I’m delighted to be taking part in the virtual tour for this super book!
My review
Rebecca is the younger, slightly-disorganised, not-quite-fulfilling-expectations sister of over-achieving Jennifer. So when Jennifer suddenly needs her help when her golden world starts to fall apart, Rebecca is as surprised as everyone else. However, she could do with getting away for a while, following an embarrassing incident when she’d had a drop too much to drink, to let the gossip die down and she feels loyalty towards her sister.
Rebecca is plunged into a hectic life of child-minding and helping at the cookery school, and it’s only made bearable by two men, Ciaran in Ireland and David in New Zealand. Is Rebecca about to get her act together and find happiness and fulfilment, or will she just continue to muddle through life?
Everything about this book is just perfect. There are detailed, atmospheric settings in the bustling city of Dublin and the seaside village of Akaroa, both of which make you want to visit these places for yourself. We meet a whole host of sparkling, distinctive characters who, with their flaws as well as their charm, are a delight to know.
There’s wonderful humour and wit, but you’ll also cringe with embarrassment alongside Rebecca too at times, and feel the tension from the stresses and imperfections of real life that find their way into the story too. It’s a diverting and absorbing read, and one I highly recommend.
Synopsis
Nobody’s Perfect Are They?
Rebecca Loughton’s bumbled her way through her thirty-something years making a few cock-ups along the way. Of course, these wouldn’t be so obvious if it wasn’t for her golden haired, older sister Jennifer.
In a bid to escape Jennifer’s lengthy shadow and to find her happy ever after Rebecca, high-tails it out of her hometown of Christchurch to the other side of the world landing a legal secretary job in the buzzing city of Dublin. A few drinks later, all she has to show for her new life is an embarrassing one-night stand and a dollop of flirtatious banter with her boss Ciaran, who just happens to have a predatory receptionist in hot pursuit of him.
Amidst plans of preventing such a merger, Rebecca receives news that Jennifer’s picture perfect life has a big, fat crack down the middle of it in the form of a philandering husband. Summoned home to look after her sister’s children and cooking school while she works on her marriage, Rebecca finds the reality of looking after two young children along with the bizarre array of guests booked into the cooking school grim. The only bright spot on her horizon are Ciaran’s e-mails but then she meets David Seagar whom she thinks might just be the ending to her happy ever after but will he prove to be far from perfect too?
Purchase Links
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1494802112
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1494802112
Author Bio –
Hello, my name is Michelle Vernal, and by way of introduction, I’m Mum to Josh and Daniel and am married to the super supportive Paul. We live in the garden city of Christchurch, New Zealand with our three-legged, black cat called Blue. BC (before children) Paul and I lived and worked in Ireland, the experiences we had there have flavoured my books.
I’ve always written, but it was only after my first son was born that I decided to attend a creative writing course at Canterbury University. Oh the guilt dropping him at pre-school so I could learn the basics of story writing, but oh the joy of having conversation to contribute other than the price of nappies that week! The first piece I ever penned post course was published by a New Zealand parenting magazine. I went on to write humorous; opinion styled pieces of my take on parenting, but when the necessity for being politically correct got too much, I set myself the challenge of writing a novel. Six books later and a publishing deal with Harper Impulse here I am. These days I write for a North Canterbury lifestyle magazine and my latest book Sweet Home Summer has just been released by Harper Impulse.
Social Media Links –
https://www.facebook.com/michellevernalnovelist/inbox/
Thank you so much for reviewing!