One Summer in Italy (by Sue Moorcroft)

(Amazon UK link)

I have gradually acquired most of Sue Moorcroft’s novels after first coming across her writing about twelve years ago. She creates believable, warm characters with interesting plots, and her stories are often set in Mediterranean countries. I was given ‘One Summer in Italy’ for my birthday a few months ago, and have just finished reading it.

Sofia is the main character of this novel. She can barely remember her mother, who died when she was little, but she adores her Italian father. He becomes ill with heart disease and she looks after him for some years. She promises him that after he’s gone, she won’t mope, and that she will go to his family village and speak to his brother.

After a prologue showing this, the story moves forward a year, to the start of summer in the Italian village of Monteliberta. Sofia is working there as a waitress at a hotel. She has some experience, and is finding herself mentoring 18-year-old Amy. Amy is eager to learn but rather naive, and doesn’t know how to handle amorous young men.

Into the scene arrives Levi, a biker in his mid-thirties who has come to stay at the hotel as a guest. He stands up for Amy in an altercation with the owner’s son, and soon becomes friends with Sofia. Guests and staff are not allowed to be romantically involved, but there’s a clear attraction on Sofia’s part, although she’s a bit concerned that he’s spending a lot of time watching Amy, who is much too young and innocent for him…

Amy, moreover, clearly has some family problems. It doesn’t take long for Sofia to learn that she ran away from home. She did not take her last school exams, she has decided not to go to university, and she and is not speaking to her parents, although she is in contact on social media with her two younger brothers. The incident that caused this to happen is only gradually revealed as the book progresses.

All the main characters, as I’ve come to expect with Sue Moorcraft, are likeable and three-dimensional. I particularly found myself identifying with Sofia. Not that I am at all adventurous, but I liked her very much.  Having said that, I did find one or two of her attitudes a bit bizarre, including her determination to try a ‘one-night stand’, which does not seem at all in keeping with her personality. However the fact that I found this rather jarring perhaps demonstrates just how real she had become in my mind.

The one quirk of this author that I don’t much like is that there always seems to be a too-detailed bedroom scene, usually when two characters ‘get together’ for the first time. When I feel as if people in books are becoming my friends, I really don’t want to know what they get up to in private. But in this book I saw it coming, so I skipped a couple of pages ahead to the morning after. Thankfully the bedroom doors remained firmly closed in subsequent encounters.

Other than that, and a tad more bad language than I’m comfortable with, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Secrets emerge from the past, relationships develop, and the book flows at an excellent pace. I thought Amy was an excellent creation: she’s impulsive and hot-tempered, prone to running away from problems. She's undoubtedly immature and somewhat self-centred, too. Yet she's extremely kind-hearted and can be unexpectedly generous. She's willing to listen to reason, at times, and by the end of the book she is beginning to see other people's point of view as well as her own.

Sofia, too, is likeable, honest and caring. She is determined to be free to travel, but can’t quite shake off her instincts to protect Amy. When she’s caught between two people she cares about, having to keep one person’s secrets from the other, for excellent reasons, she finds this immensely stressful. It fits well with her general integrity and honesty.

It’s light-weight reading on the whole; no serious issues are explored in any depth in this book. Still, there’s more than a nod towards the complexities of many families, and also the way that some homeless people are treated. There’s a side thread about a large website and possible sabotage, but it isn’t necessary to know anything about technology or social media to get at least the gist of what is happening.

By the time I was half-way through this book, I could hardly bear to put it down. The ending is perhaps a tad predictable, but I didn't mind that at all. Definitely recommended to anyone who enjoys light women’s fiction with warm, believable characters.

Review copyright 2019 Sue's Book Reviews

Just for the holidays (by Sue Moorcroft)

(Amazon UK link)

I like Sue Moorcroft’s writing, on the whole. She has a gift of characterisation and tends to write novels based around family situations, with relationship-based storylines. I very much enjoyed her first novel, so each time she brings out a new one I add it to my wishlist. I did that with ‘Just for the holidays’ last year, and was pleased to be given it last Christmas.

