What if you met the one a week before your wedding to another man?
When Tilly meets Adam, just a week before she’s about to marry Gareth, she knows it can never be. She’s made a commitment, and it’s one she knows she has to stick with, however strong the pull is between them.
Tilly and Adam’s paths will cross, again and again, over twenty years. But Tilly’s a wife now, a mother too, not to mention a person looking after her ailing parent… Sometimes it feels like she’s forgotten how to be herself. It’s only when Gareth drops a bombshell about their marriage, that she decides to put herself at the centre of her own story.
So she books a one-way ticket to San Jose – a place she’s only heard about in a song. But fate seems to be leading her in another direction… and perhaps to exactly the place she’s meant to be, and to the person she’s meant to be with.
About The Author
My Review
This is an exquisitely written, emotionally resonant story about love, timing, and the choices that shape a life. Debbie Howells captures the quiet heartbreak of missed chances and the courage it takes to rediscover oneself after years of living for others. The novel follows Tilly, who, just a week before her wedding to the dependable Gareth, meets Adam—a man who awakens a deep sense of possibility and passion. Over the next two decades, as Tilly becomes a wife, mother, and caregiver, the memory of that fleeting connection lingers, reminding her of the woman she once dreamed of being.
Howells writes with a tenderness reminiscent of Jojo Moyes and David Nicholls, balancing melancholy with hope. Her prose is both lyrical and grounded, evoking the ache of “what if” while celebrating resilience and renewal. Tilly’s emotional journey feels authentic and deeply human—a testament to the complexity of love and the quiet bravery required to reclaim one’s happiness. Poignant, reflective, and beautifully crafted, this novel lingers like a wistful melody.
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