Between Sisters by Cathy Kelly was a beautiful contemporary drama.

This novel follows a family through their treasures and troubles. Cassie and Coco are sisters whose Mother left them when Coco was only one and Cassie was eight. That memory hurts and shapes them as adults, leading to a lot of the conflict in this novel. Pearl is their grandmother, who took care of the girls with the help of their Father, when their Mother left.

As adults, Cassie is married and is a strong, working woman. She has two beautiful daughters, Beth and Lily, and seems to have it all: a nice house, a loving husband, two beautiful girls, a lovely sister and a helpful grandmother. Alas, that is not true. Cassie enjoys the drink when life gets tough, and life has been very tough lately. Shay, her husband, seems to be more interested in his Mother than Cassie. Even when Cassie brings it up, Shay doesn't seem to realize that he doesn't spend anytime with his wife or kids anymore.

Coco is thirty, flirty and thriving... or so we think. She owns her own vintage clothing store (life goals, much?) and has an awesome bestie named Jo, and is close to Jo's daughter. A few years back, Coco broke up with her fiancee Red when she thought he was cheating on her. Ever since, she's had some dates but hasn't settled won. But, Red has been seen around town... is she over him? And what will she do when tragedy strikes close in her life?

I absolutely LOVED Cassie and Coco. Their story lines kept my hooked to this book like there was no tomorrow. I couldn't help but binge their stories because I needed to know how they turned out. I felt these girls were very relatable (either hurt or thriving in the loss of a parent) and dealt with realistic scenarios in realistic ways. I did find their intertwined stories very sad (and I kind of want to know how a couple of them played out) but in the end I think it had a good message and moral. We can either grow, do nothing, or let the hurt define us.

The ending itself is very beautiful and I'm glad a certain plot line was able to close. There are some open ended questions left with us, but the ending itself felt... good. It felt nice and made my heart sing and soar! It's the happy ending I won't get, so it makes me feel very good inside.

I didn't enjoy every plot line as much, but not because they were bad. Pearl and Pheobe's stories didn't intrigue me as much, but it's because I just didn't relate as much to them. They were still beautifully written and a marvelous addition to the book though! Don't be scared off because I don't relate to an older grandmother! I also really did not like Shay. Man, was he dumb... He loves that his wife is blunt and to the point, but doesn't like it when he's called out on his bullcrap.

If I had a negative for this book, it would be that some chapters moved at a really fast pace while others were slow. Since there was enough fast to out-weight the slow, it didn't bother me as much. I can see some people not enjoying it though.

My biggest positive is that all storylines eventually intertwine. I love books like that! When you start the book, some of the people seem like they don't belong... until they do. Cathy does this seamlessly and makes it super impressive! That's one of the reasons I can rate this book so high. Not only does Cathy have excellent style in her writing, but she can also make it work!

Overall, I am so happy I read this book! It gave me a few too many tears for my own personal liking, but it's still a gem hidden among my shelves.

Four out of five stars!

I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads. ( )

Thank you so much to the publishers and netgalley, I couldn't chance not winning this book. Its such a great read. I've entered to win this book, if I win it, it shall get pride of place on my book shelf xx
Cathy has tackled some difficult issues really well in this book and I love the Irish charm, drama, romance and very thought provoking.
I rate this book 5/5
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I really don't have much to say except that now I don't have anymore Maeve Binchy books to read, I have been seeking an author to feel the void, I think that Cathy Kelly is doing nicely for me right now.

"Between Sisters" is about sisters Coco and Cassie living in Dublin. Cassie is the oldest and fiercely protective of younger sister Coco. Their mother abandoned their family when Cassie was 7 and Coco only 1. They were raised by their paternal grandmother Pearl and made do with a there but not present father who died when they were young. The whole book is mostly about them, their grandmother, their families, and other people that come into their orbit.

Cassie is struggling with two hormonal teen girls and her husband who is always over at his mother's house doing her honey do lists since her husband's father has passed away. Cassie wants the perfect family and is scared that every five minutes she is going to lose it all. She has a tyrant for a boss (don't we all) and is doing her best to not clobber her husband Shay for never being around.

Coco is still devastated over a breakup she had with over four years ago. She contents herself with her best friend Jo and being godmother to Jo's younger daughter Fiona.

I loved both sisters equally while reading though felt puzzled that halfway through Kelly introduces a girl who is going to fashion school who I didn't quite grasp what she had to do with things. I honestly thought that she slowed down the book a bit. I initially didn't get the woman we are introduced to in the prologue, but things become clearer the further along you read in the book.

Kelly also includes two male POVs and man oh man I wanted to kick Cassie's husband in the rear end.

I honestly have no complaints about anything I read. I just thought it was a lovely story. We had some humor, some sadness, and some HEAs which are always nice.

If I am going to have a quibble about anything, I would say that cutting out the fashion student POV would have made the book flow together much easier. I think going into her whole family's backstory was a bit much with everything else we got in this book. ( )

With such an impressive back catalogue, I am really surprised that I have not discovered Cathy Kelly before now. It just shows that there are so many amazing authors out there just awaiting our discovery and I don't think I will ever tire of the excitement of finding a new author to add to my favourites list. With her warm and expressive writing, I will certainly be looking out for other Cathy Kelly books.

Cassie and Coco are sisters who are very close. After being abandoned by their mother when Coco was just a baby, they were brought up by their dad and granny Pearl. They've had a good life but Cassie can still remember her mother so feels her loss more than she realises. Cassie is married to Shay but suffers terribly with abandonment issues and Shay doesn't help by spending a lot of time at his mother's house. It is no surprise to find Cassie turning to a bottle of wine to keep her company.

Coco was all set to marry Red, the man of her dreams, when she spotted him out with a work colleague and jumped to all the wrong conclusions. She called off the wedding without letting Red explain and hasn't looked at another man since. It is so heartbreaking to see how both sisters have been damaged by their family history without even realising it. When Red comes back for a visit to Ireland, it is his turn to jump to conclusions as he sees Coco with a child, who he presumes is her daughter. Coco is looking after Fiona after her friend, Jo, had a stroke. A stark reminder that strokes can affect anyone, not just the elderly.

With all of these misunderstandings, I couldn't see anyone having a happy ending in Between Sisters until Cassie and Coco's mother, Marguerite, comes back into the story. As granny Pearl struggles with her own guilt over Marguerite leaving, we finally find out why she really left them. Marguerite has been living with a bucketful of guilt too and believes that she is being punished for abandoning her girls. It is only with a little help from her friends that she can start her journey on the road to forgiveness.

Between Sisters is an emotional and heart-warming read. I didn't realise how much the story had affected me until I felt the tears rolling down my face. It did take me a good few chapters to really get going, but once I did it was a worthwhile read. The warm and colourful writing flowed effortlessly and addressed some serious issues, like alcoholism and stroke, with sensitivity. Read it for yourself, then you too can say 'Cathy Kelly made me cry'.

I chose to read an ARC of Between Sisters and this is my honest opinion. ( )

Cassie and Coco are sisters living in Dublin, both with happy lives on the surface. But deep down they are both afraid of being abandoned...

This is a character-based contemporary novel with a large number of people whose stories gradually interweave. It's very well written, covering some important issues in a positive and helpful way. The main characters are believable and three-dimensional, and the final chapters are quite poignant. I thought the ending very nicely done, albeit perhaps a tad too tidy.

My only very minor gripes were a tendency to over-explain things that were obvious, and people's names that looked similar, leading me to forget who was whom.

Overall, though, very highly recommended.

Full review here: https://suesbookreviews.blogspot.com/2019/05/between-sisters-by-cathy-kelly.html ( )