Published : 9th January 2020
Publisher : Harper Collins
Format : Hardcover, Kindle, Paperback, Audio
Genre : Contemporary Fiction
Synopsis..
It’s Livia’s 40th birthday and she’s having the party of a lifetime to make up for the wedding she never had. Everyone she loves will be there except her daughter Marnie, who’s studying abroad.
But although Livia loves Marnie, she’s secretly glad she won’t be at the party. She needs to tell Adam something about their daughter but she’s waiting until the party is over so they can have this last happy time together.
Adam wants everything to be perfect for Livia so he’s secretly arranged for Marnie to come home and surprise her on her birthday. During the day, he hears some terrible news. He needs to tell Livia, because how can the party go on? But she’s so happy, so excited – and the guests are about to arrive.
The Dilemma – how far would you go to give someone you love a last few hours of happiness?
The beautiful cover you see in my main picture is the proof copy I was very lucky to receive from the lovely team at Harper Collins, this beauty👇🏻 is the cover that will be on sale as of the 9th January.
My Review...
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Pre order this book now!!! I loved everything about this book. The characters, the story and the way you can relate completely to the dilemma that Adam and Livia are caught up in. For Livia’s 40th birthday her daughter Marnie is flying over from Hong Kong as a surprise, only Adam knows as he helped his daughter arrange the flights but something awful happens that makes Adam question not only his own moral self but of the well being of his family too...
Can he wait until the early hours to say something? Livia is so happy and has waited a long time for this party, would it do that much harm to delay the bad new for a few hours? the end result of her utter unhappiness will be the same regardless of when he tells her so surely he can let her be free and unburdened for a little while longer?
Livia has wanted this party since she was nineteen. Pregnant and married at a young age Livia never got the wedding she had been planned since a little girl, shunned by her parents and completely cut off from them for getting pregnant out of wedlock Livia only had a few clue friends and Adams family to celebrate at the pub for the wedding party..
She always said her fortieth birthday would make up for that, so Livia started saving from the day of her wedding, small amounts each week that seemed like nothing but that would one day make her birthday the best day of her life... But a few weeks ago Livia discovered a secret whilst on FaceTime to her daughter Marnie, a secret that crushed her and that will rock their entire world to the core, devastate her husband and destroy their friendships with there closest and most dearest friends...
She has waited so long for this party.. is it so wrong to enjoy the moment? To have this night for herself?
I was constantly wondering about this book, completely unputdownable, I tore through it in just a couple of days. Adam and Livias characters are so endearing, I could relate to the both of them and even though personally I could not have waited until the end of a party to tell my husband the secret that Adam so desperately needed to share with Livia, I understood why he did keep it to himself and my heart went out to him for carrying that burden all alone for so many hours.
As for Livia's secret, I most defiantly would not have told my husband straight away... I do not give spoilers away so you will have to enjoy the book for yourself to appreciate what secrets are being kept by who and maybe then you can decide for yourself what you would do in there situations.
Towards the end of the book I did catch my breath and found a rather large lump in my throat, this is a heart wrenching story of being caught up in the dilemma between which is right and which is wrong, love, loss and ultimately about family love and the strength that holds them all together.
I found that this book stayed with my long after I had finished it, I stayed up very late as I needed to get to the end, but found myself wired and awake in the early hours as I couldn't switch off from the rawness of it all.
I highly recommend you read this book as soon as you are able, just maybe do not stay up so late as you will not be able to sleep after...
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Meet the author...
From a Franco-Irish background, I was brought up in England and moved to France where I spent some years working as a trader in an international bank. I then re-trained as a teacher and set up a language school with my husband.
We recently moved back to the UK and have five daughters.
Behind Closed Doors was my first novel, followed by The Breakdown and Bring Me Back. The Dilemma will be my fourth novel.
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I hope you enjoyed reading my review.
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