Blurb
‘A charming, moving second-chance love story for fans of Thursdays in the Park, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and Last Tango in Halifax.
Does first love deserve a second chance?
When she was almost seventeen, Rosie Draper locked eyes with a charismatic student called Peter during their first week at art college, changing the course of her life forever. Now, on the cusp of sixty-five and recently widowed, Rosie is slowly coming to terms with a new future. And after a chance encounter with Peter, forty-seven years later, they both begin to wonder ‘what if’ . . .
Super excited today as it’s my turn on Sue Watson’s blog tour for ‘We’ll Always Have Paris’! Massive thank you to Sue for recommending me and my blog to take part, and to Clara at Little Brown/Netgalley for arranging my advanced copy in return for my honest thoughts!
‘What if?’ seems to be a recurring question, doesn’t it? We all wonder ‘what if?’ about our own lives. But have you ever wondered ‘what if?’ about your love life? Have you ever had your heart-broken by your very first love? I am imagining quote a few of you are nodding to that. But what if your first love came back into your life? Now, I’m not talking about your first love coming back into your life ONE year after. No. Not even TWO years after. How about DECADES later? Nah, it could never happen. Could it?
Sue Watson is definitely one of my ‘star struck’ authors because if I ever have the honour of meeting her, it will be like my two-year old meeting 1D (she loves them, thankfully she doesn’t understand they are no more!). Sue is such a down to Earth person and an incredible author, so when I found out from the lady herself that she was bringing out a new book, I was ecstatic. I couldn’t wait to get my hands on the book, and by golly, I was not disappointed.
The first chapter of the book sets the groundwork for the rest of the story, and despite the amount of background that is given at first, it sets the scene with many unanswered questions to figure out the answers to in other chapters. Sue has written a book about heartbreak, new-found love and finding the real you. Rosie has been put in the unfortunate situation of having to re-start her life at a much later age than she probably would have liked. Life certainly has ways of keeping us on our toes.
Understandably, Rosie’s daughters are protective of their mum. But there is being protective and being made to feel ‘incapable’ due to her age and her sudden changes in personality. Is it a change though, or is it who she really is? The amount of emotion in this book caught me straight away. Each and every word has incredible emotional depth which pulls you in as though you’re under a spell. Yes, ‘We’ll Always Have Paris’ had me spellbound. I found it wonderful that not only did we learn about the Rosie ‘now’, we learnt about the Rosie ‘then’. Both of the past and present memories linked flawlessly which made the story flow with incredible ease.
Not many of us would ever have a second chance at love when we reach a certain age, probably because we might think ‘is it worth it?’. That is the chance you take though isn’t it? I did feel sorry for Rosie multiple times because she was dealing with grief, as well as trying to have a sense of normality at work and because of her daughters as they were grieving too. I just wanted to climb in the book and give her a big cuddle. Rosie is such a loveable character with a big heart and an even bigger personality. I was rooting for her to finally have her happy ending.
This is a book that kept on giving, there was never a dull moment for me when I was reading it. I could tell that ‘We’ll Always Have Paris’ was written from the heart due to the amount of emotion that fills the book and the way I felt included as I was reading it. I know that is a weird description to use; feeling ‘included’ with a book, but I genuinely felt included and involved in the depths of the story and the complexity of the characters.
I absolutely loved ‘We’ll Always Have Paris’. It made me laugh, made me gasp in shock, and yes, it made me cry. A true rollercoaster of emotions, but oh so definitely worth it. If only Sue could live in my house and read stories to me every day, the way that she writes her wonderful books, I would be set for life. An incredible lady definitely, but Sue is an extraordinary author. Fantastic read, thank you Sue for writing another amazing book!
We’ll Always Have Paris by Sue Watson, published by Little Brown Books, is available to buy NOW in E-book from Amazon UK//Amazon US. The paperback version is set for release in 2017.
The Writing Garnet 