A Love to Last a Lifetime - Clare Swatman - ★★★

AUTHOR: Clare Swatman

GENRE: Romantic Drama

RATING: 3 Stars.

In a Nutshell: Interesting theme. Irritating main characters. Heartbreaking focus on dementia. Nice ending. So if you can tolerate the characters, the journey is worthwhile.

Story Synopsis:

Eighteen years ago, Erin was head over heels in love with Adam. But when he broke her heart, Greg was the one to help her back to normalcy.

Now, Adam is back, but with a difference: he has amnesia and doesn't remember Erin or their time together. However, Erin still has (or at least she thinks she has) feelings for him, despite being happily married to Greg for more than a decade.

Should Erin honour her marital commitment, or should she return to the love of her life? 

The story comes to us from Erin's perspective, written in first person in the ‘Now’ timeline and in third person in the ‘Then’ flashbacks.

Where the book worked for me:

😍 Erin's mother has dementia, and the portrayal of how the illness affects a person is depicted realistically. It's heartbreaking to read.

😍 Erin's work as a music therapist provides some wonderful insights on how music is used in recovery and healing.

😍 Every chapter title is the mention of a song and the group it was sung by. For example, ‘Bittersweet Symphony’ by Verve, or ‘Time After Time’ by Cyndi Lauper. The chapter content reflects the theme or the title of the song. It also helped enhance the musical elements in the story.The music lover in me loved this unusual approach, and enjoyed some lovely nostalgic musical memories.

😍 Erin's dad is by far the best character in the book, probably the only character I truly loved. He is the only one who came across as sensible, despite his tendency to hoard things.

😍 The book explores the dimensions of comfortable or familiar love vs. passionate or lustful love. While this isn’t as in depth as it could have been, the theme comes out well through Erin’s indecision and the romantic situation of another character.

😍 The ending was perfect, and more importantly, justified. Took the character long enough to use their brain, but better late than never!

Where the book could have worked better for me:

😕 A book is so much easier to enjoy if you love at least one of the main characters. Unfortunately, the central trio - Erin, Greg, and Adam - were equally aggravating. No common sense. No sense of integrity or loyalty. Concerned just about their own selves. I do like realistic characters, but these three were probably too realistic to be likeable. Erin was especially annoying as she was judgemental about others but couldn’t see her own errors in judgement.

😕 Erin’s friend Sam is the token homosexual character whose only role is to be the stereotypical gay friend. All he has to do is crack queer jokes (and I mean ‘queer’ in both its meanings), support Erin, and give advice. Such a clichéd portrayal!

😕 The contemporary timeline is quite repetitive, with Erin going back and forth between Greg and Adam in her thoughts and actions.

I had loved this author’s earlier work—Howto Save a Life—and was hoping for a similar experience this time around. The story did have great potential, but the annoying characters with their repetitive and self-destructive behaviour were too idiotic for me to ignore. Hence the midway mark. (I was actually stuck on 2.5 stars for most of the book. The ending made me go higher.)

My thanks to Boldwood Books and NetGalley for the DRC of “A Love to Last a Lifetime”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.