Once again, Sue Moorcroft has created some likeable, interesting people. This story is primarily about Leah, a thirty-something chocolate tester, who has deliberately remained single and child-free. She lives near her sister Michelle, and loves being an aunt to the teenagers Jordan and Natasha. Michelle is recently separated from her husband Alister, but all five go on holiday to a gite in France. Leah doesn’t really want to go, but Michelle wants her there to ease the tension.

Soon after they arrive, they meet their neighbours: Ronan, a helicopter pilot who is on sick leave after an accident, and his teenage son Curtis who is going through a goth stage. There are misunderstandings at first, and it took me a little while to sort out who was whom: Ronan has an ex-wife who lives with someone else, and as is clear from early in the book, Leah’s sister Michelle also has a boyfriend. Leah has a male best friend, too, who she keeps in touch with via phone.

I loved the teenage interactions, most of which feel realistic and natural. Jordan and Natasha bicker, and Natasha quickly gets a crush on Curtis. They all struggle with their parents’ separations, and turn to Leah for comfort which mostly takes the form of food. Leah is a whizz at throwing together delicious meals, including desserts, at a moment’s notice despite her wish for independence and insistence that she doesn’t want the responsibility of children. And as one disaster after another occurs, she finds herself more and more in the role of stand-in parent…

There’s a somewhat inevitable romance which develops between Leah and Ronan. Both are determined to stay unattached and just have a holiday fling. Their desires are thwarted time after time by one or other of the teenagers, in a way that built up the tension nicely while also adding a touch of humour. I could almost feel their frustration.

But then finally they get together, and as so often happens, the author decided to put in a detailed intimate scene, which took up a couple of pages. After the first couple of sentences I skipped forward as I find that kind of thing so unnecessary and irritating. There’s another similar incident later in the book. They’re the only parts that mar what is an otherwise very enjoyable and sometimes moving story.

There’s also a bit more bad language than I’m comfortable with, including far too many mentions (in my view) of an offensive internet acronym. It jarred, because it didn’t fit with the otherwise typical conversation of the teenagers. Curtis is only thirteen, and generally a likeable boy.

Still, although these things mean I can’t recommend or lend this book as widely as I would like to, it was overall a very well-written book. The style is informal, switching viewpoints regularly, but Sue Moorcroft makes that work in a way that’s non-intrusive. The family relationships, and issues related to trust, and the breakdown of marriages, are handled sensitively. There’s quite a bit about Ronan’s helicopter career, including more detail than I wanted to know about how helicopters are flown, but that was something I was comfortable skimming over lightly.

If you like character-based women’s fiction and don’t object to step-by-step detail of bedroom scenes, then this would make an excellent light read. By the time I was halfway through it was difficult to put down. The broad direction of the ending was predictable from the start, but there were one or two surprises to make it more interesting, and the final chapter encouraging and positive.

Review copyright 2018 Sue's Book Reviews

The Little Village Christmas (by Sue Moorcroft)

(Amazon UK link)

I have - on the whole - enjoyed all the books I’ve read by Sue Moorcroft. She has a great gift of characterisation, and while her books are mostly women’s fiction with a romance theme, she often introduces some other, interesting issues. When I saw that she had written a Christmas book, I put it straight on my wishlist and was given it as a present a couple of weeks ago.

With the title, ‘The Little Village Christmas’, I assumed that this would be a pleasant light read for the post-Christmas period. The front cover shows a Christmas tree in a village square, complete with snowmen and glittery rooftops. I feel this is a tad misleading, as it’s really not a light Christmas story; indeed, Christmas itself occupies just a few pages of the book, where the characters wind down for a couple of days, and not much happens from the plot point of view.

However, the novel has plenty going on and I found it a page-turning read, once I’d got into it. Alexia is the main protagonist. She’s an interior designer, who is giving up some of her free time to manage a village project. An old pub - The Angel - is being stripped down and refurbished to create a new community centre. The book opens - after a brief prologue - with the Middledip wrecking party. Anything worth keeping is being removed and stored, and vast amounts of rubbish have been removed.

The owner of the pub is an elderly man called Gabe, and his nephew Ben is staying nearby. He and Alexia get talking over the barbecue provided after the wrecking party, and afterwards she accepts an invitation to go and see a baby owl he has rescued. He is a bit dour, but clearly kind-hearted; the prologue hints at him having major family stresses.

