Tag: Grief

The Seven O’Clock Club by Amelia Ireland

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Publication April- 2025-Penguin Random House-Women’s Fiction

Book Summary

Four strangers are brought together to participate in an experimental treatment designed to heal broken hearts in this surprising and heartfelt debut novel from author Amelia Ireland.

A PEOPLE MAGAZINE BOOK OF THE WEEK ∙ A SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER ∙ A ZIBBY OWENS MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK OF 2025


Freya, Callum, Mischa, and Victoria have nothing in common–well, except for one thing: they’ve each experienced a deep personal loss that has led them to an unconventional group meeting, every Tuesday night at seven. A meeting they’ve been particularly selected for that will help them finally move on. At least, that’s the claim.

As they warily eye one another and their unnervingly observant group leader, one question hangs over them: why were they chosen? To get the answer, they are going to have to share a whole lot of themselves first. Getting Freya, Callum, Mischa, and Victoria to trust each other is vital–because the real reason they’re connected will shift the ground beneath their feet.

Riveting and wise, The Seven O’Clock Club shows us the courage needed to face your past and the joy that can be found in stepping into your future.

Grateful Reader Review by Dorothy Schwab- First reviewed for BookBrowse-First Impressions- 11/24

Good Grief!

Four strangers, each grieving a loss, are brought together for an experiment conducted by an aspiring young therapist. Each Tuesday at seven o’clock the proverbial onion layers are peeled back to reveal the situations that brought the four together. The therapist begins by asking each wary client to hearken back to a happy childhood memory. Through weekly conversations and outside interactions, bonds are slowly built, showing the power of sharing, trust, and speaking the truth aloud. The revelations are spellbinding, heart wrenching, and believable, making for anxious reader moments awaiting the next meeting. Startling discoveries lead to an unsettling, thought-provoking ending.

The Seven O’ Clock Club is a scientific rather than spiritual approach to grief. Unpacking feelings of guilt, learning to trust, seeking forgiveness, and finding truth, are themes in this soul-searching journey through grief.

The Last Love Note by Emma Grey

Book of the Month Club Pick, Indie Next Pick, Publishers Lunch Buzz Book, Top 10 Washington Post- Publication November 7, 2023-Zibby Books-Women’s Fiction-376pp

Book Summary

Kate is a bit of a mess. Two years after losing her young husband Cameron, she’s grieving, solo parenting, working like mad at her university fundraising job, always dropping the balls—and yet clinging to her sense of humor. Lurching from one comedic crisis to the next, she also navigates an overbearing mom and a Tinder-obsessed best friend who’s determined to matchmake Kate with her hot new neighbor. When an in-flight problem leaves Kate and her boss, Hugh, stranded for a weekend on the east coast of Australia, she finally has a chance, away from her son, to really process her grief and see what’s right in front of her. Can she let go of the love of her life and risk her heart a second time? When it becomes clear that Hugh is hiding a secret, Kate turns to the trail of scribbled notes she once used to hold her life together. The first note captured her heart. Will the last note set it free? The Last Love Note will make readers laugh, cry, and renew their faith in the resilience of the human heart—and in love itself.

Grateful Reader Review by Dorothy Schwab

The Last Love Note is considered a rom com, but that pigeonhole is not a good fit for me. This novel is about losing. Losing love, jobs, babies. Sounds depressing right, but the novel is about so much more. The setting is Australia, so the places were unfamiliar, but Emma Grey’s sense of place takes over! At the novel’s core is the journey of a widow through grief, the understanding and acceptance of the self-sacrificing actions of others, and the mosaic of the human heart. There are secrets, low points and turning points-all revealed through love notes. Readers will long remember the overall theme that ‘love outlives death.’ This novel is full of humor and scaffolded grief shrouded in wisdom.

Emma is a novelist, feature writer, photographer, professional speaker and accountability coach.
She has been writing since she first fell for Anne of Green Gables at fourteen and is the author of YA fiction, memoir, and nonfiction. She wrote her first adult novel, The Last Love Note, in the wake of her husband’s death. It’s a fictional tribute to their love, an attempt to articulate the magnitude of her loss and a life-affirming commitment to hope. Emma lives just outside Canberra, where her world centers on her two adult daughters, young son, loved step-children and step-grandchildren, writing, photography and endlessly chasing the Aurora Australis.

Here is the link to the Zibby Media page featuring Emma Grey and The Last Love Note. Readers will find the book club kit, bonus content, a play list and much more! https://zibbymedia.com/blogs/our-books/the-last-love-note