What Happened to Us?: An emotional, heartwarming story of love and friendship

“What happened to us?” was a delightful, feel good read. I was hocked from the first page. I couldn't turn the pages fast enough and I did not want to put it down. Faith Hogan is a terrific writer. Her characters are so well crafted, you genuinely will care for them. I wondered how a book containing such devastation at the very beginning, could be referred to as “a feelgood story”. You will soon find out. There is lose, but there is love, second chances and the cutest dog you ever want to meet. What more can you ask for? Ms. Hogan has a great ability to make a settings come to life. A perfect example would be her first paragraph.....“The first night of winter and it was wet, very wet, and she knew the rain was pouring in drops down her face, could feel them drip, drip, dripping off the end of her nose. She could feel the tears too, hot and stingy in her eyes.” I so enjoyed this book. I would say it is a must read. I received a copy of this book from Ari through NetGalleys. The opinions expressed in this review are my own.

This author has such a refreshing way of giving us "triumph over loss" stories that let us get to know each character. What a great storyteller! Your descriptive narrative really makes me feel I'm watching an enjoyable movie! I want more!

This is the second book I've read by Faith Hogan and I absolutely loved the first one I read (The Girl I Used to Know) so I was worried that this one wouldn't be as good, but actually this one was equally as good - if not better, so Faith Hogan has now definitely gone onto my favourite authors list! Carrie and Kevin live together and own a house and restaurant together. They've been together for years but never got around to getting married. Kevin is the chef, but Carrie does everything else front of house and in their lives, i.e. mortgage, bills, etc, etc. This is obviously something that hadn't really crossed Kevin's mind when he started an affair with a waitress in their restaurant, Valentina, but as the book progresses he quickly realises it! Kevin and Valentina come clear about their affair (Valentina's idea) and move into a swanky (expensive) new Dublin apartment, leaving Carrie in the house. Carrie is obviously initially devastated, but carries on regardless at the restaurant, but gets Kevin to sign over the house to her - great move, especially as she had always paid the mortgage and loved the house. I don't think it took long for Kevin to start feeling bulldozed by Valentina into everything, her spending habits spiralled (his money), and he then ended up somehow planning a wedding to her (even though he never remembered proposing!) so she could stay in the country. It served him right for cheating and not appreciating what was right under his nose. All he'd done for years was be the 'wonderful' chef at their restaurant (with the big ego) but every other part of his/their lives had been handled by Carrie, even visiting his own Mother every day as he was 'too busy'. The rest of the book is about Carrie and Kevin slowly disentangling themselves from one another financially and emotionally and moving on. There are some other really great characters, Luke who is in town between jobs (historian) visiting his Father who has just gone into a home, and Jane an elderly lady who owns the pub across the road from The Sea Pear, although she hasn't run it as such for years since her husband died, and only opens when friends pop in these days. Jane has a fall and ends up in hospital and Luke and Carrie visit and end up helping her, and get closer, helping Jane feel less isolated and she also gets a new lease of life. There is a slight sinister element too as both The Sea Pear and the pub are broken into. I absolutely loved this book and wanted to keep reading it at any spare moment I could get, just to find out what happened next. Kevin was an cheating idiot and deserved everything he got - he even hated dogs which says it all in my book, especially as there was the wonderful Teddy in this book who Carrie rescued from the street. Carrie was well rid of Kevin and gained a much better, happier life by the end. I do love it when the wronged party in a relationship ends up much happier than the cheater - karma always wins out in the end. Fabulous, really good feeling book that I would highly recommend.