Boston. Unexpectedly, one of the youth she works with dies and Mallory becomes withdrawn and very emotional over it. Was it her fault? Could she have prevented this death from happening? How did it happen? What did she not see? Eventually due to emotional stress, her boss forces her to take a leave of absence for a few months. Mallory, who has no social life really and very little family, decides she will just return home to her small town to see her mother, whom she has a strained relationship with. Her mother Helen is a death doula and Mallory has had a hard time her entire life accepting this due to the strain it put on their relationship for various reasons. There are many tensions in the beginning of her stay and the strain becomes even bigger when she runs into her ex-fiancee unexpectedly. The relationship has been over for 10 years but many feelings resurface at the sight of him including heartbreak and loss. As Mallory continues to live with her mother and explore the curiosities of her ex-fiancee, Mallory's life is blown wide open by hidden secrets that begin to slowly unfold and change the trajectory of her thoughts, emotions and life choices. Can Mallory repair these few relationships in her life or will they be damaged forever?

Barbara Davis is amazing at writing with emotions and feelings. She really did her research for this book as it covers some very heavy topics. Somehow she writes about these topics as if she is an expert and is able to show the good, the bad and the ugly. She is able to somehow open your mind to these tough choices/experiences and allows you to evaluate their purpose and place in others or your lives with an open mind and not an impulsive emotion. I read this book so quickly and enjoyed it so much. Thank you for this arc. I look forward to reading more from Ms. Davis in my lifetime.

Barbara Davis has quickly become a favorite of mine. Her stories are full of complex characters in somewhat relatable situations. This story is no different. It is full of wonderful characters facing challenges in relationships: friendship, love, work loss and second chances. It is beautifully told in 3 voices. I enjoyed the development of these characters. While sad in parts, this book is full of secrets, forgiveness and hope. If you are looking for a book with all the feels, this book is for you.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Lake Union Publishing. All opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This is a beautiful story of second chances. Second chances at love, for careers, and most importantly second chances at mending relationships between parents and children. The writing of this book is absolutely breathtaking. There are passages that I will think about for a long time.

Barbara Davis does a fabulous job weaving together hard and beautiful in her stories. While this story started a bit slower than her others, it is filled with heart.

If you love motherhood stories as much as I do, then EVERY PRECIOUS AND FRAGILE THING by Barbara Davis needs to be on your immediate TBR. This beautifully written novel will definitely tug on your heartstrings. The characters are multi-layered, the plot is eventful, and the pace is steady. There’s truly something for everyone—romance, friendship, family drama, loss, grief, and heartbreak—it’s very well-rounded. The conclusion absolutely knocked my socks off with a jaw-dropping twist that I did not see coming at all! It floored me! My best advice is to go in completely blind with this one.

READ THIS IF YOU ENJOY:

- Reflections on motherhood
- Complex mother/daughter relationships
- Second chance romance
- Epic love stories
- Rhode Island setting
- Multiple POVs
- Family drama and secrets
- Emotional reads
- Hints of mystery and intrigue
- Themes of grief, reconciliation, and healing
- Confronting a difficult past

My favorite thing about this novel is how it navigates the complicated relationships mothers might have with their children into adulthood, and the difficult decisions they grapple with when discussing the past—especially when uncovering hard truths.

QUICK SYNOPSIS:
“𝘈 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘳𝘺 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘴-𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘌𝘤𝘩𝘰 𝘰𝘧 𝘖𝘭𝘥 𝘉𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴.”

4/5 stars for EVERY PRECIOUS AND FRAGILE THING! It’s available now!

I will read anything that Barbara Davis writes. Her writing is beautiful and as the story builds the more emotion it has. The characters had so much depth and it was easy to connect with them right away. I loved the multiple POV and getting to see how each viewed the events of the past. Helen’s POV captured me the most because of the vibes her journey entries were giving. There were themes of regret, loss, and forgiveness and it had me glued to the pages wanting to see how they would react.

