Ahhh this book was everything and more! As a stay at home mom, this was so spot on with everything from taking care of everyone else first and all of the things, to somehow losing ourselves along the way. It made me feel all the feels. Ashley’s books are nothing short of amazing and they just get better and better. Please never ever stop writing, and I absolutely cannot wait to read Scotty’s story!

To say I love this book would be devaluing the complexity and vulnerability that Ashley Manley has crafted into her storytelling. Forever and Back focuses on June Cannon’s life as a wife and mother and the daily struggles she experiences every day. June has been married for seventeen years to her high school sweetheart, Camp, and is raising their three kids, a seventeen-year-old daughter and their four-year-old twin boys. June becomes exasperated when Camp misses dinner again, which eventually leads to her asking him for a divorce. However, when Camp begins to actively be part of the family again, June discovers there’s more to Camp and herself than she realizes.

June is every mother out there. She is fierce, loving, dependable, and devoted. But she is also vulnerable, lost, exhausted, and jaded. June is the epitome of strength, resilience, and reliability. She represents the quiet burdens and sufferings most mothers struggle with. This book is more than just motherhood and the perils of an uncertain marriage. It’s about the sacrifices made in relationships and the reclamation of who you are as a person as well as the rediscovery of passion, life, and love.

Forever and Back is poignant, heartfelt, and exquisitely written. Ashley Manley wrote a tender novel dedicated to all the mothers out there who may have lost a piece of themselves by internalizing all their obligations from their silent battles. I am genuinely in awe of this delicately crafted and magnificent book. This one definitely stayed with me even long after I had finished reading it, and I don’t doubt I’ll keep coming back to it whenever I need it the most. With that being said, I am beyond excited for Scotty’s book, along with the anticipation for all of Manley's future novels.

Thank you to Victory Editing and NetGalley for allowing me an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This review will be posted 2/10/25 on GoodReads.

I mean, the dedication speaks for itself...🙌🏼👏🏻

‘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 moms who birthed at home in bathtubs and the ones who screamed for the epidural from a hospital bed. To the gentle moms, the tired moms, the stressed-AF moms, and the happy moms. To the ones who feed seaweed snacks and the ones who feed fruit snacks. To the ones who have lost, wept, and somehow kept going. Through carlines, through grocery store aisles, and through endless loads of laundry. To the moms of angels and rainbows. To my mom, my mother-in-law, and the women who have mothered me in between. Most importantly, to the moms who love, in whatever color of the rainbow, to forever and back.‘

Get comfortable. This book will pin you down and keep you down until the last page.

Easiest 5-star read this year. I’d give it 10 if I could.
Do not miss it.

Huge thanks to the wildly talented Ashley Manley, my flocking favorite & also to NetGalley for this arc in exchange for review!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Pub date: 4.1.2025.