Published By: Boldwood Books
Released On: 21/10/2021
Do you love someone enough to let them go?
It was love at first sight when talented art student Felicity ”Flick” Johnston-Hart and Jim Macduff’s worlds collided at Oxford University. However, after hears of blissful marriage, everything crashes down when their marriage comes to a painful and abrupt end, thanks to Flick’s interfering mother Penelope. Finally succumbing to maternal pressure, Flick falls into the high-flying career her mother believed she was destined for. However, she soon realises life without Jim isn’t all she had hoped, and that some decisions, once made, cannot be undone.
Meanwhile, Jim is settling back into life as a single man in the beautiful Highland village of Shieldaig, when an unexpected visitor brings painful news. A letter from beyond the grave leads him to do something he never imagined and takes him on a journey he didn’t anticipate.
Can either of them heal and truly move on? Or is it true that a broken heart can never be a blank canvas?
*****
*Contains spoilers*
Thanks to Boldwood Books for the advanced copy of this title in return for an honest review.
It’s not very often I come across a character I instantly dislike, but Felicity (a.k.a Flick) is definitely one of them. Okay so it does turn out that it’s not 100% her fault, but initially I found her insensitive and brash and just deplorable. Whereas her husband James (a.k.a Jim) seems so innocent and sensitive and vulnerable. But other background characters come in who are just so vile and possessive that they make my skin crawl, but there are some that shine a light on others. Flick is a bit too naive and Jim is a bit too forgiving for my taste, but their changes in attitudes and behaviours change so rapidly it’s a bit like whiplash and you never know where you stand.
Lisa’s description of Sunset Cottage is so beautiful, and the idea of setting up shop as a writer looking over the Scottish lochs and mountains just sounds idyllic. I’ve always liked the idea of moving to a little cottage in the Scottish highlands and this do nothing to persuade me otherwise.
This isn’t just your everyday romcom. It is full of twists and turns, heartbreak, passion, espionage, heroes and villains, but mostly it’s about figuring out what we would do for the ones we love. The characters change and become more likeable, more well-rounded, more experienced, and more human.
There are some bits that feel perhaps a bit far fetched and implausible, but they are expertly woven into the reality of the story that they become believable. Whilst I enjoyed it all, I definitely think its highlights come in the second half.
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