Every Cloud

by Gemma Robson

Jem at 26 thought she had it all, loving devoted husband and three children; she felt blessed and was blissfully happy, until a tragic accident takes the life she knew away. It’s a mother worst nightmare one that many of her friends would have dearly died instead of going through the pain she felt. Nevertheless, Jem had a choice, fight, or die.

Deciding she would rather fight for a new life than die in her old one, she flees to America to start again. She encounters that for a large country here, problems never go away, but with the help of her colourful friends she has met, she surely could find a way through the dark. Therefore, with the help of Betty, an elderly lady but compassionate and loyal, and Justin a lively but fiery gay from Las Vegas she begins to think her life was complete. What she hadn’t bargained for was Ryan, An overly attractive and sexy as hell actor she had always loved and admired. Her life is suddenly swept from underneath her in a fairy tale romance. However, at what cost will that fairytale ending be? Her job, her friends, or maybe even her family?

However, not all is happy in what should be her happily ever after. Ryan’s ex-girlfriend, Krista (or as Jem calls her, the pedicure princess) is out to make trouble at every chance she gets. After being dumped in an ungracious manner, Krista feels resentment towards Ryan- who has finally found happiness, and anything Ryan loves must be destroyed at all cost. However, will she win or will Krista’s mind games cost her everything?

A family accident puts into perspective that life is too short and she finally begins to understand herself and her feelings, and goes after Ryan to devote her life to him.

However, what will Ryan do when he discovers Jem’s deep dark past, and will Jem find her happily ever after? On the other hand, will the biggest skeleton in Jem’s past come back to haunt her causing her to lose everything she has wanted and worked to achieve.

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 25, 2013

Reviews

[Audrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story start in a most terrifying situation any mother would dread. Its gut wrenching and psinful to read.
I had to skipped through the pages to get over the horrific part which actually crucial to the story. The author did a great job writing the emotions and describing the situation to make it so real in mind.

However, i dont feel much connection with Ryan as I felt like there was not much development along the way that showed his true character or something to relate to. I felt that way to the rest of the characters. Its just not deep enough or me to either like or love them. With Ryan, It felt like one minute he didn’t like her and the next he was head over heels in love with her.

I was looking forward to her journey in America bur felt a lot of it is like a background story and again not enough or me to be part of it or truly caught up in it. The story has a lot of potential that i wish the author would take time to elaborate and dwell on.

Overall, its a nice story of blessing in disguise and a story of hope where things will get better eventually even after a tragedy.

Personally, I gave the story 3 - 3.5 stars. Im a sucker for hopeful love stories.

[Fiona Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was given this book in exchange for an honest review.
Since receiving this book I have also got to know the author a bit more.

This is a story about loss, and how that loss changes the life of a young woman in ways she could never imagine.

Jem is happily living her life with husband Joel, and their 3 young children. They are happy together, living the life she always dreamed of. However fate plays a cruel hand and that happy life is shattered by a tragic accident.

In the aftermath of this accident Jem decides on a radical change of direction. She moves to America, gets a new job, a new apartment, and finds herself with new friends. Everything is going along at a good pace when she meets someone who could, again, change the direction her life is going in.

Due to unforeseen circumstances, however, the happy ever after Jem wants doesn't happen. She is forced to return to the UK and begins to accept that her life will never be the same again.

Does her life continue along the same path though? Or will something once again happen to change that path?

This was a good story, written by a young woman who, herself, has 3 young children. I believe a lot of the author is in this story in some ways. The basis for the story is a good, but sad, one.

There are 2 different parts which stick out as being excellent. The first is a poem, read out at a funeral. I know now that this poem was not found anywhere but came from the author herself.

"A gift for such a little while
Your loss just seems so wrong,
You should not have left before us,
It’s with loved ones you belong.
No farewell words were spoken,
No time to say goodbye,
You were gone before we knew it, and only
God knows why.
We’ll be together soon, my angel’s
So please don’t shed a tear,
And keep each other safe.
Sleep tight my darling angels."

The second is offered to Jem by one of her new friends, as a way of saying sorry to hear about your loss -

“We remember those three fallen angels and one magnificent husband. They were taken by our almighty God in one tragic moment, although they will always remain in the memories that we keep. Their absence is felt all around us.”

