Author: Christie Barlow
Publisher: Bookouture
Publication Date: March 2017
Genre: Chick-Lit / Contemporary Romance / Women’s Fiction
Buy The Book: Amazon
Description: It’s Evie’s birthday and the start of a year she’ll never forget. An emotional story of love, friendship and grabbing life by the horns.
Evie’s job has always been her safe haven. As a librarian in the little town of Becton she loses herself in books - after all it’s far easier to read about other people’s problems than set about solving her own.
Then, one birthday, everything is turned upside down. A mysterious parcel containing a beautiful book with a poignant inscription arrives for Evie. It’s the beginning of a new chapter for Evie and she’s inspired to try and find her real mother.
Evie’s search leads her to meet handsome author Noah Jones. Charming and intelligent, Noah seems the perfect catch but what Evie doesn’t realize is that he is hiding something – a key to Evie’s past.
As Evie gets closer to Noah and discovering her mother, she must take a giant leap of faith. Can she embrace the new and make this her year of taking chances? And if she does, will she get her heart broken?
My Thoughts: This was a fantastically heartwarming story about a woman who decides to begin searching for her birth mother after years of struggling to fit in. The wonderful thing about Evie is that you don’t pity her or feel sorry for her in the sense that she’s a train wreck of a character. No, instead, she had a horrible start in life, being abandoned as a baby and going through numerous foster care homes, never feeling like she belonged anywhere and never learning how to read. She is taken in by her last foster mother, Irene, who not only teaches her how to read but instills in her a love of reading and helps her get a job in the same library she works at. Evie changes her last name to Irene’s and considers her more of a mother than she has ever known and their relationship is solid and magical to watch.
On her birthday, after years of always wondering why she was given up and with Irene’s support and encouragement, Evie decides to begin the search to track down her birth mother to hopefully get answers to the questions she has had her entire life. Along the way, she begins building other relationships that also thrive and blossom and opens herself to the possibility that she could also find and receive the love of her life.
I adored Evie. I felt an immediate connection to her and loved that she works in a library and despite the rocky start to her life she has come out very well grounded and balanced. She cares about others and is a good friend and daughter. She is someone I could easily work well with and be friends with. I loved the side story of not only her search for her birth mother, but also the side story of her crush on aspiring author, Noah, and the gift of her favorite author’s newest book by an anonymous benefactor.
All of the supporting characters added so much depth and dimension to the story and I felt connections to them as well. I really loved Irene and the care she gives to Evie is so genuinely displayed, I got misty eyed several times. Evie’s workmate and flatmate, Clara, was a hoot and I would love to see a story for her.
This story moves at a wonderful pace and though I figured out somethings pretty quick, there were still quite a few surprises that I wasn’t expecting and absolutely loved. I really enjoy this author’s work and voice and look forward to reading much more of her work.
My Final Verdict: Overall, this is a wonderful read that I highly recommend to readers who enjoy the chick-lit, contemporary romance and women’s fictions genres. Readers who also enjoy stories of friendship, forgiveness and taking steps forward with courage and bravery will also enjoy this one.
Thank you to the publisher, Bookouture, who provided an advance reader copy via NetGalley.
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