Aisling Ever After By Emer McLysaght and Sarah Breen

‘Aisling Ever After’ is the latest book by Emer McLysaght and Sarah Breen.

Living in the Big Apple feels like a movie, especially when Aisling finds her ex-boyfriend John on her dooorstep. Can his new-found devotion (and his new six-pack!) lure her back home? Or should she continue to chase the American dream with the Irish Mafia and Jeff, the ridey fireman? Meanwhile, back in Ballygobbard, it’s all go. Baby showers are the new hen parties, Mammy and Dr Trevor are more serious than Aisling thought, and the prospect of two evil stepsisters has her doubting her place in the family. Pulled between head, heart and home, Aisling strives to finally create her own happy-ever-after.

If I could have, I would have read this book in one sitting but life got in the way and on the plus side, I got to spend a bit more time with Aisling. This is the final book in the Aisling series and the women behind the series have really given her a great send off in her final hurrah.

In the last book, ‘Aisling and the City’ Aisling’s ex-boyfriend John turned up at her apartment in New York, as Jeff, her fireman boyfriend popped out to the shop and with an ending like an episode of ‘Eastenders’, we all waited eagerly for the next instalment.

In this book, we see Aisling thrive in her job and her friends but with John’s sudden reappearance, she finds herself struggling with her head and heart, although she loves New York, her heart belongs in Ballygobbard along with her mammy and helping organise Majella’s mother of all baby showers.

It’s hard to fully go into this book as it’s easy to give some vital parts of the story away, but once again, the women have delivered a story that leaves the reader feeling nostalgic and sad as we say a fond farewell to Aisling. The story is a poignant and witty one, where Aisling deals with problems that are both relatable and heartbreaking, all whilst looking after others and putting everyone before herself. The storytelling is engaging, fun and tender as Aisling makes some big decisions in her life as well as deal with some major adjustments. I’ve always loved the Aisling series, she’s a characters that is reflected in everyone, organised, honest and with a small country mind that can take on the world.

‘Aisling Ever After’ is a lovely final chapter to the series and although, it wasn’t the fairytale ending that we all expected, it was a bittersweet ending that made me cry, snort with laughter and wish all the best for Aisling, John, Magjella, Pablo, Mammy and the ever eccentric Mad Tom. I hope at some point, we will see a return to Aisling and see how life has panned out, hopefully she’s put Ballygobbard on the map for event management and has the family she has always dreamed off.

You can buy ‘Aisling Ever After’ from Amazon and is available to buy from good bookshops.