So far so good, and by the generally understood rules of this kind of women’s fiction, Alexia and Ben are destined for a romantic relationship, sooner or later. Unfortunately, their ‘getting together’ begins with an incident that shocked me so much, given their very brief acquaintance, that I almost gave up on the book. The incident doesn’t just happen; too much information is given at the time, and it’s then referred to in passing several times.

I’m glad I kept reading, because the story really gets going the following morning. Disaster happens, and Alexia has to pull together something rather different from what was originally envisaged for the community centre. Much of the story revolves around new friendships in the village, gradual refurbishment of the centre with its slowly-acquired furniture, and there's even a TV show. Alexia is a strong and capable woman, one whom I’d probably find quite daunting if I met her, but she has a soft side too.

The writing is excellent, and the characters mostly three-dimensional. There's quite a large cast, but I had no problem remembering who was whom. There's just enough description to help me picture (vaguely) where people lived, but not so much as to make my eyes glaze over.

However, there’s another detailed intimate scene nearer the end of the book - I skipped it this time, after the first couple of sentences - which, combined with the earlier one, means I’m not likely to lend this to anyone. Certainly not to young teenage friends who might otherwise quite enjoy this book. I don’t see the point of putting steamy 18-rated scenes in what’s basically a PG or (at most) 12-rated book. They don’t fit the style of the rest, which is gentle, well-plotted and realistic, and they don’t add anything to the story.

Still, there are other important issues touched upon, which work well including serious illness, a prison sentence, and a marriage breakup. That makes it sound rather depressing, but overall it’s not: the owl is a delight, as are some kittens who appear in traumatic circumstances nearer the end of the book. Most importantly, the ending is as satisfyingly predictable as I could have hoped, and overall I enjoyed the book very much.

Review copyright 2017 Sue's Book Reviews

The Christmas Promise (by Sue Moorcroft)

(Amazon UK link)

I’ve very much liked the characters and writing style in all the novels I’ve read by Sue Moorcroft, so when I saw that she had published another one recently, I put it on my wishlist and was delighted to be given it for a recent birthday.

Perhaps I should have kept ‘The Christmas Promise’ to read in December, but I couldn’t resist the sparkly, shiny cover. I expected a light read, with some romance involved, and some realistic people who would get under my skin. I was not disappointed.

The main character is Ava, an independent young woman in her twenties, who works as a specialist hat-maker. Unfortunately business has not been great recently, and she struggles financially. She shares a home with her best friend Izz, who works for a communications company. We meet them both struggling through crowded London streets, in drizzling rain, on their way to a work Christmas gathering, on December 1st. Ava meets Izz’s colleagues, and also their boss Sam. Izz is rather keen on Sam, although he seems to be more interested in Ava…

Ava doesn’t like Christmas, and is stressed because her ex-boyfriend Harvey has started to stalk her, and is becoming rather a nuisance. Things take a turn for the worse when he arrives drunk, and starts to threaten her with the exposure of some rather intimate photos he took when they were together…

It took me a little while to get into the book, as there seemed to be a lot of characters in the first chapter. A party is a great place to introduce several people, but I found myself a little overwhelmed at first, and had to keep checking back. However, Sue Moorcroft does a good job with characterisation, and while I never quite distinguished some of Sam’s colleagues, Sam himself stood out as a very likeable person. I could see the potential for romance almost immediately.

It’s not a fluffy story, however. There are many issues involved, some of them highly relevant to the 21st century and use of technology. As well as the threats from Harvey, and Ava’s dire financial straits, there’s a character about to undergo chemotherapy, and a minor celebrity who needs a new image. 

Specialist hat-making is also involved in several of the sub-plots. There was rather more information about millinery than I wanted to know, but it was easy enough to skim. For those who are interested in the topic, there’s an appendix at the back with what purports to be an article (one mentioned in the book) explaining in much more detail how hats are made.

The story moves at a good pace, with plenty of drama, misunderstandings, and an ingenious plot resolution towards the end. There’s a lot of warmth in Sam’s family interactions, and we learn gradually why Ava dislikes Christmas so much. This makes another poignant side story, and raises the issue of how important it is to get a balance between a growing child’s independence and their need to be looked after and loved.

