Thanks a million to lovely fellow blogger, Erin McEwan for her review of Erin Kaye's " Always You ".
Us bloggers are sent some amazing books to review but there are not enough hours in the day to get to them as quickly as we would like, hence we help each other out ......
The
bit on the back…
If only they could rewrite their past…
It’s 1992 and Sarah is in love with Cahal, a boy from
the wrong side of the tracks. As they plan to graduate from university, all
seems set for their happily ever after.
Fast forward to 2012 and something’s gone wrong. Cahal
is out of the picture and Sarah is divorced from Ian by whom she’s had two
children. What happened? As Cahal walks back into Sarah’s life, can they do
things differently this time?
Always You is the story of Sarah and Cahal,
childhood sweethearts who were pushed apart by their families when Cahal left
for Australia. Now, by circumstance, they have been reunited years later, all
grown up with kids and emotional baggage. Each of them has their own version of
the events that took place back when Cahal left. When Sarah is introduced to
Cahal at a comany event she is taken completely by surprise, and their old,
buried but not forgotten feelings come to the surface all over again.
Sarah, divorced mum of Molly and Lewis, and
also a successful career woman, has never been truly happy. Her one true love,
Cahal, flew out of her life 20 years ago. Even though she married the father of
her children she was never in love. With her ex-husband being re-married, and
his mother health deteriorating by the day Sarah has a lot on her plate.
Cahal flew to Australia to escape from his
rough background and had expected Sarah to follow him. Disappointed then he is
now also a divorcee with three sons. He is less than keen on the man who has
effectively taken his place, in his house, Brady his ex-wife Adele's new
husband.
Ian, Sarah's ex-husband, is having marriage
problems again. His new wife isn't interested in his kids, in his mother and
family commitments, and barely seems interested in him. Ian is still in love
with Sarah, and is on the verge of trying everything he can to get her back
again.
The story is told in the third person and
is mostly narrated by Sarah, Cahal and Ian. Third person really helped with the
story as it saves the reader having to remind themselves who is telling the
story. It starts in 1992, with a look at Sarah and Cahal's relationship before
everything broke down, and them jumps to 2012, where it would seem, they are
destined to meet again. Throughout the story there are flashbacks from both
Cahal and Sarah which allow you to get glimpses at different parts of their
past together. I think this really makes the book accessible to readers of any
age as younger chic-lit/romance readers will be able to empathise with the
younger characters as well as translating those feelings to the grown up
version of the characters.
I liked Sarah and Cahal's characters; I
thought they were both believable in their feelings towards each other but also
in their actions. The story has some underlying themes, mainly an almost Romeo
and Juliet-esque theme as Cahal and Sarah are from different sides of the
track. Sarah's family are less than pleased when her young self announces her
relationship with Cahal. And when the pair are reunited again it would seem
that her family went to lengths she couldn't have imagined to keep her apart.
So there is a bit of a mystery to be solved which is a bit of a page turner.
I wasn't keen on Ian's character, I always
felt quite uneasy reading about him, because I wasn't sure of what he was
capable of, what lengths he would go to, to reclaim his family. But, in the
end, Ian is only a poor soul who has lost his way slightly and with some gentle
guidance from his mother he gets himself back on track.
Overall, a really great read, touching and
though provoking, plus I kind of imagined Cahal as Gerald Butler so that was a
bonus too.
Erin X
" Always You " is published by Avon Books as is currenly available at the great price of £0.99 on Amazon and is also available in paperback.
The reviewer can be contacted via Twitter @ Erin'schoicee or www.facebook.com/erinschoice
www.erins-choice.blopspot.com
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