Being in Love With You by Jane Gilley #Review

 

Welcome to the blog today! I am delighted to feature Being in Love With You by Jane Gilley. It is an uplifting read just right for the Summer!

As 56 year old Eve buries her husband, Rob, she realises she doesn’t love him and hasn’t for many years.

And because he did virtually everything for her she now doesn’t know how to deal with their mail, let alone put the heating back on.

But as she starts to take stock of her life, she finds a letter from him. This letter pierces her soul as she remembers why she stopped loving him. It also heals a growing rift between Eve and her daughter, Emily. However, Eve also senses Rob hasn’t left her yet.

So she embarks on what she sees is her ‘second chance’ at their relationship, even chatting to him in the street, causing stares. But when she unexpectedly meets a new potential partner, she holds him at arm’s length because ‘it wouldn’t be fair on Rob’.

And so begins Eve’s transitional journey to find a new life for herself – on her own terms. As well as someone she can fall in love with . . .

                                                                                        My Thoughts

In this novel, you follow Eve as she rebuilds her life after the death of her husband. You realise fairly quickly that they had a complicated relationship and, in many ways, she is in a state of shock at the sudden change in her life. Above all, she does not react as her daughter expects her to, which she finds quite liberating. Eve has to learn to take a risk and makes some small steps in this direction as the story unfolds.

    As well as looking at her marriage, you also find yourself thinking about her relationship with her daughter, Emily. She also has some good friends who in some ways she has relied on a little too much so it is great to see her aiming for more independence. This is a hopeful story and as Eve works through her feelings about her late husband, you realise that events which she has long buried in her past have influenced her life. Eve is a likeable character and there are plenty of light moments in the story which makes for an entertaining read.

In short: Secrets from the past explain the present

                                                                                About the Author

 

This is me, Jane Gilley

 

My first foray into writing came when I wrote a poem at 7.

                           

                               Night is drawing in

                               And the day has lost its din

                                And while we sleep

                                The animals creep

                                And hunt for food

                                In their hungry mood

 

I couldn’t stop writing when I was a nipper. I wrote wherever my pen could make its mark and especially at the back of my school exercise books. The lady who taught maths, in junior school, even asked if I wanted more paper to write on!

But life has a way of taking over and guiding you down its own path. Hence my initial foray into writing was dampened by society’s usual requirements of getting married and working to pay the mortgage, whereby I simply didn’t have the time to sit, tapping away at my computer to my heart’s content. But when I managed to start writing again in 2008; when publishers were telling me they didn’t want any more animal fiction, I self-published 6 children’s books – 5 animal adventures, which I sold at Durrell’s Jersey Zoo – and I had a book signing at Waterstones with a novella for young girls, Maisie’s Dream.

With my children’s books localised French / Jersey themes, I was invited by 3 of the primary schools here and on the tiny channel island of Herm to give talks to the school children, about where I found the inspiration for my stories.

Since becoming self-employed, I’ve been able to step back and concentrate on writing adult fiction. Avon, Harper Collins published my debut book, The Woman Who Kept Everything – about an elderly lady who rediscovers what life has to offer after an electrical fault in her house threatens a fire, followed by The Afternoon Tea Club – about 4 very different people who meet at a community afternoon tea club and put their worlds to right, after becoming friends.

During 2020 and with PLENTY of time to spare, I wrote 3 new books, which I self-published on Kindle – under adult fiction:

The Making of Robert Moony – an unusual, funny, heart-felt tale about a 27 yr old bullied man who finally finds love and acceptance in life, after he is kidnapped by mistake

County Lines Road – about 2 teenagers whose lives are turned upside down when a joyride goes horribly wrong and they are dragged away to a gang-house by drugs dealers and have to find a way to escape as well as protecting their families from the gang’s threat of retaliation.

Being In Love With You - A touching story about a widow rebuilding her life, on her own terms . . .

All my books are always quirky, uplifting tales about new beginnings and have happy endings!

You can follow Jane here: Twitter  |  Website 

Book link: Amazon UK

Thanks to Jane Gilley and Heather Fitt of Overview Media for a copy of the book and a place on the tour.