My main gripe, as with several of this author’s books, is the detail she uses in the leadup to the inevitable bedroom scenes. It feels unnecessary, and cheapens the otherwise excellent storyline. It means I won’t be lending it to teenagers, or anyone uncomfortable with that amount of intimate detail. However, the publishers presumably wanted it, so no doubt there are readers who relish this kind of thing.

My other minor problem was that I had no idea what the word or acronym WAG meant. It came up several times, both singular and plural, without (as far as I could tell) any explanation. Eventually I looked it up online, and discovered it’s a recently adopted word meaning ‘wives and girlfriends’, initially of sports players. In the singular, it apparently means the wife or girlfriend of a celebrity.

Definitely recommended, so long as you don’t mind the suggestive implications. It would make a good holiday read, or indeed a post-Christmas one.

Review copyright 2017 Sue's Book Reviews

Love and Freedom (by Sue Moorcroft)

(Amazon UK link)

I absolutely loved the first book I read by Sue Moorcroft, many years ago now. And although none of her other novels have been as brilliant as that one, I’ve enjoyed most of the ones I’ve read, on the whole. Having said that, I don’t much like the raunchy scenes that seem to be required in novels published by ‘ChocLit’. However, when I saw this one available inexpensively for my Kindle some years ago, I went ahead and bought it, even though I generally only collect free ebooks.

Apparently it was in October 2011 that I bought ‘Love and Freedom’ so it’s taken me four and a half years to read it. But I decided it would be a good book to start on a coach journey, and I then completed it on an aeroplane. The characters were memorable and it did not require too much concentration.

The story is about Honor, a young American woman who has decided to try and find her mother’s family in the South of England. She’s left her home rather abruptly, after a major problem with her husband, and we only learn gradually about her father and step-family back in the US; she’s evidently quite close to them all.

The opening scene sees Honor rescued from sunstroke by the handsome Martyn, who is related not just to Honor’s landlady but also to the local doctor, and a couple of other prominent women in the village where she’s staying. Martyn is a good handyman, but apparently only works a few hours each week; Honor, new to the country and struggling to understand the British way of thinking, makes a lot of assumptions, some of which turn out to be more accurate than others.

It’s a story of discovery, and of the inevitable relationship that develops between these two people: prickly at first, fraught with misunderstandings, and then a growing friendship. It’s no spoiler to say this, as this style of women’s romantic fiction follows this pattern in the majority of cases.

Sue Moorcroft creates three dimensional and believable people, and while some of her minor caricatures were rather stereotyped, I liked the two main protagonists, and also the teenage boy Rufus who is badly bullied at school, and whose bohemian (and often downright weird) mother makes life difficult for Martyn as well as her son.

The places are nicely painted, the British/American misunderstandings believable, and I was enjoying the story, although disappointed at the amount of bad language. Then suddenly the bedroom scenes start, with too much detail, and unrealistic regularity. The author’s otherwise excellent style of writing does not suit this kind of thing, and I had to skip forward to reach the more interesting parts of the book.

The ending took a direction I wasn’t expecting, revealing more about Honor’s past and also her marriage, and then eventually leading to the expected and satisfactory conclusion.

Overall I liked this book, and am glad I read it; but don’t feel that I can recommend it to friends due to the ‘adult’ nature of so much of the language and the detailed bedroom scenes later in the book.

Available in paperback form as well as on Kindle, though not currently in print in the United States.

Review copyright 2016 Sue's Book Reviews

Where the heart is (by Sue Moorcroft)

(Amazon UK link)

I’ve enjoyed Sue Moorcroft’s novels since I read ‘Uphill all the way’ some years ago. So whenever I see something she’s written available on the Kindle, free or inexpensively, I tend to download it. ‘Where the heart is’ was a recent acquisition, a novella rather than a novel, and one which I read during a fairly busy period.

The story opens in 1968. It’s about Sylvana, a Maltese girl who has fallen in love with Rob, an English military man. Her family are typically Mediterranean and family-orientated, so they expect her to marry a nice Maltese boy and settle down in their neighbourhood. Thus, although they like Rob, they’re not very happy when he and Sylvana decide that they want to be married.

