You have to receive love before you can give it to others; get your emotions out before you confront others; confront others in love, to benefit them not yourself; love someone because it's inside you, not for their qualities; have good boundaries and don't allow hurtful behavior; romance and sex are not love; intimacy comes before sex; loving people don't tolerate evil or foolishness, but set limits; connection leads to bonding and prevents isolation; disconnected people can't connect or feel the love- it's the absence of being attached (PG 76). While Townsend had a lot of good things to say, his style just didn’t gel with me. Not to say there is anything wrong with his style: he is a best-selling author, after all. But many of the conversations he described in the book are just not the kind I can imagine anyone I know having. Real people did have them, but I guess they were very different personalities from mine and my family and friends. Merrin was in love and excited to marry her beau, Digby. She could see her entire future with her family and Digby in Port Charles, Cornwall. It was her home, after all. But the day of the wedding leaves her shattered and vulnerable. Merrin leaves her home in the fishing village to rebuild her life. Don't expect a fast paced book, you won't get it. To Love and Be Loved is a meandering and often sad read as Merrin spends a lot of time treading water, surviving rather than living. It hasn’t been easy, but six years later Merrin has forged a new life for herself. But when tragedy strikes, she has no choice but to return to the village she swore she’d never set foot in again. And she is forced to relook at the questions that she has been avoiding for all those years.

Eventually, our h has to come home for a couple of big family events - one happy and one terribly sad. She experiences a romantic relationship, but can't open up or genuinely commit because she has hardened her heart to love, on account of the jilting and all. By the end, she knows she must return to the Cornish coast to live her life in her beloved village. Ruby (Merrin’s older sister) and Bella (Merrin’s bestie) are two fab characters in the book. Merrin’s mother was just as good. We love companions. The bonds of friendship are a special form of love, one in which we grow and share as our lives evolve. In navigating our mutual stresses and triumphs, sharing activities and tribulations, we come to appreciate each other’s strengths and grow from them. The “expansion theory of love” developed by Arthur and Elaine Aron can apply to friendships as well as romantic love relationships. And feeling that she was never going to find anything close to the love she had felt at the time, the story grows, showing how she hardens her heart to feelings too intense, pushing away so many people who love her, romantically, and otherwise.We love our pets. The relationship between a pet and its owner can also be symbiotic, especially when the pet shows the kind of attachment that comes so easily to some mammals. After I was widowed, my relationship with my bichon gave me something to replenish all the empty spaces that had been filled with love. In her Canine Cognition Laboratory, Yale professor Laurie Santos has demonstrated the unique bonds that dogs can have with their masters and mistresses; the Canine Cognition Laboratory at Duke has traced the sources of these bonds down to their chemical roots. This is the story of Merrin, a girl like you & me..a girl next door 🚪..I related to her at so many aspects.. Despite Ruby being painted as the insecure sister, Merrin seemed self-absorbed in many scenes. It was about her most of the time. Even when I understood what she went through, I couldn’t continue feeling sad for her for the rest of the book. I’ve had some of the author’s previous books on my TBR list for a while. When this one showed up in the Read Now section on NetGalley, I decided to go ahead and give it a shot.

When Merrin is left at the altar waiting for the groom that never shows she is completely heartbroken. She moves away and starts a new life far from her family and the lovely seaside village she grew up in and loved with all her heart. It is only the death of her beloved father that brings her home. Deeply moving and emotional, Amanda Prowse handles her explosive subjects with delicate skill' - Daily Mail A popular TV and radio personality, Amanda has appeared on numerous shows where her views on family and social issues strike a chord with viewers. She also makes countless guest appearances on BBC national and independent Radio stations including LBC, Times Radio and Talk FM, where she is well known for her insightful observations and her infectious humour. Described by the Daily Mail as ‘The queen of family drama’ Amanda’s novel, 'A Mother's Story' won the coveted Sainsbury's eBook of the year Award and she has had two books selected as World Book Night titles, 'Perfect Daughter' in 2016 and 'The Boy Between' in 2022. WoW, this book is a big roller coaster and will have you sitting on the edge of your chair, it did me! I loved it. This latest book made me think of my past, then again..........only You can change it!!! Although Townsend does bring in Bible verses and principles, I couldn't really say it is a biblically-based book. Surprisingly absent from a book by a Christian about love was any discussion about the classic biblical passage on love, 1 Corinthians 13 (except for verses 1 and 13).

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When Merrin has to return to the village for the wedding of her beloved sister, she takes the very handsome Miguel with her, and tried to put the ghosts of the past behind her.