There is one thing which I do need to say about the whole story, however. Something which to me is as important as the story itself. The grammar throughout the book leaves a lot to be desired. There are constant spelling errors, missing letters, wrong words used, and there are also a few occasions where text speak has been used rather than the words themselves.
I have spoken to the author about this, and she has explained that she had no one to help her with the checking before publishing, but she is aware of it for her next book, Silver Linings, which is a sequel to Every Cloud.

The author, Gemma, is a young married woman coping with a young family and writing in her spare time. She has managed to write this story and publish it herself, and for that I take my hat off to her. She understands her limitations but has been unable to gain assistance for this book. I have every hope that her next book will continue the story well, and that she will have the assistance lacking with this book. She is an author to look out for in my opinion.

[Carol***BeautyandtheBeastlyBooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

www.sexandthebooks.wordpress.com

Well, first of all,the first part of the book got me wrecked. It was devastating to read, so I can only imagine what Gemma Robson felt writing it...
Second, I thought some things were a little bit rushed and happened too fast. She met Ryan and a in one date they are already dating and professing to be each others forever. Don't get me wrong, I'm a sucker for love stories, and I was rooting for them, but I felt they should have had a bit more of a courtship.
Ryan...well, I didn't feel very connected to him and I actually don't know what to think of him...He showed us twice his "evil" side, being rude to Jem before he got to know her and then when she wasn't ready to go out with him to that fancy place.
Krista...I hate you bitch! Why does someone has the urge and desire not only to wish but actually causing harm to another person? Someone who didn't nothing, but be a good person and someone more attractive and loving them her! Arrrgh, I wanted to enter my iPad and bitch-slap her!
Considering all, this was a good story, it showed us that Jem was healing from the devastating pain she went through. I just wish her healing and maturing were more explored here, so I wouldn't feel I lost a part of the story.
Maybe that way, things weren't so rushed. I can't wait to start the sequel, Silver Lining, I believe we will see more of the characters but I also think we'll see another side of them.
Ryan needs to grow up and show us more of himself and Jem, I feel sorry for her, but she might need to start thinking things through and talking more with others, specially Ryan. Krista...I need to see her suffer LOL.
I loved Justin, everybody should have a gay friend like him!!! He is the character I think it's one of the most important here. He is the voice of reason for Jem, he thinks like me, that maybe she rushed things a little bit, but he's also there for her. Just as I'm here to read and know more of the story she still have to tell us!! I see things only getting better from here!

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Every Cloud by Gemma Robson


This book starts off by ripping your heart out..lol. Yes, I had the ugly cry. If you don’t want any kind of spoiler, then I suggest you don’t read this review. I simply can`t write it without revealing some of the book. Like I said, it starts out with an issue that is every parents worst nightmare. The main character loses her husband and her 3 children in a horrific car accident (one that she is not in). The aftermath that ensues left me an emotional mess. I had to put the kindle down and take a break, it was that emotional. She must deal with 2 of her 3 children on life support which she finally decides to take them off, the funerals and in general the impact of what has happened. Her life has been taken away from her in the blink of an eye. It is written so beautifully that you can feel her pain, anguish and heartache. As the book progresses, she is faced with the fact that she must now pick up the pieces and move on with her life. Somehow. This is where the book changes a little. I found that the choices she makes to move on were a little disconnected and rushed for someone in her situation. But everyone deals with loss differently. Supporting characters are then introduced and I instantly fell in love with them. Only I wanted to know more about them then the book had time for. She meets the owner of a coffee shop she frequents who “takes her under her wing” and has a crazy, funny neighbor who befriends her and attempts to pull her out of her shell. I wanted more from these two characters and I am hoping and keeping my fingers crossed we see more of them and their craziness in the next book!! Lastly, I am looking forward to also seeing what happens with her second chance at love as well…don’t want to reveal too much about that but yes, she gets another chance!!!

[Suzy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received this book from the author in exchange for a fair review:

Every Cloud is the story of Jem, a young wife and mother who loses her husband and 3 children in tragic accident and the changes she then sets about making to her life.

