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The Year of What If by Phaedra Patrick #Review

  I am delighted to join in the celebrations for the latest novel by Phaedra Patrick , The Year of What If. You can read my review of The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper   here and The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy  here Can the future be rewritten? On the verge of her second marriage, Carla Carter knows she’s finally found the one. She and her fiancé, Tom, met through Logical Love, a dating agency she founded for the pragmatically minded, and she’s confident that, together, they will dispel an old family curse claiming Carter women are unlucky in love. But Carla’s highly superstitious family insists she visit a fortune teller before her big day, and the tarot cards reveal that a different man holds the key to Carla’s happiness – someone she met while travelling during a gap year, twenty-one years ago. This startling information spurs Carla to trace and revisit the ex-boyfriends she met during that time before she walks down the aisle. From Barcelona to Am...

The Never Have I Ever Club by Mary Jayne Baker #Review

Welcome to The Never Have I Ever Club which was published by Aria on 18th June. 

Robyn Bloom thought Ash Barnes was the love of her life – until one day he announced he was leaving her to fly halfway across the world.

Months later, Robyn is struggling to move on – but then she has a brainwave: The Never Have I Ever Club. Her handsome next-door neighbour Will helps her bring their fellow Yorkshire villagers together for some carpe-diem-inspired fun.
From burlesque dancing to Swedish massages, everyone has plenty of bucket-list activities to try, but it doesn't take long for Robyn to realise what – or who – her heart truly desires: Will.
There's just one problem: he's Ash's twin brother. 

Make that two problems: Ash is moving home... and he wants Robyn back. 

Mary Jayne Baker is the recipient of the RNA Romantic Comedy Award for A Question of Us

My Thoughts

I thoroughly enjoyed this romcom with its emphasis on second chances and testing the boundary between family and friendship. Robyn is a perfect central character, with a self-deprecating side and an independent but always kind approach to life.  You are also introduced to a range of characters. What they all have in common is a desire to be kind to their neighbours and to relish the feeling of community and friendship which seems to spread through the village. 
    The twins add a lot of interest to the story so that you can compare and contrast the two and see what is appealing to Robyn in the end. I also loved the humour in the story as the generations come together and make it clear that age is not always a barrier to trying out new things. This is a thoroughly enjoyable read which also involves you into the quandary which Robyn finds herself- which twin to choose?

In short: A rom com to savour.

About the Author

Mary Jayne Baker grew up in rural West Yorkshire, right in the heart of Brontë country… and she's still there. After graduating from Durham University with a degree in English Literature, she dallied with living in cities including London, Nottingham and Cambridge, but eventually came back with her own romantic hero in tow to her beloved Dales, where she first started telling stories about heroines with flaws and the men who love them.

Mary Jayne’s novel A Question of Us was the winner of the Romantic Novelists’ Association’s Romantic Comedy Novel of the Year Award 2020. She also writes uplifting women’s fiction as Lisa Swift.
You can follow Mary Jayne Baker here:  Website  |  Twitter
                                                                 | Facebook


Book link: Amazon UK 
Thanks to Mary Jayne Baker, and Victoria Joss of Aria Books for a copy of the book and a place on the tour. 

 

 


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