The Year of Her Life - Tapa dura

'Captivating...Brings a freshness and verve to the boy-meets-girl story. The Ryan twist on fictional romance invests the rosy garden of love with some of the sharpest thorns.' Justine McCarthy, Irish Independent; 'Liz Ryan understands not only a woman's heart but a woman's mind.' Terry Keane, Sunday Times (Ireland); 'Will delight the reader who has already devoured Maeve Binchy.' Liverpool Echo (Blood Lines); 'A big, fast-moving story, lit with terse insights.' Dublin Evening Herald (A Note of Parting); 'Liz Ryan is smart and funny and she writes well.' Irish Times (A Taste of Freedom)

Lauren Kilroy and Saiv Lovett have been best friends since one was a college dropout while the other headed the class. A decade later, Lauren is a high-flying advertising executive while Saiv is a shy philosophy professor, and still, each is the first person the other turns to for help. And now, Lauren needs her friend. Her hectic life includes parties every night, an apartment in trendy Temple Bar - and being the mistress of a high-profile judge who has given her what could be a fatal disease. Faced with the illness but refusing to confront it, Lauren contacts Saiv and talks her into into flying off to Italy, where a new world opens up for them both. While Lauren begins to re-think her busy, superficial, money-mad life and make the most of every moment, Saiv finds her own life changing along with Lauren's.