Thank you to Beauty and Lace for the opportunity to read The Forever Place written by Michelle Montebello.
This is a wonderful story. Once you start reading you can not put it down!
Marley Kincaid is a criminal lawyer. She is beautiful, intelligent and successful. She appears to have it all.
Everyone is entitled to a defence, and as a criminal lawyer, she has defended her share of horrific cases.
Austin, her boyfriend is also a lawyer. The two of them party hard, spending most nights in the bars of inner-city Melbourne. They need to unwind after their highly stressful jobs – and isn’t alcohol and drugs the way everybody gets over a hard day at work? Well, at least all her friends do.
Recklessly, after a long drinking session, Marley drives the few streets to her St Kilda townhouse. Marley walks away from an accident with minor injuries. The occupants of the other car, a heavily pregnant woman and her husband are lucky to survive. The accident could have been so much worse for everyone.
Being lawyers, they are familiar with ways to exploit the legal system. The problem for Marley is she needs a character reference to assist with a more favourable sentence.
The one person she can ask is her sister Anna. The sisters are vastly different. Anna lives in the Dandenong Ranges with her husband Tom and three children. They are expecting their fourth child. Tom and Anna are not drinkers and are supporters of a healthy lifestyle.
Anna confronts Marely hoping to make her realise that she needs help and that she is an alcoholic.
The deal is, Anna will write a reference if Marely goes into rehab. Not just any rehab, but to spend two weeks on White Cedar Island, east of the Canadian mainland and in the North Atlantic Ocean. The island is considered one of the healthiest places on Earth. A Blue Zone.
Island life is so different to her Melbourne one. Marley meets some amazing people.
But not everyone on the Island is welcoming to Marley.
In this tranquil place, Marley has a chance to deal with her problems and face the trauma of her past. For any relationship to work, there must be truthfulness. If you can’t be truthful to yourself, how can you be truthful to the people who care about you?
The story is about Marley’s journey to recovery. Her highs and lows and a chance to love and to be loved.
The book is easy to read with wonderful characters in an exquisite setting. Marley’s story is told with empathy and an understanding of all that she is going through. You so want things to work out for her.
Five stars.
ISBN: 978-0987641687
A selection of our Beauty and Lace Club Members are reading The Forever Place by Michelle Montebello. You can read their comments below, or add your own review.
I love to read, any book on any topic. I now love ebooks as they are easier to store, I was running out of bookshelves! My other interests are family, gardening and our beautiful King Charles spaniel dog who is my reading companion.
Michelle Montebello has certainly written another great book,
Marley is a criminal defence lawyer based in Melbourne she is excellent at her job, but is on a path to destruction partying with her boyfriend, and way too much alcohol,
A accident brings her problems to a head, her sister lays down the law and if Marley wants to see her family she has to clean her act up,
She takes time of work and travels to White Cedar Island which is remote of Canada,
A stay of two weeks turns into much longer as she starts to detox and feels better,
The description of the island and locals is amazing, A truly wonderful book,
Thanks Beauty and Lace
Dear Deborah,
Thank you for your kind review of The Forever Place. I’m so glad you enjoyed it.