The first 4 chapters of this book were quite hard to read, the descriptions used and the emotion coming out of the pages were very strong and did a good job at pulling on my heart strings.

Then the story started to go downhill for me. Unfortunately I could not understand or reconcile Jems decision on quite possibly the saddest day of her life to up sticks and move to the US. I also struggled to comprehend her dizzying lack of grief - I know it is said we Brits have a "stiff upper lip" but this was beyond the pale for me.

I found the secondary characters to be two dimensional, in fact all the characters needed much more development. Ryan the hero was an epic douche and seemed to have some mental problems a good psychiatrist could probably help with. There were many times in this book I laughed hysterically, but I don't think Ms Robson was trying to make the reader laugh which was unfortunate. The ending was a huge WTF moment, it simply did not work.

I've read that this was Ms Robson first novel and as such I commend her for putting her work out there but unfortunately this book is not one I enjoyed.

[The Suburban Eclectic · Rating 2 out of 5]

A young woman picking herself up and starting over after a tragedy sounds interesting right?
I really liked Jem's move to NY (who doesn't dream of doing that?) and the celeb magazine angle. I did note a few grammatical errors but nothing that made it unreadable. However I found the character development lacking. I question Jem's thought process in her newfound love. I wanted to root for her more but I just didn't understand some of her choices. Perhaps more inner dialogue would have helped. Jem's first encounter with her movie star crush Ryan was not so great but a good example that our hero's are not always what they seem, but I felt it was a missed opportunity to explore that arc. Also I thought there was something more going on with his "stalker" tendencies and odd behavior. I really liked the Jem's new job at a tabloid and I thought that could have played more of a role in the story (Celeb, regular gal who works at a entertainment mag, conflict ensues, etc)
The cliffhanger was good, but the lead up weak. You could see the reconciliation coming, which is expected as it is a romance, but it felt rushed.
I am intrigued by this author and I appreciate her work on her first novel.

[Felecia Hickman- amaya · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story started off to be heart wrenching. I couldn't breathe thru the first 5 Chapters. It was one on the most tragic things I have ever read. The story them took a turn for the better. I always start my reviews with the characters I don't like.

Krista: you are a disgusting foul woman. I'm am afraid of what you will do in the next book.

Jem: honey wow I couldn't even imagine to get thru what you had to endure. I commend your strength to want to start over. I don't think I could manage the strength. I am happy that you have found yourself in the end and are able to be happy again. You experienced new things and became a brand new you. In looking forward to the next part of your story. Glad you found Justin and Betty to be your friends they are good for you .

Ryan : your a sweetheart . I like that you were drawn to Jem and could be her saving grace.

I really liked this book after I got past the tragic parts. I wish there was more of Ryan and Jem it felt a little rushed. I'm looking forward to the next book and really hoping for a HEA for them. I love drama filed book so I'm sure Krista will make it interesting .
This book really did bring out a lot of emotions. I cried a lot and I was happy when I got to the sweet parts. Great job Gemma looking forward to Silver Lining

[Amy Barber · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd give this 3.75 stars. The first third of this book had me tears. I don't know how Ms. Robson wrote it being the mother of 3 kids, it devastated me since that is my situation as well. It was crucial to the story though and that part was very well written, full of emotion and you really bonded with the characters. Then Jem moves to the US to remove herself from everyone's pity, which I understood. She starts a life there, everything is pretty normal, job, apartment, few close friends, then she gets drug into being the singer for a dance troupe which her neighbor/friend is the leader of. I thought this a little odd since there was no mention of any interest in such things before, but she seemed to have a knack for it, so I went with it. That leads her to meeting a famous actor, Ryan. I did not feel their connection for each other although I am hoping to in the next book. We know very little about Ryan and then the ending (don't want to give anything away) was really hard for me to grasp, but like I said, I am hoping to understand more in the next book, which I will definitely be reading. This was a pretty quick read, I would have liked some more detail in the 2nd half of the book, like there was in the first, but it is overall, well written and a great story.

