Many thanks to NetGalley and publisher HQ for giving me the opportunity to read this book prior to publication.
Expected: 2 April 2020
When Flora falls in love with Jack, suddenly she’s not only handling a very cranky teenager, but she’s also living in the shadow of Jack’s perfect, immortalised wife, Becca. Every summer, Becca and Jack would holiday with Becca’s oldest friends and Jack wants to continue the tradition, so now Flora must face a summer trying to live up to Becca’s memory, with not only Jack’s daughter looking on, but with Becca’s best friends judging her every move…
The more Flora tries to impress everyone, the more things go horribly wrong…but as the summer unfolds, Flora begins pushing her own boundaries, and finding herself in a way that she never thought she needed to.
And she soon learns that families come in all shapes and sizes.
The review
It's very difficult to review something when you don't have a strong opinion either way. And, unfortunately that's exactly where I find myself with this book. There was nothing not to like - it was a well-written, warm-hearted read - but at the same time it didn't quite capture my imagination either.
This was the story of Flora embarking on a relationship with widower Jack, and the emotional challenges that come hand-in-hand with a father of two - it's not just him but the whole family who needs to fall in love with you too. As such it wasn't meant to be a love story but a story of family dynamics.
However, to go from Jack and Flora accidentally meeting, to being introduced to the family and moving in together all within the space of a few chapters seemed way to quick. I wanted the build-up as without it, like Izzy, Jack's teenage daughter, I just couldn't believe in the relationship and see how the two were remotely compatible and understand why Jack would knowingly upset his fragile family dynamic for someone he'd only just met.
That said I did like the fast pace. The book started with the lure of an untold secret about Becca, Jack's dead wife, and so needed to progress quickly through Flora trying to live up to this image of Becca as the perfect, wide, mother, friend and career-woman, to the big reveal that Becca was actually as flawed as the rest of them. Every page and word were relevant - there was definitely no filler.
I also loved the ending and the reveal, which without wanting to give too much away showed great depth and likeability to Jack's character - it was just a shame that we had to wait until the end to see it and understand him or his relationship with Flora. And, this was the other problem in that whilst I really liked Izzy, I didn't warm to either Jack (for the reasons just given) or Flora. Izzy described Flora as someone you don't want to but can't help liking because she's so nice. But, I had no such problem, for me Flora was too nice, too much of a people-pleaser, too vanilla to really champion.
All-in-all this is a nice story realistically portraying the highs and lows of family life as well as love and loss without ever becoming too downhearted or sad. However, once again its very much a nice read rather than a must-read.
The author
Follow @SarahMorgan_ or find out more at sarahmorgan.com
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