Most of the rest of the book follows their relationship as Sylvana has to deal with the demands (sometimes rather unreasonable) of the army, and also to cope with the bitterly cold weather she finds when she moves to England for a while. Her bewilderment and culture shock are very believable, as is the contrast between Sylvana’s close Mediterranean family and Rob's more restrained British relatives.

Despite being quite a short book, the characterisation is excellent - as I’ve come to expect with Sue Moorcroft - and the settings so realistic I could almost see them.

This book is not easily available but I would recommend it, nonetheless, as a good light read for those who enjoy women's fiction.

Review copyright 2014 Sue's Book Reviews

Is this love? (by Sue Moorcroft)

(Amazon UK link)

Sometimes it's shocking how time races by. I would have said that it was perhaps three years ago when I first read - and loved - a novel by Sue Moorcroft. Checking this blog, however, I see that it's nearly SEVEN years since I enjoyed 'Uphill all the way', courtesy of The Bookbag.

Unfortunately, none of the author's subsequent books have moved me to quite that extent. The Transita publishing company, which specialised in fiction for the middle aged, apparently went out of business. So Sue Moorcoft started writing for Choc Lit instead, a publisher who apparently aims for a younger audience. However, she is is not a typical ‘chick lit’ writer. Certainly there’s a romantic element to 'Is This Love?', but there’s a great deal more besides.

Tamara is in a comfortable relationship with Max, her childhood sweetheart. She has a place of her own, but spends a great deal of time with her family, including a sister who has never grown up. Lyddie was was hit by a car in her teens, and seriously brain damaged. Now in her thirties, she is like a somewhat hyperactive nine-year-old, passionate about animals, and with no real sense of responsibility. Tamara has built up a small business teaching yoga in the community.

Then her boyfriend, who has been offered a job elsewhere, wants her to move away from the village with him. At the same time, Jed, who was Lyddie’s boyfriend before her accident, appears on their doorstep with a shocking revelation, which Tamara’s mother can’t deal with…

There’s another plot line involving a wealthy young woman with a leg injury who employs Tamara as a private yoga instructor... and gradually things become tense, as I realised that I had no idea who to trust.

Choc Lit heroes are supposed to be as irresistible as chocolate, and that was certainly the case in this book. It was an ideal book for dipping into at bedtime, at least until it became difficult to put down due to the tension!

My only gripe with the book is one I make regularly, that of far too detailed intimate scenes. Admittedly only a couple, but they didn't fit with the otherwise excellent writing in the book, and felt entirely unnecessary. I seem to be a lone voice in this objection, but it does make it very difficult to recommend it wholeheartedly.

Still, other than that, I thought this a very enjoyable light read that was thought-provoking, and also quite memorable. If you like women's fiction, and can deal with (or skip over) bedroom scenes, then I would recommend it highly.

You can also read my slightly longer review of 'Is This Love'? at the Bookbag site.

All that mullarkey (by Sue Moorcroft)

(Amazon UK link)

I first came across Sue Moorcroft some years ago when I was sent her novel ‘Uphill all the way’ by The Bookbag, and enjoyed it very much. So I was pleased when I discovered some of her other work, mostly out of print but available very cheaply for the Kindle. I follow her blog and respect her advice - unfortunately, I haven’t, so far, enjoyed any of her other novels as much as the first.

‘All that mullarkey’ starts with a dramatic scene. Cleo, a thirty-something businesswoman, sets out for a school reunion despite the disapproval of her husband Gav. Indeed, he’s been in a bad mood lately, and this culminates in his insistence that if she goes out, their marriage is over.

It’s an unusual and quite powerful start to the story; unfortunately, it goes downhill from there. Cleo does feel a bit worried and turns back, but when she finds that Gav has not just gone out, he’s left a cruel message on the wall, she decides to go out and get drunk. And then she does something so bizarre and stupid that I totally lost sympathy with her.

There are lots of issues bubbling under the scenes in this book - of the dangers of drinking too heavily; of the importance of truth in relationships; of single parenthood and the amazing depth of parental love; of abusive campaigns against individuals, and more. We get a little insight into Cleo’s role at work, visiting companies that need help, which was very interesting. Indeed, there was a lot of potential in this novel, and there’s some good writing too.