[Bennita · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 1/2 stars

I was immediately distracted by the lack of editing with this book, especially missing letters in words, but as I read on, the story became very compelling. Jem suffered unimaginable tragedy after tragedy and I was just about in tears. The author did a really good job of getting the reader to sympathize with Jem. After Jem leaves her horrible past and goes to the US, things got a little sketchy for me. I immediately hated Ryan (the hero). He was rude and obnoxious and spoke to Jem like she was an imbecile, yet she was attracted to him. I wasn't sure why she would even give him the time of day after he embarrassed her in a restaurant full of people and even called her names. After their first "sit down", Ryan is kissing her and promising forever. Their relationship just felt rushed and unbelievable. Jem started off as a strong character that suffered a devastating loss and vowed to go on with her life, but she morphed into a weak character without a backbone. I would have liked to see Jem's turmoil upon entering a new relationship after the recent loss of her husband. She just kind of jumped right into a relationship with Ryan. This book was entertaining but I felt the characters needed some work.

[Judi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gemma Robson has certainly proven in her book that every cloud most definitely has a silver lining! From the outset of this book I became so emotionally attached to Jem, the lead character. Ms. Robson has a unique ability to grab her audience and envelope them in the story. I cried sad tears, laughed, wanted to give Jem a high-five, and the hopeless romantic in me fell in love with Jems' love interest.

You will not be disappointed in this read. It promises a plethera of emotion! If you are one that enjoys really connecting with the characters and reading a love story that is more than just erotica, this book is a must read.

[Terry Trahan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read! Had me in sad tears, laughing and happy tears. Gemma Robson has a talent that is very rare. It is quite refreshing to know that she is continuing to write and never give up!

Life has been cruel to Jem! But just as the saying goes, "Every cloud has a silver lining" Gemma has proven that life,although at times can be cruel, it always goes exactly the way it should!

It saddens me that Gemma didn't have an editor to assist her with her debut novel, but the storyline is remarkable. From tragedy comes ecstasy! Keep writing Gemma and keep shining!!

[Stacy Franklin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story will make you cry so much in the first 5 chapters. How do you go on in life when you lose your husband and children in a tragic accident? That's exactly what Jem needs to figure out. Deciding moving to America is what's best she meets her all time favorite actor Ryan, and how cool is it that they fall in love. Of course there has to be a rotten bitch in the story and that would Krista, the one who wants Ryan. And of course you gotta love Jem's best friend Justin. Great story Gemma Robson!!

[Marivett · Rating 3 out of 5]

The beginning of this book was gut wrenching. Devastating. Every parents' worst nightmare. It started out very emotional. The main character is faced with picking up the pieces and moving on. She moves to the US and starts a new life there & meets Ryan. However, she is forced to move back to the UK & accepts that her life will never be the same. I would've liked for more character development. I really wasn't feeling Ryan. It was kinda rushed at the end but this is the author's first book and I'm looking forward to book two and getting more answers. I'm wishing for a HEA :-)

[Alwaysreadingbooks - Reading Drinking and Relaxing · Rating 4 out of 5]

I must say from the very beginning I was so caught up in this book that I did not stop reading it until I was through. Jem suffers from a terrible lost in the beginning of the book, one that I don't think that I could bounce back from but she does and she decides that the best thing for her to do is leave and start her life over new and fresh. In the process of doing this she meets some wonderful people and a new love name Ryan. I look forward to the next book in this installment.

[Nikki · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well let me just start by saying I balled my eyes out during the beginning of this story, I can't imagine how Jem made it through that. Starting new in NY was smart idea for Jem. I loved the friends she made and just felt a little more character development would have been better. I needed more connection with Ryan and Jem. It ended a bit too abruptly. The concept was promising just wanted a little more. The author gave me this book for an honest review.

[Jaime Buncie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nutshell, this book had everything. I went from all-out bawling to laughing about Justin, to hoping for Jem...I went through all these emotions while reading this book. It was incredible, to say the least. I hope to see more from this author in the future.

[Danni Oxtoby · Rating 2 out of 5]

i really really really wanted to love this book but unfortunatly it wasnt for me :( i couldnt get my head around her actions after her family died i know everyone deals with grief in their own way and maybe its that her way wouldnt be my way but it just didnt seem realistic.