Michelle xx
To be honest, I’d never heard of a ‘Blue Zone’ before, a rare place where people live longer than the rest of the world, with vitality, health and happiness. It’s to one of those blue zones, White Cedar Island off the Canadian coast in the North Atlantic Ocean, that criminal lawyer Marley is sent by her sister. Marley’s an alcoholic, in a damaging co-dependent relationship with another criminal lawyer in the same firm. They work hard, drink hard, do recreational drugs hard, go to bed at dawn, then get up a few scant hours later to proceed with their difficult job – aided by more booze and drugs. It’s a devastating cycle that can only lead to disaster in the end. When Marley has a terrible drunk driving accident, her sister Anna does the tough love thing and gives Marley ultimatums to stop drinking or else. We all need a sister like Anna. So Marley ends up on the other side of the world, in terrible withdrawal, on White Cedar Island. This island sounds magical. A place of lush beauty and care, where everyone lives a good, healthy lifestyle. Day One, in not the best of conditions and desperately craving a drink, Marley meets Lachlan, a truffle farmer. It all goes on from there. Michelle Montebello gives us huge issues in this book: unhealthy co-dependent relationships, alcoholism and drug dependence, self-harm, domestic violence and the stress of high-powered jobs. It sounds dire, but set against the healing backdrop of White Cedar Island the issues are handled well. A romance between Marley and Lachlan seems tricky – how can it ever last, given her problems? But forgiveness, love, kindness, compassion and time help make a difference to both of them as Marley bravely faces her demons. Believe me when I say this is an honest and beautiful book, quietly triumphant.
Thankyou to Beauty & Lace and Michelle Montebello for the review copy.
Thank you Malvina for your thoughtful and lovely review. It means the world!
Michelle xx
The Forever Place by Michelle Montebello is my first Contemporary Book by this author whose Historical Fiction books I love.
Marley is a criminal defence lawyer who struggles with alcoholism. After a series of tragic events her sister forces her to travel to a remote island off the Atlantic Coast of Canada. Here she goes through terrible withdrawals but finds friendship, a healthy simple lifestyle and love.
This was a beautifully written, sensitive and realistic story of a young woman who has lost her way and even though she wasn’t particularly likeable, I was invested in her story and hoped for the best for her.
Thanks to Beauty and Lace and Michelle Montebello for my copy of this e-book for review.
Thank you Janine for your lovely review of The Forever Place. I’m so thrilled you enjoyed it and that you have also enjoyed my historicals 🙂
Michelle xx
The Forever Place by Michelle Montenegro is a fantastic story. Confronting, happy, frustrating, emotional are part of the journey of reading about Marley. She is a high profile criminal defence lawyer representing people she does not always believe are innocent. Alcohol and parties become a way to hide her self doubts.
After causing a car accident whilst under the influence she is forced to assess her life. Her sisters ultimatum to spend two weeks on an island to dry out, begin the start of Marley’s attempts to start again.
Her journey has highs and lows, and the reader is with her all the way. Parts of the story were read through the tears in my eyes, but I had to keep reading.
I thoroughly enjoyed this story and will be looking to read Michelle’s other books. Thanks to Beauty and Lace Club for the opportunity to read and review.
Thank you for your beautiful review, Fay! I’m so glad you enjoyed The Forever Place 🙂
Michelle xx
Thank you so much Beauty and Lace for the opportunity to read another of Michelle Montebello’s books. I was introduced to Michelle by Beauty and Lace when I was fortunate enough to review ‘The Lost Letters of Playfair Street’ which I absolutely adored. Michelle’s next offering ‘The Forever Place’ certainly delivers and is once again a five-star read for me.
Michelle’s writing is honey on the page, she has a definite style which resonates with her reader’s and keeps them coming back for more. I have loved all of Michelle’s female protagonists both Charlotte and Paige in The Lost Letters of Playfair Street’ and Marley and her sister Anna.
Marley following in her father’s footsteps is a criminal lawyer in Melbourne, Marley works hard, plays harder, burns the candle at both ends, is a functioning alcoholic, who abuses the bottle, and is carefree with drugs, her choice of friends and her not so clever or supportive choice of lover. Everything for Marley is full-on, until early one morning, it literally comes to a screeching halt. Anna gives Marley an ultimatum, if Anna gives Marley what she needs, Marley has to relocate to remote picturesque White Cedar Island to dry out and re-evaluate her life.
Marley’s life takes a dramatic turn for the better, after initial reluctance and each attempt to leave the island thwarted the slow pace of island life begins to grow on Marley along with its electric inhabitants.
