The Broken Hearts Book Club – Book Review

The Broken Hearts Book Club

Author: Lynsey James

Published: 12 October 2015

Reviewed: 19 February 2016

What Milo Saw by Virginia Macgregor

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Copy supplied by Carina UK in return for an honest review

3 out of 5 Stars

 

Description: 

Secrets never stay buried for long…
 
Lucy Harper has always been good at one thing: running from her past. But when her beloved Nana Lily passes away she has no choice except to return to the one place in the world she most wants to avoid…
Luna Bay hasn’t changed much in the eight years she has spent in London. The little Yorkshire village is still just as beautiful, but the new pub landlord is a gorgeous addition to the scenery!
Lucy only intended to stay for a day, yet when she discovers that Nana Lily has not only left her a cottage but also ‘The Broken Hearts Book Club’, Lucy is intrigued. Her Nana never have mentioned the club and Lucy can’t wait to get started, but walking into her first meeting she is more aware than ever that her past is finally catching up with her.

One way or another, Lucy must finally face the secrets she’s kept buried for so long – or spend the rest of her life on the run…

My Thoughts & Review: 
Lucy Harper wasn’t a character I took an instant liking to, she seems a little too “flaky” for me, she has a heart of gold and wants to do the right thing for everyone, wants desperately to make people happy but things don’t always go to plan.  She returns to Luna Bay, for the funeral of her beloved Nana Lily and is met by hostility from some people bearing a grudge over something that happened eight years ago to a lass called Vicky.  The exact nature of the incident is alluded to numerous times before someone finally announces the details, much to Lucy’s horror. 

 

Lucy immediately feels an attraction towards the hunky barman, later we learn his name is Jake, and ‘oooh la la’ he sounds dreamy, no wonder Lucy struggles to concentrate when he’s around!  The chemistry between them is good, they bicker and argue which makes for enjoyable reading.  

The sense of guilt that Lucy feels for what happened to Vicky is so overpowering at times, it draws the reader in, and fortunately because this was quite a quick read for me I found out exactly what she felt guilty for and could understand some of it, I could also understand her reasoning for wanting to stay away from those who lost Vicky too.  

 

The idea of the Book Club was fantastic, it was an excellent idea of Lynsey James and I think we really need to start some up in real life!  The books that were chosen for the Club were varied and I’ve even added a few to my list for reading.  What I wasn’t so sure about was the condition on running it so that she would be eligible to inherit her Nana’s cottage, it just seemed a little too quirky for me, but it worked well with the story and with the quirkiness of Lucy.   

The descriptions of the settings were great, I got a good feel for how scenic Luna Bay was, how lovely the view from Rose Cottage was and just how peaceful it all was.  Characters were interesting and in some cases cringe worthy (Lucy’s singing being one of those cases – bless her the poor love!), but on the whole well portrayed.  

 

I would definitely look out for books from Lynsey James, her writing style is good, the story does flow well and despite me not liking the protagonist as much as some other readers this does not detract from my liking of the book.  It was an enjoyable read in general, and a lot of thought has been put into this book, the Book Club books were well chosen and the thoughts voiced the characters were insightful and showed that the author had done a lot of work behind the scenes.  

 

I would have no hesitation recommending this to fans of Women’s Fiction – it’s worth checking out!   

You can buy a copy of The Broken Hearts Book Club here. 

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