Thank you @bdavisauthor @suzyapprovedbooktours for the gifted copy.

This book is about death and loss, but also about the relationship between mother and daughter.
I did enjoy it, it was a good pace and I felt invested in the characters.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The relationship between Mallory and Helen, the daughter and mother, weaves a story of forgiveness and second chances. Mallory, a social worker, struggles to move past a client's murder, traveling home to a place with too many traumatic memories, to her mother whose love she questioned. This story takes the reader through layered emotional scenes reflecting honesty, family, love, hope, and internal peace. I love this author's books! Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me a copy of this emotional read.

Every Precious Thing by Barbara Davis is a deeply emotional and beautifully written novel that explores themes of trauma, healing, and human connection. Davis' writing is lyrical and poignant, drawing readers into a heartfelt narrative that balances darkness with hope. While the pacing may feel slow at times, the novel’s depth and character development make it a rewarding read for those who enjoy introspective, character-driven stories.

This is a beautiful story of life and death, pain, loss and most importantly about love. The characters are wonderfully unique and the story is complex which exactly why I enjoy reading books by Barbara Davis. Thanks#NetGalley #LakeUnion #BarbaraDavis

In this book, the main character Mallory is put on leave from her job as a social worker in Boston, after one of her clients is found dead. Her boss feels as if she has lost her ability to remain objective. She decides to return to her hometown in Rhode Island to visit with her mother. She left a past behind in RI that she does not want to dredge up, an ex-fiance who she is not eager to see again and a strained relationship with her mother.

This book was very interesting and well written. Each of the characters is carrying around a secret or two that could disrupt everyone's lives They must face their pasts in order to redirect their future. This book looks at relationships, both familial and romantic, how buried secrets effect them. Each character has to confront issues from the past in order to move forward and grow.

This was a very enjoyable read. I will definitely pick up more books by this author.

Barbara Davis has a way of writing beautiful stories that exemplify our humanity in all of it's forms. Life is messy and instead of shying away from it, she draws out the gifts in learning from mistakes and finding balance and peace. This novel had many relatable moments, not necessarily the same experiences, but situations that carry you on an emotional journey and bring you back home in the end determined to leave your own mark on the world and fill it with love.

What an emotional book?!?!!! So many broken relationships that needed mending and the coming together of the characters made this book hard to put down. I loved how the author told the story from 3 different characters point of view and how the relationships were worked through. There is much loss in this story but all the love and forgiveness that we see from the characters is heartwarming.

We could all learn from the forgiveness that the characters had in this book had for one another.

Thank you Net Galley and publisher for an advanced eARC of this book!

Thank you to Netgalley, Lake Union Press for allowing me to read a copy of Every Precious and Fragile things. Barbara Davis is a new favorite author of mine that writes emotional stories that pull at your heart strings. This book was about a mother and daughter with a strain relationship who lived a plane trip away. Due to a circumstance with the daughters job she is forced to return back to her hometown where she grew up. Various twists and turns leads to a ending that you will remember. This book is an emotional book. I look forward to reading more from this author.

Wow, what an amazing story.Mallory is a social worker, and after losing one of her students,she takes time off to re-evaluate her career. Chosing to go home and visit her somewhat estranged Mother, whom she's been at odds with.
This story explores so many touchy points,family love,loss,secrets, and regrets. Can Mallory and her Mom Helen get thru the past and work thru a future relationship? I found it a heart-felt story and recommend you read it

