My review
The problem with giving your heart away to someone is that you never get it back. Long after you’ve fallen out of love with them, they still own a little piece of you….
These lines resonated so deep within me that it almost felt as if author Paige Toon is describing my story. Everything that I believe about love is encapsulated in these two lines. So does the main character Bridget, a travel writer with a blog but she goes one step further. She feels that she has become so jaded with love, that she needs to ask all the men that she has been in love before, for the pieces of her heart back then, and only then, can she commit to her boyfriend Elliot totally.
So armed with this idea, she pitches it to her editor to combine her travel stories with meeting all her old loves and write a book on it. But her editor has another concept in mind, she wants Bridget to continue with her blog and at the same time write a sequel to the novel the secret life of us by the late Nicole Dupre, to become a ghost writer of sorts.
Nicole died of a brain aneurysm a few months ago and has left behind an unfinished manuscript, a grief stricken husband, Charlie and a baby April. So Bridget travels to the beautiful Padstow, Cornwall in the month of August to begin her research into the life of Nicole. Reading through the notes and diaries , Bridget does see the familiarity between characters of Nicole’s book and real life, and at the same time gets to know Charlie and April and then story goes further like every romance but with a difference…
What I particularly liked about this story, is the combination of humor and real life. Love need not always be so serious and love need not start as love, it can start as friendship, humour, daily routine and then slowly burst into its own glory. That’s what Paige Toon does…
She brings warmth and laughter in every situation. There are so many emotions that I could not help but dive into it, I laughed with Bridget, I danced with her, I cried when she did but I fell in love with both Bridget and Charlie.
Bridget has everything going for her, she is warm, funny, lives life unapologetically with her convictions, her concept of going after her old loves and asking for her heart back has been ridiculed and trolled but she genuinely believes in the closure that such an act would bring. It’s this combination of genuineness and innocence that made me root for her. To counter her whacky personality, there is Charlie who is just coming out of his grief for his dead wife and looking after a tiny tot. Their interactions are absolutely heart warming and funny. I could literally ‘see’ their world, how their liking and comfortability progressed to love and I thank Paige Toon for showing me that beauty. This line strikes a chord in me..
Do you know that you are supposed to hug for at least seven seconds to get the full benefit of it…
Nothing can be more beautiful than two people falling in love slowly, accepting each other, their friendship blossoming into love. Even people who are cynics or jaded will read this book and have a tiny smile on their face and that is the magic of Paige Toon’s writing. Each word is fun to read, fun to imagine and fun to long for.
This was my first book by her and OH what a book. It was everything I had hoped for and then some. I really thought it would just be a regular chick lit and it does follow the script to some extent but then it takes a life of its own, each character is wonderful by themselves or when they are together…
This is the beginning of my relationship with the author as I know I will read up all her books and each book will kindle an emotion in my heart and a longing for further such journeys…
I end with the last line of the book, told by Bridget, which took my breath away and brought tears to my eyes;
As for my darling adopted daughter April, she has the last piece of my heart. And I’ll never ask for it back. Ever…
My rating : 5 stars
About the Author
Paige Toon was born in 1975. A philosophy graduate, she worked at teen, film and women’s magazines, before ending up at Heat magazine as Reviews Editor. She is very experienced at events and interviews and has a significant social media following. The One We Fell in Love With was picked for the Zoella Book Club. Her novels are bestsellers throughout Europe.
Book blurb
A successful travel journalist, Bridget has ambitions to turn her quirky relationship blog about the missing pieces of her heart into a book. But after a spate of rejections from publishers, she accepts an alternative proposition.
Nicole Dupré died leaving behind a bestselling novel and an incomplete sequel. Tasked with finishing the book, Bridget is thankful to have her foot in the publishing door, even if it means relocating to Cornwall for the summer and answering to Nicole’s grieving husband, Charlie..