However, it seems to have been designed to appeal primarily to a young and rather shallow audience. There’s also a great deal of clubbing, far too much uncommitted leaping into bed, and even some bad language that doesn’t feel appropriate in context. It’s not exactly light chick-lit; there’s more depth to it than that. But it’s equally not the more moving older women’s fiction of the author’s first novel.

I found the characterisation rather mixed. The publishers try to make a point of using a male point of view as well as a female one in their novels, which is a great idea. The problem with that in this book is that there are two important male characters in this book: the confused, unhappy Gav, who is evidently going through a bad patch; and the wild, promiscuous Justin, who takes advantage of Cleo, totally fails to understand her, then tries to blackmail her emotionally. Both change character rather dramatically as the novel progresses, and while Justin does start to feel much nice and I grew in sympathy for him, it didn’t quite feel in character with the unpleasant person he is when Cleo first gets to know him.

Cleo herself is such a mixed character that I never felt as if I got to know her properly. We see a lot of the novel from her perspective; sometimes she’s caring, maternal and wise, although rather insecure. She’s evidently very good at her job, and fond of her supposedly wilder sister. Cleo is, mostly, an excellent mother. But at times she behaves in ways that make her appear to be a rebellious, thoughtless teenager with nobody who cares about her at all - so it was difficult to relate to her.

There’s a sort of twist in the plot towards the end which I could see coming for some time, but it didn’t seem very realistic. I suppose it was there to ensure that the readers were in sympathy with the right people. The ending was predictable, but that’s not a problem - I like to know that endings of novels are going to be encouraging, and by the second half of the book it was evident that the alternative possible ending was not going to happen.

I sound negative, but it’s not a bad book. I kept reading, partly because on the whole the writing is good, and partly just to check that the expected ending was going to happen... but it took me over a week. It wasn’t a book that I couldn’t put down.

I suppose this novel would make undemanding holiday reading. The paperback edition is still in print on both sides of the Atlantic, and the links given point to them; however this is also available inexpensively for the Kindle; I was able to download mine free on special offer.

Review copyright Sue's Book Reviews, 7th September 2012

Want to know a secret? (by Sue Moorcroft)

(Amazon UK link)

It's over four years, now, since I first read a book by Sue Moorcroft: 'Uphill all the way'. I liked it very much indeed, and looked forward to reading more of her books. However I was less impressed by 'Starting Over', which I read a couple of years later, and her other books have not had a very high profile. I read Sue Moorcroft's blog and enjoy her writing advice, but by the time I looked for others of her published novels, they seemed to have gone out of print.

So I was delighted to discover three of them available inexpensively for the Kindle recently. I started reading 'Want to Know a Secret?' on a recent flight, and then found myself reading a bit more in every free moment I had.

This novel begins with what could have been rather a cliched scene: two large policeman are dominating Diane's kitchen, having just brought her some bad news. Her husband Gareth has been in an accident, although they think he will pull through. But the scene rapidly becomes almost surreal as Diane, in her shock, hears about an accident in circumstances which sound so unlikely that she wonders if it's a case of mistaken identity. Yet the man unconscious in hospital seems, beyond all reasonable doubt, to be indeed her husband.

When at last persuaded to go and visit Gareth, she meets some people who clearly know him well and who seem to know a great deal about her - but whom she has never even heard of. And their resulting conversations do nothing to clarify what is going on initially, although some shocking surprises gradually emerge.

Diane's situation feels almost like a terrible dream, at first. I felt drawn into the story quickly, and found myself empathising quite strongly with her confusion. She is evidently not deluded, or mentally unstable. She's a hard-working woman with a small clothes-making business who sometimes struggles to make ends meet. She is perhaps too trusting, almost naive at times, but she cares deeply for her family and is currently missing her daughter, who is working abroad for a charity.

The story gradually unfolds, and slowly things start to make sense. Issues of greed, depression, snobbery and selfishness arise, and I began to see how such a scenario could possibly happen. Diane is far from perfect. She's the daughter of over-protective, angry parents who pushed her into a marriage which made life often difficult for her. Yet she is immensely likeable, as are several of the other people whom she gets to know. Sue Moorcroft has a great gift for characterisation, and tells a good story. It's a pity - in my opinion - that her work is not more widely known, and that the printed versions of her books go out of print so quickly.

