Author: Beth Cooper
Rating: 9/10
Genre: Fiction, Romance, Humour
Type: Kindle
I was scrolling through Facebook one day last summer and I am a member of several different and varied book clubs when I stumbled across a post by Beth Cooper asking if anyone would like to review her book. I jumped on the chance and sent her a message. We exchanged messages backwards and forwards for a little and then I went to Nice on my holidays for a week in summer 2019. I started this book whilst sat in the airport waiting to fly out and it did not disappoint. For the first book, it was absolutely amazing! I loved it from start to finish. I read it in 4 days whilst away. My boyfriend had to keep asking me to put it down so we could go somewhere for the day and I just didn't want to. As it was on my Kindle I was able to carry it with me all the time. I have a Kindle Paperwhite so used that when in the apartment.
Charlie is reunited with 3 men from her past, Harry, Tim and David. Harry is the boyfriend she had at university, "the one that got away", Tim is her childhood best friend and neighbour and David is the boy she went out with at school. They are all three, now men, who have still have a burning torch for Charlie and they are interested in getting to know her again.
Charlie is a confident, independent woman who works in London and has the world at her feet until she loses her job and returns to her home town to try and rebuild her life. Her parents are travelling the world so she stays at their house uninterrupted with no parental judgement, we all know how that feels. It is whilst living back at her parents that she is reminded of her relationship with childhood best friend Tim. I absolutely loved Tim. Tim is a dream, he is a policeman who has recently gone through a divorce and moved back to his parent's house and found his old next-door neighbour has returned. I found Tim to be a really comforting and reassuring character. He was caring, considerate and funny. I just really felt for him and wanted to be his neighbour and to become his best friend. I love him.
Harry then comes in and although he was not my favourite, #TeamTim, I could understand why Charlie found him attractive and why she had been out with him in the first place He is different to Tim, he is more athletic and more opinionated. He has a stronger character and a harsher personality, in my opinion, but he is still caring and considerate and wants the best for Charlie. They had a passionate and fiery relationship at university which ended at graduation breaking Charlie's heart. She doesn't understand why they split up and why Harry disappeared. It is when they meat again that she finally understands why he left so unexpectedly, and Charlie needs to decide whether she can deal with this revelation.Finally, there is David, fruit loop David. I don't think there is much more I need to say about David. I was genuinely scared for Charlie sometimes when she was with him and what he was capable of. There is a particular event towards the end of the book involving David where he just needs to calm down and get back in his box. He made me uncomfortable, anxious and apprehensive about any decisions Charlie made whilst around him. I definitely do not trust him.
There was one day we went to Cannes and I have the Kindle app on my phone. On the train there and the train back I embraced the app and submerged myself in the book sat on the train. I became so submerged that I started crying at a particularly poignant moment about Harry. My heart went out to Charlie and I couldn't help but find myself balling my eyes out on public transport. My boyfriend sat next to me tutting away cause he knew I was crying over a fictional character, that's a real thing right? God knows what the other people thought was going on. They probably thought that a poor English girl has received some awful news on her phone and her boyfriend is just ignoring her as she is crying her heart out. No, it's okay guys, Charlie is just heartbroken over Harry and I couldn't cope!
Charlie is a great character who is opinionated and independent. She has only returned home to regroup and decide what she wants to do with the rest of her life. She returns to her home town which I felt was very similar to my own. A small town where everyone knows each other and where there is only one secondary school so if you went
to that school, you know everyone. That's my
town. You can't walk through the high
street without knowing a handful of people.
When this book came to an end I was sat on the balcony in Nice overlooking the courtyard of our hotel feeling like I had lost something. Feeling like I wanted this to continue and carry on for a long long time. It is a long time since I have felt like this about a book and I absolutely loved it. I would absolutely recommend this to other people and I was so glad I had decided to read this whilst on holiday because it was the easy, light, fun read I needed.
Beth has since written another book I definitely want to read it. It is not about Charlie and her life but I really really would love Beth to write a follow up so I can find out what happened, please Beth?
Rating: 9/10
10-Word-Review: Absolutely amazing debut book! What a fantastic read for everyone!
I know I keep saying this but I am absolutely going to try and write some more reviews. I am so so behind on my reviews that I need to spend some time to get everything back in order. I can only apologise, Beth, that this took so long to do but please keep writing! Steph xx
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