Ashley Manley is quickly becoming a must-read for me! This book is emotional, sentimental and is full of relatable characters lost in the monotony of life. Can’t wait for book 2 of this duet.

Thanks to Victory Editing NetGalley Co-Op and NetGalley for a copy of this book.

3.5 stars. It’s not often that I read a self published book but this book was so highly recommended that I decided to try it out.
Forever and Back tells the story of June, a tired wife and mom, who is overwhelmed with life and feels that her husband no longer loves or appreciates her. We watch June find her voice and herself and learn to communicate and love her husband again.
This story was very sweet and I definitely enjoyed aspects of it but it was predictable, and I was pretty irritated by June’s actions. It took her 17 years to express herself and communicate with her husband about her feelings? I find that hard to believe. I am intrigued to read about Scotty’s story and will be looking forward to the next book in this series.
Thank you to Netgalley and the author for an advanced copy of this book.

Book 1 of Life on the Ledge Duet

June is a stay-at-home mom of three who isn't feeling the love anymore - from her children, her husband or her life. She is feeling tired, undervalued, overwhelmed and could really use her husband, Camp, to be present. He seems to have checked out and is very busy with his work. She decides, after listening to a podcast, that she wants a divorce.

We, then, follow June as she tries to find herself and what makes her happy. She wants more from her life and I don't blame her. The way her teenage daughter puts her down was just terrible. I wanted June to stand up to her daughter more than she did.

As soon as she tells Camp she wants a divorce he starts to show up more and make an effort, but like June says, he should have made an effort without being told to. Communication is really key for them.

This book is so well written and will be so relatable to many women.

Thank you to the author for an advanced readers copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

✨ Review: Forever and Back ✨
By Ashley Manley

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: Women’s fiction, romance
Format: 📖ARC
Steam: 🌶️🌶️
Published: 4/1/25

In Forever and Back, June Cannon, a wife and mother, grapples with feelings of lost identity and undervaluation, forcing her to confront the state of her marriage. She wrestles with past secrets, rekindled romances, and the agonizing choice between a liberated life and the familiar complexities of her existing family.

Forever and Back resonated with me from the moment I read the opening dedication: “To the moms. The ones who struggle and the ones who don’t. To the ones who nursed for years and the ones who gave bottles on day one…To the gentle moms, the tired moms, the stressed-AF moms and the happy moms…”

To say I loved this book would be an understatement. It was raw, relatable, spicy, funny, messy in a real life kind of way, and thought provoking. June is a middle-aged, married mother of three who grapples with loss of identity, motherhood, and a stale marriage.

The main characters are complex with layers slowly peeled back as the story progresses building a love story that is both beautiful and captivating. I loved following along on June’s journey of self discovery. While the character of June' was very relatable, her actions and the situations she put herself in were at times very uncomfortable to see play out.

June is on a journey of self-discovery after feeling lost for so long. As the reader, I loved the little nuggets of wisdom/inspiration/validation sprinkled throughout the book in such an organic way. I found myself reflecting on my own experiences and relationships as I read June’s story and thinking how I can apply some of the lessons learned to my own life. Overall, I was profoundly moved by this book and felt all the emotions when I finished.

After reading Forever and Back, I'm a Ashley Manley fan. I have her last book, Every Beautiful Mile, sitting on my nightstand waiting to be devoured! I'm also excited that we’ll be getting a duet book to Forever and Back this fall, featuring June’s best friend Scotty! I'm so excited to see her personal story play out, and am hoping she finds love along the way!

📖 Read Forever and Back if you like:
- Second chance romance
- Character layers and growth
- Rediscovery of self
- Marriage struggles
- Examination of Identity & motherhood
- Love triangles
- Slow burn romance

⚠️ Trigger Warnings: miscarriage (recall), marital problems, divorce

🙏 Thank you to Netgalley, Ashley Manley, and Wildflower Books, LLC for this ARC in exchange for my honest thoughts. Forever and Back publishes 4/1/25. 💖

Rounding up from 4.5 ⭐
Sat down to read for a break and the next thing I knew, it was hours later and I had tears running down my cheeks. June's at the end of her rope feeling overwhelmed and underappreciated.Does saying you want a divorce have to mean you can't change your mind? An emotional and heartfelt story. Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest.