My only mild personal criticism of this book is that there are a couple of over-detailed intimate scenes. They don't quite descend into sordidity, but I felt they were unnecessary - and somehow, did not match well with the characters of the people involved. Perhaps this kind of scene was required by the publisher, but the book would have read rather better with just a hint - or, indeed, slightly more restraint from people who were normally generous and responsible.

Still, overall I enjoyed the book very much and would recommend it highly.

review copyright Sue's Book Reviews, 24th October 2011

Starting over (by Sue Moorcroft)

(Amazon UK link)

I thoroughly enjoyed the first novel I read by Sue Moorcroft, 'Uphill All the Way", so I was delighted when I was offered her latest book to read, by The Bookbag site.

It's an unusual coincidence that it's called 'Starting Over', the same title as the last book I read: 'Staring Over' by Marcia Willetts. Indeed, it's the third book of that title I own now; I also have (and like) 'Starting Over' by Robin Pilcher.

I was a little put off by seeing a remarkably fluffy-looking blue cover with pink flowers and brown birds, that screamed 'chick-lit' - but then again, the publisher is called Choc-Lit. Their claim is that their heroes are as irresistible as chocolate. Still, I hoped there would be some depth to it, and some great characterisation, as there was in 'Uphill all the way.'

It starts well. A single email is the prologue, sent to Tess by her ex-fiancé Olly, cancelling the wedding. It's a sharp shock that demonstrates Olly's unpleasantness. It also explains why we next meet Tess on her way to a cottage she has just bought, in a small village, to escape from her past.

When Tess is nearly at her new home, with laden car, she bumps into a breakdown truck, and meets Ratty, who is obviously (due to their instant mutual antipathy) going to be the hero of the book. Unfortunately, from my perspective, Ratty is far from irresistible. I accept that some women like tattoos and grumpiness, but Ratty is aggressive at times, he's extremely promiscuous, and he can be very manipulative. He has a few good features too, but his negative side far outweighed his good points, in my view.

Nonetheless, the story proceeds as per Mills and Boon formula, with far too many bedroom scenes (or remembrances of them), albeit, thankfully, not too explicit. There are some good moments, and some enjoyable interludes with Tess's new friend Angel and her children. But all the male characters are rather flat, and some of the plotting seems a bit forced.

Perhaps I'm being unfair, because I didn't think it was nearly as good as 'Uphill all the way', and was thus a bit disappointed. If I'd picked it up expecting standard chick-lit, I'd have been impressed at the good writing and the depth of characterisation in Tess and one or two others. I read it in a few days - it was a good story, if I skipped the bedroom parts, and suspended reality once or twice - and the ending was satisfying, albeit predictable.

Recommended in a low-key way if you enjoy light women's fiction.

My longer review of Starting Over can be found at the Bookbag site.

Uphill all the way (by Sue Moorcroft)

(Amazon UK link)

'Uphill all the way' is a moving modern novel by Sue Moorcroft.

Fifty-one-year-old Judith is getting a bit anxious because Giorgio is late home. His mobile phone is not being answered. She tries to convince herself that he's just called into the pub with some mates, but it's quickly evident that something terrible has happened to him.

So she packs her bags and returns to her native England, staying initially with her loving but somewhat irritating sister Molly. Judith's own house has been rented out and she knows she has to give two months' notice to Adam, the guy living there. But she is not sure how long she can stand living with Molly. What's more, she needs to find a job.

Judith's family are all well-drawn and believable, each with their own problems which impact on her. Adam, by contrast, is the ideal friend in need. He is there when Judith wants him, making no demands or criticisms, allowing her to complain as much as she wants, and then cry on his shoulder.

I found the book thought-provoking, too. The themes of love, recovery from grief and forgiveness are strong. Judith has to let go of the past in many ways, and has to find out whether she can let go of her love of Malta, too. All in all, I thought this an excellent book and thoroughly enjoyed reading it. Highly recommended.

My longer review of 'Uphill all the way' is here at The Bookbag.