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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...

Can You Keep A Secret? by Jo Lovett #Review #PublicationDay

 

Happy Publication Day to Jo Lovett for her latest romcom, Can You Keep a Secret?


One New Year’s Eve, Georgie James and her friends come up with a genius plan to help them stick to their resolutions… They all write down secrets, seal them in envelopes and then post them to each other. The secrets will be revealed at the end of the year if they haven’t kept their resolutions.

It’s perfect. Except…

Georgie's secret is BIG... and revealing it could destroy their friendships. She has no idea why she chose that one to write down. There are plenty of innocent things she could have said – even admitting she finds newcomer Raf incredibly annoying would have been better.

What she does know is that there’s no way she can let her secret be revealed. Which means she needs to keep her (nightmare) resolutions and, most importantly, get her envelope back before anyone can open it. Which, given she sent her secret to Raf, means spending a lot more time with him than she’d choose to...

A heartwarming romantic comedy for fans of Beth O’Leary and Mhairi McFarlane


 My Thoughts

This is a cheerful romcom with a fun central plot and some equally amusing characters. Georgie is an interesting central character and whilst it is clear that her childhood has not been the best and her family have kept a distance, it is also clear that she has found her own sort of family in her friendship group. That is why she is so desperate to stop her ill- judged secret from being revealed. There is quite a lot of humour to be enjoyed as she pursues Raf in her quest to capture her secret before the year is up.

    As you get to know the friendship group, you can see that some have their own preoccupations and that not everyone's life is a bunch of roses. Georgie proves to be a true friend, prepared to step away and try to help from a distance if need be. This is an entertaining read. There are some warm, uplifting moments as you wonder whether all the friendships and partnerships will survive the year. There are some who are looking for a second chance and others who need to make a new beginning. 

In short: An uplifting read, full of heart

About the Author

Jo Lovett writes heart-warming, feel-good romcoms. Her latest book, Another Time, Another Place, published by Boldwood, was released in August 2023. Jo was runner-up in the Good Housekeeping/ Orion First Novel Competition 2018 and shortlisted for the Comedy Women in Print Award 2019.

You can follow Jo here: Facebook  |  X ( Twitter) 

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Purchase Links 

Thanks to Jo Lovett, Boldwood Books and Rachel of Rachel's Random Resources for a copy of the book and a place on the tour.


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