Her novels are always so good! I love that there is a heartfelt message within and it's easy to connect with the characters. Mallory Ward works with at risk youth and when another client is found dead, it is yet another feeling of failure to Mallory. She knows this is a risk of this job, she can't help but feel at fault for missing something in this girls case. Taking this one hard, she starts to spiral once again and her boss Jevet forces her to take a leave. Give time for the police to investigate and for Mallory to decide if this really is the right career for her. Not knowing where else to go, she heads to her mother's place in Rhode Island. Back to where there are lots of heart broken memories and the uneasiness with her mother, but yet the beach has always brought some sort of comfort. Her and her mother seem to dance around each other as Mallory settles in. Days later when she finds that her mother was withholding information about someone else being back in town, she is ready to bolt. This small town and everyone being in everyone's business is why she left. But Jevet made it clear she is on leave and Mallory really doesn't have anywhere else to go for the summer. This summer becomes a summer of truths, relationships and shocking secrets but through it all Mallory and her mother's relationship changes as she realizes what she really wants in life. There was so much depth to this novel and the characters. I found Helen a very fascinating character. Thank you to the author for the complementary novel and to Suzy Approved Book Tours for the invite. This review is of my own opinion and accord.

Mallory Ward returns home to live with her mother after a tragedy takes place with one of her social work clients and she is forced to take a leave of absence. Mallory has never been fond of her mother Helen’s work as a death doula, and tells two of them have a strained relationship. To make matters more interesting, Mallory’s former mother in law Estelle lives in the house next door, and her ex-fiancé Aiden has also returned home after facing his own life challenges. And they’re in a small town.

The story is told from Mallory, Helen and Estelle’s points of view, as well as journal entries of Helen. As other reviewers have mentioned, there was a lot happening in this book and it covered a lot of themes.

Difficult relationships between mothers and their children.
Grief.
Death.
Terminal illness.
Second chances.
Our life’s work & true calling.

Some pieces of this story really worked for me, while others not so much. I found Mallory difficult to like as a character and didn’t find her past relationship with Aiden to be fully flushed out. I also felt like too much time was spent on the tragedy at her work that brings her back home.

Learning about Helen’s past was intriguing, though I guessed the “twist” long before it was revealed. I worried at the beginning that Estelle was a bit two-dimensional, but liked that she was given more depth as the story progressed.

Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I absolutely loved this book. The story was beautiful and emotional. I loved seeing the pieces of the past pulled back one layer at a time.

EXCERPT: As much as she hated to admit it, Jevet was right: she was down a rabbit hole and well on her way to obsessing. But what was she supposed to do with herself for the next ten weeks?
You could go home.
She sat with the idea a moment. Maybe some time at the beach, swimming and soaking up the sun, would be a good thing. She could accomplish the same thing at a hotel, someplace quaint and quiet. But how long could she afford to hole up in a seaside hotel? Even a cheap one? Going home would cost her nothing - financially.
But there was a reason she'd been home only a handful of times in the last ten years. And why every one of those visits had ended in terse words and bruised feelings. Old resentments died hard, and there were plenty of resentments waiting for her in Little Harbor. Still, she could feel the pull of it - of home. A place she'd been happy once, if only briefly.

ABOUT 'EVERY PRECIOUS AND FRAGILE THING': A mother and daughter try desperately to reconcile just as a decades-old secret threatens to shatter their relationship forever.

For social worker Mallory Ward, working with at-risk youth is a calling. But when one of her clients is tragically killed, she finds herself at a crossroads. Despite long-held resentments toward her distant mother, Mallory retreats to her childhood home on the Rhode Island coast to contemplate her future. Instead, she’s confronted by her past, not only in the renewed tensions with her mother but in the unexpected appearance of a familiar face―and the wrenching losses that drove her away a decade ago.

Helen Ward’s home is filled with precious keepsakes from her patients, a testament to decades spent caring for the terminally ill. Her work has always come first, though, leaving little time to connect with her daughter. Over the years, the rift between them has become a chasm, so when Mallory appears unannounced, Helen sees it as an opportunity to repair their broken relationship.

But hidden among Helen’s mementos are the keys to her past…and a terrible secret that threatens to destroy the fragile new trust between them forever.

MY THOUGHTS: I loved The Echo of Old Books by this author and couldn't wait to read Every Precious and Fragile Thing. I guess the downside of diving into a highly anticipated read is that there is a higher risk of setting oneself up for disappointment.

