If you follow me on Instagram, you know how much I love Laura’s writing. I was lucky enough to meet her at a blogging conference when her debut book came out and I have loved everything she has written ever since. When the lovely folks at Avon Books asked me if I was interested in reading an ARC of her forthcoming novel, The Lucky Escape, I absolutely jumped at the chance.
Our narrator Annie is so excited about her dream wedding to her university sweetheart Alexander, but, when she arrives at the church in her designer dress, she finds out that he has left her at the altar. She is understandably devastated. A chance meeting with her old friend, Patrick, reminds Annie of the girl she used to be when they knew each other in their teens. In a spontaneous moment, Annie decides that she will still take her all-expenses-paid dream honeymoon to Australia and asks Patrick to come with her.
In all honesty, I think this is the author’s best work yet. The character development is incredibly strong and I could really relate to the journey of self-reflection and discovery that our protagonist Annie goes on. (I wouldn’t be sorry to be able to relate a little more to the all expenses paid holiday bit but a girl can dream!) The main characters are messy, flawed and complicated and that, for me, is what makes them so very human. This isn’t a picture perfect romance but it feels real and that is one of the things I loved most about it.
If you want a nice, light summer holiday read then you can definitely enjoy The Lucky Escape on that level. There are some sections that are laugh-out-loud, spit-your-drink-over-yourself funny and there are some really tender moments too. Underneath that though, there are some deeper questions around personal development and fulfilment that are really carefully handled by the author. It left me feeling all the feelings, but the overriding emotions were of joy and hope.
The Lucky Escape is out on June 10th. Thank you once again Avon Books for the advanced copy.
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