Product Details
Publication date : 18th May 2017
Publisher : Simon & Schuster
Language : English
Available on Amazon
A heartwarming funny romance
39 Responses
Great review… I love the quote you added at the beginning, by the way: “The problem with giving your heart away to someone is that you never get it back. Long after you’ve fallen out of love with them, they still own a little piece of you”…. So true! 😉 Thank you for sharing… Love & best wishes 🙂
Thank you for reading… And commenting.. Write more… You write so well…
Thank you so much… I post once a month (or so) as takes me so much time to get the information, pics and so on… Plus then comes catching up with comments & visiting blogs… 😀 Have a great weekend. 🙂
superb you really do a lot of research. it shows in your writing and your photographs … a lot of hard work . kudos
Indeed… But it is all worth it 😀 xx
Great review, Shalini! Sounds like a must-read. Also wanted to let you know that I nominated you for the Unique Blogger Award, in case you wanted to check it out 😊
Oooooh one more nominations?? Hahaha thank you.. I will do it but slowly I have 6 more to do
Oh wow congratulations! You deserve it!! 😊
Hahaha that’s what I am wondering how is my blog unique and making me look at it in a different way… And your questions… Its making me think… The answers are appearing elusive in my brain.. Let’s see what my fingers type when I do it
I’m glad it’s making you think 😊 You are an amazing writer!!
😱 me??? Thank you… Never saw myself as that… I have to rethink my opinions about me… Thank you for showing me..
I think my answers are going to be long ones.. I ramble on… Forewarning you
I loved this review Adele. I am still reading the other you suggested, but this review made me want to add this title to the list, too. Lovely as always sweet girl!!
Awww… Jo thank you… I read so many of these thrillers that I wanted something sweet almost like a palette cleanser so taking a break from intense books.. So something sweet or something scary is what I am looking at…. I am scared of horror books…
Lady Gaga, this book will come down as a bargain in some days… So will inform u on the day it does… Amazon india doesn’t give bargains.. But yours does..
2nd point is could you do that no tech thing?? For 2 hours everyday?? I couldn’t find do it day before but yest took mom out for a couple of hours.. So its scary to realize how much technology and virtual world has invaded our lives…
Yes I finished up day 3 of it this evening. Although it unnerves me to turn my phone and computer totally off, I find it oddly soothing to not feel compelled to check something every few minutes. I think it may become a rule that stays but I’m only on day 3 so I guess I will see if I crumble!
True… I think i think my mind has become restless so it keeps on checking virtual world not because I want to connect… Got to work on that
I truly understand. Really. The virtual world doesn’t argue or snap, and it doesn’t make any demands that I have to heed. I enjoy the a la carte way we can access the virtual world as well.
You replied to this comment.
thank you so much for reading and commenting much appreciated
😊😊
Oh no, you can’t do this to me..now I so badly want to read this book.loved the quote..loved the way you felt about this book. I would also like to experience it. The title itself is so eye catching. And about the hug thing.next time I’m counting down from 7😁😁
Yessss so am I hugs for 7 sec hahaha it’s a beautiful book a must buy and description of beaches and scenery superb… I want to go to those beaches with a guy and hug for 7 seconds.. A must buy good book
With your reviews you’ll convince me to buy every book. The rate at Which you read books is equal to the rate I read your reviews. 😞
I read books in my free time girl.. That shows I don’t do any other work hahaha 😉😉. Will tell you when these books go on a bargain. Amazon gives ebooks on a bargain suddenly for some hours..
very nice reviews
Thank you for reading and letting me know. I appreciate it
Welcome, mam, You are good reviewer mam and i am not loosing you as a great reviewer
U seem to be a good person. Just sometimes, don’t get angry and react. Just think first a little bit. That’s all I ask..
Thanks mam, u r also a very good person and in future not gt angry in a little bit.
I know I am because I don’t have time or energy to be bad..thank you
Welcome mam ,u rite mam not waste energy in anger and this energy is used in work
A brilliantly written review and it sounds like a great read! I’m going to order it 🙂 If you have any other recommendations it would be great if you could leave some ideas on my bookworm post 🙂
Happy reading x
Hi Hannah, I will do that… Thank you for your comments. It uplifts my heart to read yours
Thanks! It was a great review that has made me so excited about reading this book when it arrives – I’ll let you know what I thought although it might take some time as i have a large ‘pending’ pile!
Me too… 😉
I’m more inclined to pick up this book after reading the review 😂I had actually met Paige Toon herself about 3 years ago and she’s honestly such a great woman
Oh wow, lucky you… That’s so nice to hear.. Thank you reading my review
Yeah she actually had visited where I went to school and she did a little competition with randomly picked students and I happened to be one of them. It was to write a story opening and the most appealing one to her would get one of her new books at the time along with her little autograph and I still have it today 💕💕
Superb…. Fabulous
Congratulations