The author has thrown everything but the kitchen sink into Every Precious and Fragile Thing. There is a murder, a fragile main character who doesn't deal well with death, a broken relationship, family drama, secrets, lies and the possibility of a second-chance romance.

I didn't see the point of the murder. There could easily have been some other vehicle used to cause Mallory to go home. The murder distracted from the core story and only served to muddy the waters. There was enough drama without adding a police investigation.

Initially, I didn't much like Mallory. She is fragile, inconsistent, defensive and definitely not the sort of person suited to a counselling role. She did grow on me towards the end.

Part of the story - Helen's backstory - is told through journal entries. This definitely didn't work for me. I would have preferred another timeline. The main part of the story is set in 1999 and is told from three POV - Mallory, Helen, and Estelle, Helen's neighbor and mother of Aiden, Mallory's ex-fiancé.

I really enjoyed the plot thread that involved Helen and Estelle and Helen quickly became my favorite character, excluding her journal entries. Aiden was merely 'meh', a wealthy mummy's boy with little backbone.

The plot is very slow moving and it took forever to get anywhere. I was 75% through the book before I began to feel some excitement, an acknowledgement that at last I was reading something that piqued my interest and gave me a reason to read on. Up until this point, I had rated the book as average, 2.5⭐, but from this point onwards I couldn't put it down.

I love the cover and the significance of the cover to the story.

My final rating is ⭐⭐⭐.5, the extra star due entirely to the twist and the ending.

A favorite quote: The dying keep their own calendars, their own to-do lists. Wrongs to right. Loose ends to tie up. Emotional books to balance. But once they've got all the boxes checked, they tend to make their exits pretty quickly.

#EveryPreciousandFragileThing #NetGalley

MEET THE AUTHOR: I’m a Jersey girl raised in the south, now living and writing in New England. Confused? Constantly. Happy? Deliriously! But then, living your dream will do that! After fifteen years of wearing heels and schlepping a briefcase as an executive in the jewelry industry, I traded in my pinstripes for a little peace of mind, and decided to follow my dream of becoming a women’s fiction author. And what a ride it’s been! Six books later, I’m still pinching myself, and I’m still as much in love with writing as I was the day I began this journey. Maybe it’s because I believe in miracles, in happy endings and new beginnings. Heaven knows I’ve had my share.

I’m blessed to be married to my best friend and soul mate, Tom, who I must say, sets the bar pretty high for my on-the-page heroes. We also have a lovely ginger cat named Simon, who is twenty years old, wretchedly spoiled, and doesn’t give a fig if I’m on deadline or not. When I’m not making up stories, you’re likely to find me reading, cooking, watching college football, (Go Gators!)

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Lake Union Publishing via NetGalley for providing an e-ARC of Every Precious and Fragile Thing by Barbara Davis for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

Mrs. Barbara Davis is an autobuy author for me, I have read a few of her books and I am always engrossed and encapsulated in the writing and worlds that she writes. It feels like you are one with the characters and experiencing everything right along side them. This book is no different from the gorgeous cover to the last page of intricately written writing the reader can expect to go on an adventure full of emotional challenges, and joys.

Keep a box of tissues close at hand as you settle into your comfortable reading spot and get ready to enjoy this lovely tale by the legendary Barbara Davis. Additionally, you might want to have two boxes if you're as old as I am. This multi-layered, emotionally powerful story examines themes of forgiveness, self-reflection, family ties and secrets, and death—not as a dreadful or horrible event, but as a necessary aspect of life that we must all deal with.

After a catastrophe at work, Boston-based social worker Mallory Ward spends a summer at home in coastal Rhode Island. She had to deal with the tense connections she left behind at home, starting with her mother Helen, who was frequently careless because she put her job as a nurse for patients at the end of their lives and her relationship with Aiden, the lad next door who used to be her fiancé, first.

Even though everyone's life story is unique, you will be able to quickly lose yourself in this exquisitely written tale with incredibly likable characters because we all share the same experiences of living, loving, and dealing with loss.