I’m delighted to be bringing up the rear in the blog tour for this wonderful novel!
Synopsis
When Hattie Green pops to the shop one afternoon, she never expects her life to flash before her eyes between the tins of baked beans and a special offer on sliced white. One minute she’s loading her trolley and thinking about what to give her son for dinner, and the next she’s speaking to a gorgeous man in a glowing white suit about what her life could have been…
If you had the chance to go back and relive it all, what would you do differently? Go on that date, take that promotion… eat that second biscuit? Hattie is about to discover where she went wrong, but will her mystery second chance reveal some STONKING secrets in her past that probably should have stayed hidden?
A gorgeous romantic comedy from the bestselling author of What Holly’s Husband Did. Perfect for fans of Tracy Bloom, Marian Keyes and Dawn French.
My review
In her forties with a divorce behind her, Hattie is resigned to just keeping on keeping on. She makes enough from her dog-walking business to get by, and enjoys time with her son Fin. However, he’s a teen now and increasingly independent. Her mother is determined to get Hattie to remarry and is doing all she can to push a certain man her way so Hattie prefers to avoid her. Fortunately she has a good friend Jo, and it’s when she’s out buying korma for a girls night in with Jo that something life-changing happens in the baked beans aisle…
This is a very clever and upbeat novel. The fantasy element works really well amidst the very realistic setting of the rest of the story. The point of this experience is to allow Hattie to learn three things: trust, believe the unbelievable and fall in love. She’s quick to catch on to the first two – as are we readers with regards to the author and this story – but that last one might prove to be too much for jaded Hattie. She has to revisit key moments in her life to see if there’s hope for her future. I think we’d all cringe if we had to go back to those times we’re much happier to forget about so we can sympathise with our likeable heroine as she faces this ordeal. Mind you, she’s getting guidance and support from the handsome Josh, so it’s not all bad news by a long shot.
The characters we meet are varied, fun and fascinating. And in a few cases cautionary – I’m now determined not to turn into Hattie’s mother, even though, like every mum, would love to see their children happily settled!
The plot, simple but very effective, works extremely well, with plenty of humour to keep it lively.
In summary, this is an extremely enjoyable feel-good read and divine romantic comedy!
Author bio:
Prior to turning her attention to writing, Debbie Viggiano was, for more years than she cares to remember, a legal secretary. She lives with her Italian husband, a rescued pooch from Crete, and a very disgruntled cat. Occasionally her adult children return home bringing her much joy… apart from when they want to raid the fridge, or eat her secret stash of chocolate. Follow Debbie’s (intermittent!) blog: www.debbieviggiano.blogspot.com Tweet @DebbieViggiano or look her up on Facebook!