Michelle has done it again with this book, which is brilliantly written, enticing you further and further into the story, investing in each character, wanting the very best for them, riding their highs and lows, and never wanting the story to end.
Thank you, Beauty and Lace, for the opportunity to review ‘The Forever Place.’ I cannot recommend ‘The Forever Place’ highly enough and anxiously await Michelle’s next book.
Dear Kathy,
Thank you for your gorgeous review of The Forever Place. I’m so thrilled you enjoyed it and thanks for recommending it 🙂
Michelle xx
Montebello delivers again – after LOVING her book, The Lost Letters of Playfair Street I was excited to receive an Advance Reader Copy of her latest book The Forever Place.
I powered through this beautiful drama/romance in a weekend. I fell in love with White Cedar and all that it brought the main character Marley – a criminal defence lawyer from Melbourne with a chequered history and a dependence on alcohol. When she hits rock bottom and her life and career is on the line, Marley’s sister Anna sends her to White Cedar, a ‘blue zone’ on the other side of the world – an island off the coast of Nova Scotia. It is here that Marley is attempting to recover from her alcoholism but the Island brings with it a whole new set of challenges, emotions, friendships and romance. Will Marley recover and return to her busy Melbourne life?
The Forever Place is a beautifully written book which highlights the pressures and impacts modern day busy lives can have on people. It also demonstrates that simplicity and freedom of these pressures can bring pure pleasure and real quality to our lives.
I loved this book and the rollercoaster of emotions it took me on – I was so invested in Marley’s story. I highly recommend The Forever Place to anyone looking for their next fiction read – just make sure you have no plans for the weekend as you’ll want to finish it!
Thanks to Beauty and Lace for the opportunity to read and review this book.
Hello Nikki,
A huge thank you for your lovely words for Forever! I’m glad you enjoyed Marley’s story and that it transported you 🙂
All the best.
Michelle x
This was a really great read, a compassionate look at a woman struggling with alcohol addiction and the havoc it plays with her life and those around her.
I was completely engaged in this story from start to finish, I felt so much compassion for Marley and her struggle with alcohol addiction and the choices she makes and the impact this has on her relationships and her professional life.
Sometimes it really does take hitting rock bottom to make you take a look at what is going on, and for Marley it took hitting rock bottom and an ultimatum from her sister before she is willing (albeit under duress), to make a change.
Marley is a criminal defence attorney whose life was badly affected by the repercussions of a case she worked on a couple of years before. Without being aware of it, alcohol has become more than just a fun time. I could relate to this myself and really felt for her when she became aware just how much she was relying on alcohol to function and also how much certain relationships relied on that alcohol consumption.
Michelle Montebello introduces us to ‘Blue Zones’ which are some of the healthiest places on earth to live, (there is a link in the back of the book if you want to know more), White Cedar Island is off the coast of Nova Scotia (this is actually a made-up blue zone based on the real blue zones, which is a shame because I could have lived there myself for half a year (the summer half) if it had been real). Cedar Island is a small community with healthy eating, mostly a vegan diet, self-sustainable for the most part and very little alcohol available.
Marley originally goes there for two weeks to dry out after her sister’s ultimatum, this is extended when she makes friends with her landlady Noelle, who plays a big part in Marley’s recovery, and with Lachlan, a lovely guy who befriends her, along with his gorgeous dog, and realises if she returns to her life at this point she will go back to drinking and nothing will change. I admired Marley’s determination, once she admitted she had a problem, to make changes in her life.
She has some hard decisions to make during her time on the island and she also makes some bad decisions too, I wanted to pull her aside and say nooo don’t do it, but she had to make her own mistakes in order to learn and move forward.
I think that Marley and Lachlan both had very real flaws, ones that made them both easy to relate to. There were a couple of not so nice characters who played quite important roles in Marley’s life and the outcomes that occurred, both on the island and back in Australia.
This really was a wonderful read, highlighting the very real struggle of addiction that so many people deal with every day.