Wow! This book was incredible. Ashley Manley is a talent! Highly recommend for anyone who is a mother, or has ever felt invisible and wondered who they are or for anyone who appreciate stories of personal growth, emotional depth, and the complexities of modern life

"Forever and Back" follows June Cannon, a 40-year-old mother and wife, as she navigates feelings of invisibility in her family and within herself. Manley has done an excellent job exploring the complexities of motherhood, marriage and personal rediscovery and writing about these themes in a such a way that this book will resonate with a lot of readers.

The writing is very authentic and contains a lot of depth, and the struggles June was going through were believable and you could understand how she and her husband, Camp, got to this place. I also thought Manley did a great job developing the setting and the storyline around photography. I could easily imagine this story playing out as a movie!

Can't wait to read more of Ashley's work!

Thank you Ashley Manley and Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for the e-ARC through NetGalley!

I can't say much about this other than I LOVED it. Easily one of my favorite reads so far this year.

4.5 ⭐️
Thank you to NetGalley and Victory Editing for this ARC!
Just to start off this book made me tear up so readers beware. The story as a whole was so well written, heart breaking, full of love, and was just a beautiful second chance romance. The premise is that an older woman is learning to fall in love with not only herself again but her husband while trying to take care of their children. This is something that can hit a little too close to home at times because we’re all struggling with life and what we think our ideal life should be. June is no different from the rest of us and that’s what makes the story feel so real and raw. My gripe about the book was I wish she would have talked to her husband and really tried before going to such extreme lengths. This was such a wonderful book and you should definitely give it a read!

If you are a mom, a wife, the one who holds all the information about the kids in your family and deals with the mental exhaustion from that, Ashley Manley will make you feel seen with this book.

June married her high school sweetheart years ago, and she then put her dreams aside to raise their daughter and their twins, born years later. Now she is a stay at home mom who feels lost, unsure of who else she is other than a mom and wife. Her frustration with her husband’s emotional and physical unavailability leads June to ask for a separation, and she begins to piece together the other parts of her personality and desires.

The book is heartfelt and thoughtfully written, shining a bright light on the million things a stay at home parent does all day and how exhausting putting everyone else first can be. June goes through an entire emotional journey over the course of the story, and it felt very authentic and compelling,

Thank you to the author for the ARC. All opinions are my own,

From the dedication to the very last word, this is a special book that I truly adored. I flew through it, loved it, cried, laughed, pondered, questioned, re-read, heard it, have lived it, and more than anything felt like this book spoke to me.

5 well deserved ⭐️s

If you
•are a mom
•have a mom
•have 1 child or 5
•had 1 miscarriage or several
•gave up your career
•put your dreams aside (or completely lost track of them)
•reimagined who you are or where you want to be
•changed your course or charted a new one
•given up your plan (if you ever even had one)
•understand what it means to pivot, and pivot again and again, and again…and just go with it
•loved beyond measure
•question your decisions and ultimately yourself
•dealt with brutal reality and wondered if anything can ever be simple
•explored new opportunities but constantly question the what ifs
•appreciate life’s full circle moments
•always look for the bright side
•want the very best for your kids and give them every ounce of everything you can…

this is your book

A special note - since it’s nearly graduation season. If you are a mom of a high school graduate (like me!) read this. You will sob. Be ready. Give them wings, hold them close, smile through the tears. Love, pride, devastating joy. Feel it all. 🩷

Bottom line - I feel seen. Thank you @ashleymanleywrites. Can’t wait for book 2!

Forever and Back is available on April 1st!

Thank you @netgalley and @ashleymanleywrites for the ARC!

Forever and Back was my first Ashley Manley book and definitely won't be my last. I went in blind to this book and am so glad that I did. I think we can all relate to June in some form, a tired mom that feels she has no purpose. When June thinks that her life has to go down a certain path but the events make her realize where she was headed was where shew wanted to be all along. This book had me laughing and crying. With a daughter graduating high school in a couple of months that ending did me in!

