No More Wasted Time by Beverly Preston

Life after a devastating loss is a journey of discovery.

It is about learning to be a “Me” again, not an “Us” anymore and all the devastation that, that realisation brings with it.

But it is a journey that even with family surrounding you, you may feel that you still have to tread alone.

Tess lost her husband of 25 years one fateful moment when the heart that had always loved her stopped beating and for Tess, he may as well have taken hers with him too because without him she was incomplete.

But life goes on and she has to gather up her broken heart and find a way to move on.

First of all she had to one last trip to take with her husband – a journey to the one place that they enjoyed time and time again – their holiday spot in Bora Bora.

So their last journey together is Tess’s chance to finally lay her loves ashes to rest.

Actor Tom Clemmins, is also on the island desperately trying to grab some much needed rest bite from the madness that his fame inflicts on his day to day life. Tess plans a private goodbye and is gutted when she turns up dockside for her cruise only to discover that Tom is also going to be on board – this is not the goodbye she had planned and she makes sure they know just how mad she is.

But none of this is Tom’s fault and as guilty as he feels for the situation, he is grateful when she calms down and they eventually strike up an amazing friendship.

Their time in Bora Bora can only be described as magical as is the speed with which they embrace what they have but when their vacation time ends can they make what they have work away from the island idyll that has cocoon them and nurtured their souls.

The stuff of pure fantasy has to end when they leave the island but can they survive the pressures of the outside world, can they bring what they have had on the island to the outside world when they get home, possibly but it is not going to be easy for a mother of 3 kids and an actor who has all eyes of the world on his every move but I loved the fact that they were prepared to fight and to make what they had already experienced work moving forward.

The pull and connection between the two of them was a beautiful thing to read and the fact that Tom gave her kids the same attention and devotion that he gave to their mother was a fantastic thing to read he was a genuinely good guy.

Good, story, well written with smashing characters