Ten Years by Pernille Hughes (Audiobook)

When Ally dies her fiance, Charlie, and best friend, Becca, are distraught. What they don’t realise is that Ally has left them a bucket list to complete for her. The only problem being Charlie and Becca detest each other. Each year the couple manage to put up with each others company for a few hours while they fulfill an item from the bucket list. Little do they realise that Ally thinks they would be perfect for each other and she has planned to force them together in unlikely situations so that they will realise it too.

I thoroughly enjoyed this audiobook. The characters, the situations, the range of emotions all work well together. The fact that the events take place over a ten year period also allows the main characters to develop and grow.

Becca is a fabulous best friend, just the type we would all wish for. When we initially meet her she’s a struggling actress, living hand to mouth most of the time. She’s very flamboyant, loves nothing better than scouring charity shops for vintage designer clothing.

Fiance Charlie is a television producer, he seems to have his life sorted. He’s got a steady job and a flat he shared with Ally. Calm, reliable and organised, the complete opposite of Becca.

From the very beginning the story tugs at the heartstrings as we join Charlie and Becca at the funeral. From then on the mood is generally lighter, with the odd bit of sadness thrown in. The situations that Charlie and Becca end up in certainly raise a smile. It’s obvious which way the story is going to end, however Pernille Hughes doesn’t rush this, allowing us to see the characters change over time. Becca becomes slightly more mature and Charlie more reckless.

This is a story about grief and hammers home the fact that we all handle grief differently. More importantly it reminds us that we have the capacity to love more than once.

Ten Years by Pernille Hughes is available in paperback, ebook and audio format. My thanks to NetGalley and One More Chapter for a review copy.