ARC Review: How to End a Love Story by Yulin Kuang Thank you to HarperAudio Adult and NetGalley for the ARC copy of this new audiobook.

How to End a Love Story is a tender, emotional, and often heavy exploration of grief, guilt, and the complicated ways two people can be bound together by tragedy. Yulin Kuang’s writing is thoughtful and intimate, and the emotional core of this story is undeniably strong.

Helen and Grant are both carrying enormous weight from their shared past, and I felt a deep empathy for each of them. Their trauma is different, but equally consuming, and the book does a beautiful job showing how grief can shape a life long after the moment that caused it. Their relationship is messy, believable, and compelling. It is full of tension, longing, and the kind of vulnerability that only comes from knowing someone at their worst moment.

The themes of family expectations, inherited grief, and the pressure to live a life that pleases others really stood out to me. Helen’s struggle with her parents’ unresolved pain, and Grant’s attempts to build a life while still managing panic and guilt, gave the story a strong emotional backbone.

The dual narration by Katharine Chin and Andrew Eiden is excellent. Their performances complement each other well and add depth to both characters’ internal worlds. The dual POV works smoothly, and the timeline shifts are clear and easy to follow.

Where the book didn’t fully land for me was the pacing. The story felt longer than it needed to be, and there were stretches where the emotional intensity dragged rather than built. While the character arcs felt earned, the journey to get there sometimes felt stretched out.

Still, the progression of Helen and Grant’s relationship is the highlight of the novel. It was tender, complicated, and ultimately hopeful. Readers who love star‑crossed dynamics, slow emotional unraveling, and angst‑filled second chances will find a lot to love here.

Overall, How to End a Love Story is a heartfelt, emotionally layered romance that explores grief with honesty and care. Even when the pacing wobbled, the characters kept me invested, and the ending felt well earned.

Thank you to Recorded Books and NetGalley for the audiobook ARC of this book!

All in Her Hands is another powerful addition to Nora Beady’s story, and Audrey Blake once again delivers a blend of medical history, emotionality, and character‑driven story that kept me fully invested from beginning to end.

From the opening chapters, I was reminded why Nora is one of my favorite historical‑fiction protagonists. She is brilliant, determined, compassionate, and constantly fighting battles she should never have had to fight. The fury I felt on her behalf was immediate and unrelenting. Every moment of condescension, dismissal, and outright sabotage from the men around her only makes me root for her harder. Nora’s resilience is the beating heart of this book, and watching her push forward in the face of all that man nonsense was both inspiring and emotionally exhausting.

The stakes in this installment feel especially high. The cholera epidemic is running rampant bringing up trauma and personal risk for Nora. The shift toward obstetrics felt like a natural, meaningful evolution for her, and I loved seeing her step into a role that aligns so beautifully with her skills and her heart.

Daniel’s arc is more complicated here, and while his choices frustrated me deeply at times, the tension in their marriage felt honest for the era and for the pressures they’re under. His growth is imperfect but present, and by the end I found myself forgiving him for the frustrations he cause me and Nora. The storylines with Daniel’s family were well done.

Horace, as always, remains a character I care about fiercely, and his storyline brought both tenderness and anxiety as he healed. Julia’s (and Harry by extension) arc in this book is heartbreaking but so good.

The audiobook narration by Susan Lyons is, once again, exceptional. Her voice has become inseparable from Nora’s journey for me. It’s warm, steady, expressive, and perfectly suited to the tone of the story.

Overall, All in Her Hands is a beautifully written, emotionally resonant, and deeply engaging continuation of Nora’s life. I learned so much, felt so much, and loved watching her grow as a physician, a wife, and now a mother. Aside from a few moments where I felt like Nora and Daniel would have had certain conversations earlier, this was an easy five‑star read for me. I will happily follow Nora’s story wherever it goes next. 🥰