Thank you to Beauty and Lace Book Club and Michelle Montebello for a digital copy of this novel in return for an honest review.
Thank you to Beauty and Lace Book Club and Michelle Montebello for a copy of this novel. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and read it in one weekend! Michelle’s writing is so descriptive I felt like I had watched a movie as I read the book! Hint, Hint!
The story is about Marley, a young successful lawyer following a self destructive path. She has everything she wants but is haunted by a past case. Marley’s sister insists she goes to an isolated location to recover and mend her dangerous ways, and remove herself from destructive influences. She moves to a blue zone area, half a world away where people live a mostly vegan lifestyle and live to a ripe old age. It is here that Marley faces her fears and must overcome her challenges.
The characters in this novel feel very real and I laughed with them and wanted to shout at the pages as they made mistakes. But I loved that the characters and felt their experiences both good and bad, we’re realistic.
I can’t wait to read her other novel.
Hello Angela,
Thank you so much for your lovely review of The Forever Place! I’m so glad you enjoyed it. Your beautiful words have made my day 🙂
Michelle x
Oh Claire, thank you so much for this thoughtful and lovely review of The Forever Place. You’ve captured the story perfectly. I’m thrilled you enjoyed it!
Michelle x
Oh Claire, thank you so much for this thoughtful and lovely review of The Forever Place. You’ve captured the story perfectly. I’m thrilled you enjoyed it!
Michelle x
What a wonderful author Michelle Montebello is and one I was lucky enough to come across, over a year ago, through reading an ARC copy of ‘The Lost Letters of Playfair Street’ as part of our wonderful Beauty and Lace Book Club. This new title is just as captivating and believe me once you start you will not want to stop.
Marley Kincaid is a criminal defence lawyer who is ‘falling apart on the inside’ as she struggles with life through alcohol. After a series of tragic and harrowing events Marley’s sister Anna convinces Marley that she needs to take time out, look after herself and treat her addiction to alcohol. There is a place called White Cedar Island off the Canadian mainland in the North Atlantic Ocean that is a ‘blue zone’ – one of the healthiest places on Earth. Marley reluctantly agrees to go and treats it as rehab; however, she doesn’t count on the affect living on the island has on her journey to finding herself.
The journey Marley encounters while facing her demons has its ups and downs but there is love, forgiveness, compassion and above all the need to be true to yourself which shines through.
Loved this book and can’t wait for the author’s next title. A definite 5/5
Dear Karyn,
Thank you for your kind and thoughtful review of The Forever Place. I’m glad you enjoyed it. How lovely would a blue zone island be right about now? 🙂
Michelle x
I loved reading The Forever Place by Michelle Montebello and in fact read it in one day. It’s the second book of Michelle’s that I’ve read and like the last one, it didn’t disappoint. I loved the characters and really liked the way things weren’t made easy for them, but the problems in the story were realistic and weren’t corny like they are in some other stories. The story might be a bit hard to read for some people who have suffered from domestic violence or alcoholism and although I have no experience in either of those areas, I thought that the descriptions and storyline development in those two areas were true. There was an error on page 104 where ‘by’ was written instead of ‘my’, so given that this was an Advanced Reader Copy, I don’t know if that can be corrected before major distribution, but otherwise it was perfect. Thank you Michelle and Beauty and Lace for letting me read this book >:o)
Thanks Simone for your beautiful review of The Forever Place. I’m glad the storyline rang true; it’s music to a writer’s ears to hear this! And I really appreciate you spotting that error. It’s been corrected for distribution, so thanks again.
All the best.
Michelle x
This book was incredible. Had all the feels of love loss and family.
Easy to read but lacks none of the twists and turns.
Thanks beauty and lace and Michelle for the opportunity to read. Thoroughly enjoyed this book!
Hello Stacee,
Many thanks for your lovely words for The Forever Place! I’m so, so glad you enjoyed it 🙂
All the best.
Michelle x