Grace J. Reviewerlady
What a great read! It's been an absolute pleasure to enjoy this one. Edie Browne takes part in a parachute jump not realising that the events which follow hot on the heels of her landing will change her life for the foreseeable future. Slowly getting life back to normal, Edie heads off to stay with her Aunty Josie where she comes to understand that she's not the only person in need of a little help to get on with her life. As they both begin to move on with their lives, they make a whole bunch of friends and come to appreciate the Cornish coast. Life, however, is never straightforward and there are difficulties to be negotiate and overcome . . . This is a wonderfully involved story; the characters are fabulously created and the writing is well structured resulting in a darn good book! I loved everything about it, and got really involved with everything happening on the pages. Superbly written and very moreish, this is an appealing story with so much going on that it kept my attention all the way through. With lots of humour, I was back to giggling non-stop and grinning from beginning to end. I have no hesitation in giving this a full five stars. My thanks to publisher HarperImpulse for my copy via Rachel's Random Resources, and especially to Rachel for inviting me to be a part of this Blog Tour. All opinions stated her are entirely my own.
Gaele Hi
At thirty-two, Edie Browne has her life moving in new directions. After ending her relationship with her long-term partner, she and her best friend are leaping out of a plane to ‘start a new beginning’. And just days later after a wonderful jump, she had a stroke. Months of intensive therapy, having to learn to walk, talk, read and write again, she’s determined to just move back into her job with a high-end developer of upscale apartments. But, with all of her health challenges, she’s got a long road to travel: especially as she can’t test for her driving license, has short-term memory issues and is still struggling with her words. With an opportunity opening up at her aunt’s cottage on the Cornwall coast, as she wants to refurbish and sell after her husband’s death, Edie is off to help out her aunt. Former dancer Josephine was always part of the “successful” end of Edie’s family. Her mother’s sister, Edie and her sister used to be enchanted by her ‘posh’ home, the mounds of fancy scent on her dressing table, and felt as if they had entered another world when visiting. Harry’s final big dreams was to have a cottage in Cornwall that overlooked the sea. Periwinkle Cottage was up for sale at that time and they dove in. Beautifully situated, the exterior is gorgeous while the interior resembles a Victorian jungle house – bold paper, clashing colors, and generally feeling tired as Josephine has been mired in her own grief and depression since Harry’s death. Bringing Edie in, although the main fare on the television is old ballet films, the combination of Jo’s wanting to help Edie recover and regain her life will contrast nicely with Edie’s outgoing personality and ability and flair for design. When you add in Edie’s slow progress, Jo’s patient tutelage, the addition of the little boy Cam and his guardian Guy Barnaby (usually referred to as Barney, or “the window cleaner” by Aunt Jo, the story provides plenty of laughter, gives a more ‘adult’ perspective in the struggles to learn how to read, write and remember. Edie is just a marvelous character, and determined to push Aunt Jo into the social life of the town as slowly but surely, they work on redecorating the house. From calligraphy classes to life drawing, sewing and getting to know their neighbors, it comes clear to her that the people in the little town are accepting, warm and always willing to share a smile, tears, a laugh or a good time. Messing with her OCD tendencies as every activity is more spontaneous than she would like, Edie finds that often letting go and not worrying about what she’s lost but simply getting on with the task comes with all sorts of unexpected bonuses and soon she’s having the time of her life. One wholly unexpected. Linfoot does what I always want in a book, in a totally new and different way. Edie’s not wanting for your sympathy, nor does she need it, as her new life has opened her to experiences and love, as well as a sense of ‘home’ that we all dream about. I received an eArc copy of the title from the author for purpose of honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.
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