Thank you Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op for an ARC of Forever and Back by Ashley Manley for an honest review.

Motherhood is a paradox—full of love and joy, yet exhausting and overwhelming. It’s okay to hold both gratitude and exhaustion in the same space. You can deeply love your children and still need a break. You can cherish your role as a mother and wife and still crave moments that are just for you.

Let’s normalize the reality that being tired doesn’t mean ungrateful, and needing space doesn’t mean unloving. You are allowed to be both.

This book beautifully captured that reality—a woman who cared deeply for those around her, made sacrifices, yet lost herself along the way. It was everything.

It’s okay if the sandwich isn’t cut into hearts. It’s okay to feel upset. It’s okay to communicate your needs, set boundaries, and ask for help. It’s okay to practice gentle parenting—and also not. There’s no one right way to navigate marriage or parenting.

Thank you NetGalley and the talented Ashley Manley for this arc.

Pub date: April 1st 🌷

Wonderfully written what a surprise!I was hooked from the very start and it made me feel like I was there in June's shoes. But, I guess we all have lived her story in some sort of way. Life is hard and this story is so relatable and heartfelt. I laughed, I cried, got mad and then did that over and over. All of the feels were out with this one. A 5 star for the year. I would rate it a million stars if I could. I didn't want the book to end.

Wow I’m sobbing. This book went straight to my heart. As a mom, so much of this book was validating and inspiring. While not all the book was similar to my own life, it felt like she could have been writing about me and the things I feel in my life! It was emotional and so heartfelt but funny and real at the same time. I felt this book in my soul and I absolutely loved it.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are mine alone.

I went into this ARC without ever reading anything by Ashley Manley or knowing much about the book. But the description sounded interesting and boy, was I blown away. This story was so incredibly refreshing and eye opening.

June is a 40 year-old mom and wife who is trying to be perfect. But how can she be when her husband is never around and her kids think she's simple? After listening to a podcast, she decides to uproot her life and start asking for what she wants. Her decision, however, just might mean a divorce, a new career path, and a whole new wardrobe.

But when she starts on her journey of changing her kid's view of her, she realizes that not everything in life should be compared to how other people do it. Not every piece of advice applies to your situation. And your view of someone else and their sacrifices might be entirely one-sided. The people she has in her life might hold the answers to what will actually make her happy, including herself.

What I loved most about this book was that it was not the typical fluffy, cookie cutter romance (which I LOVE those types of books, too!). This story was wholly relatable and the characters were messy and imperfect and honest. The author didn't hold back on the complexities the main character of being a wife, mother and woman in her 40s. Personally, I'm not married, nor do I have children, but I saw so much of my mom and my friends (and their husbands) in these characters. I have a new appreciation for women who put their lives on hold to be someone's center of gravity. And I have a new appreciation for husbands like Camp (and I'll leave it at that so not to spoil it).

This book has:
- Second chance romance
- Complex family relationships
- Grief over miscarriage
- Miscommunication / misunderstanding
- FMC on a self-love journey
- Love triangle that spans from high school to present day
- An FMC that has a very unique therapy system :)
- An outlook on being a mother of a teenager AND toddlers
- A very steamy shower

Thank you to NetGalley and Victory Editing NetGalley, as well as Ashley Manley (I'll be reading more of your work!!). This book put me into a slump in the best way possible.

Because of the unlikeable charact4er(June) in this book I found myself not fully engaged in the story. It was well written but I dislike the miscommunication/ no communication trope.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the digital ARC

It appears that romance novels centered around 40+ moms are my new jam. I just can’t get enough! Last month I read Ashley Manley’s debut, EVERY BEAUTIFUL MILE and absolutely loved it. I was so excited to find her forthcoming release, FOREVER AND BACK on netgalley and requested it immediately.

I’ve been a stay-at-home mom for almost 14 years now, so I related immensely to June, the main character. I was nodding my head in solidarity and agreement almost the entire time. This novel really explores how selfless a woman becomes in motherhood and how her wants and needs take a backseat for many years. When June’s husband doesn’t come home for dinner—once again—it’s the last straw, and she demands a change.

