Thank you to the publisher and Sue for letting me take part in the blog tour, check the poster at the bottom to follow other fab bloggers’ stops on the tour!
Review
While I’ve never read any of Sue’s previous books before, in a similar fashion to many authors that are ‘new to me’, I have several waiting for me on my kindle. When offered the chance to read and review Sue’s new book, it sounded too good to resist.
The book opens with a real heart-wrenching chapter about Mike, his final moments, and the realisation for Rosie that it’s all coming to an end. It’s so sad to read her hurried thoughts while on the hunt for pineapple yoghurts, It’s also heart breaking to read that despite loving Mike, he wasn’t the love of her life. Though if he had been, this would perhaps been the shortest adult book on record.
After the prologue we pick back up 1 year after, and Rosie is still grieving and coming to terms with her loss. She decides to take the first big step though, and return to work in the flower shop she owns and runs with her daughters. Despite Mike not being the love of Rosie’s life, you do get the feeling that she really did love him and need him by the way she feels after he has gone, she doesn’t move in haste.
Getting to know Rosie throughout the book was an absolute pleasure, I was mildly worried I wouldn’t relate or connect with her because of her age (this occasionally happens in YA and other books where I’ve read someone who’s much older. This was unfounded, I connected with her and got her point of view. I was so happy when she started finding her old self and her spark again. Understandably she took a long time to grieve over Mike, who wouldn’t, he was her rock, but it took meeting Peter gain after 40 years for her to realise that she has a life of her own. Also showing that while she is a big part of her family, she can have the best of both worlds, finding time for her daughters and grandchildren, but also herself as well.
Anna, the eldest of Rosie’s children, is a hard one to figure out. She does so much that is dislikable, but its clear to me she can’t help it. It doesn’t seem her nature to be mean, but she is clearly one of life’s worriers, and it only makes her see the worst in every situation. I can completely sympathise with that, and while her treatment of her mother, was over protective at best, but came across as mean (Rosie was right to feel peeved at Anna), I am also one of life’s worriers, so I’m not sure that how I would react, if a similar situation was to happen to me. When I get worried and anxious about something, I can only see bad outcomes at times, it sometimes leads me to reasoning that, shall we say, isn’t particularly the most sensible of trains of thought.
I think Rosie has an amazing head on her for coping and dealing with this situation. I would have probably been more hot headed in her situation.
Peter, what to say?! I normally read about male suitors who are dreamy and perfect and handsome, and while Peter was incredibly charming, I was never under the impression that I would fancy him on looks alone, and that is due to age. That said, it was interesting reading someone that could be a suitor for my mother (if she was single of course).
During the flashbacks to when Rosie first met Peter (or Pierre) it was incredibly easy to see why Rosie fell in love. He seemed cooler and more grown up than her, especially with Rosie’s strict upbringing, it was inevitable that he would seem exotic and cool and it completely ties in with how I felt about an ex that I had at a similar age to Rosie.
Grown up Peter though is, as I said, charming. At times however he can seem selfish as he doesn’t really ‘get’ children and their ‘bonds’ even when fully grown up (and that’s understandable) but just as Rosie grows, so does Peter. Which goes to show you’re never too old to grow and improve as a person.
This book isn’t just a romance. Naturally that’s a fairly big part of it, but it’s about finding yourself and being true to yourself. About doing things, just for you and not because you think other people expect or want that from you. We can all take lessons from that. Heart-warming and beautiful, this is a perfect read for just simply relaxing and unwinding after a long day.
Published by: Sphere
Gratefully received from the Publisher for review
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Order on: Amazon UK | Amazon US | Book Depository
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