Manley does a phenomenal job showcasing the loneliness and exhaustion of motherhood, and how invisible we sometimes feel. If you’re the default parent, you will definitely understand June’s frustration when every little thing falls on her. Meals, homework, permission slips, cleaning, laundry, shopping, etc. I can go on and on. I think every mother has a breaking point and then finally explodes. Ha!

Here are a few quotes from the novel that really hit home for me:

“People tell you about potty training and sleepless nights, but they don’t tell you how fucking hard being a mom is.”

“…I have something to say other than 𝘿𝙤 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙝𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠 and 𝙏𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙚𝙖𝙩. Like I’m not just a mom, but a woman. Something other than the people I’ve made and the man I married.”

READ THIS IF YOU ENJOY:

- Mature romance novels
- 40+ female protagonist
- Motherhood and marriage
- Small town vibes
- North Carolina setting
- Female friendship
- Second chance romance
- Photography
- Family drama and dynamics
- Insight on raising teenagers
- Some spicy and steamy scenes

FOREVER AND BACK releases on April 1st! It gets 4/5 stars from me! Moms will love this one!

June Cannon has spent the last seventeen years of her life as a devoted mother and wife, but she begins to wonder if she has disappeared for her husband, Camp. When he doesn’t come home for dinner once again and her teenage daughter calls her simple, she’s had enough. Inspired by a podcast, she declares to Camp that she wants a divorce. Almost instantly, he becomes the husband he hasn’t been for years, blurring the lines between what’s real and what’s pretend for the sake of their kids. As June tries to recreate her life at forty, revisiting a career in photography and taking an interest in a man that she knew at school with Camp. Yet Camp is not giving up as easily as June had thought, and soon her life is changing, faster than she can absorb.
Another amazing book by Ashley Manley that had me captivated from the start. She outlines June’s life, which is like so many others, and makes her confront her true feelings for all in her life. This is raw and honest, and I loved it!
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

4.25 stars, 2 chili peppers. As the dedication says, this one is “to the moms. The ones who struggle and the ones who don’t” and as a mom myself WOW does this book hit home on multiple levels. This is about a 40 year old stay at home mom who feels under appreciated and stretched too thin, who suddenly looks at her life and realizes she lost herself to motherhood and being a ‘good wife.’ June tells her husband she wants a divorce and decides she needs to find herself again - but now suddenly her husband, Camp, is finally showing up. Can June trust that this will last or should she pursue a ‘free’ life she thinks she wants?
The first quarter of the book really resonated with me and i was truly sucked in - SO many relatable lines in this book! I also really liked how the author was able to show us moms how easily we are influenced by podcasts and social media (“we don’t know them, they don’t know us, but we let them dictate what we [should do/read/how to act/how to feel/what to buy]”. I absolutely loved the boxing scenes!
However i was a little infuriated by June sometimes, as it felt very 1-sided since she never really told Camp how she felt and what she needed over the last 18 years. And Camp never really took accountability for his part.
Even so, i think that every wife/mother would benefit from reading this book, as it will reveal something you could do differently in your marriage that will ultimately help (or something you should limit/not do!).

**personally, i think in order to really like this book you would need to be a parent, otherwise you may find it hard to relate to/enjoy the book.
*TW - miscarriage

Thank you to Ashley Manley and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

The love story of all love stories!! Thank you Ashley Manley (Im your newest fan now!) and Netgalley for this ARC. I am so grateful.

Wow... where do I begin?! I feel seen!! As a mother, as a partner, as a friend, as a lover... SEEN. Every mother needs to read this one! Easily 5-stars.

Manley writes in a way that pulls you in and feels like you are living inside of the story. I don't think I have felt like that in a long time while reading. Also when was the last time you laughed out loud at a book? This book brought the laughs, the spice and the truth. 📣 Again, this one is for the mamas! 📣 I felt all the things and YES... I cried at the end. I might have cried at the beginning too? I mean... that dedication!

Anyway... This is for sure mom group required reading. A work of art and so much more than a high school sweetheart romance novel. I will recommend it to forever and back.

Review posted to Goodreads 3/21/25.