Review: Cute book!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 10 9, 2012
I found this book on Twitter and I must say, it's a cute little read. It doesn't take long and most of the characters are CHARACTERS: funny, silly, drinking, teasing, nice people. Olivia is the primary protagonist and she has been kicked out by her husband and is staying at her parents house over the Christmas holiday while they are in Hawaii. Her brother James shows up and sweeps her off to a mansion in the middle of nowhere to visit James' friend and co-worker Rory. Rory occasionally lives at home with his mum, Molly; the cook, Martha; his brother Max and Max's girlfriend Reba (which is short for Rebecca). Reba is a horrible, pretentious person who really wants to get a hold of Max's old family money. Reba wants to be "lady of the manor." I personally despise the name Reba, it makes me think of awful Yank singers.Olivia, or Livvy (which immediately made me think of Liver and Onions, and Reba is uncouth to point out it does for her as well) as she is called, is devastated by her husband William. Livvy bares her soul to the drinking Molly and Martha before Christmas. Max it seems can read minds and knows that Livvy was beaten and sexually abused by William. Livvy did not come across like that, but what I found fascinating is the fact that her parents, when they came back from Hawaii (and going to Hawaii from the UK isn't cheap!) were displeased with Livvy and ignored her. It seemed, according to Livvy, that they believed William instead of her, liked William more than her, and they chose to not speak to her. Livvy was really on her own.Now Livvy does come across as pretty naive, James not so much, and Max and Reba an odd pair. Molly and Martha are as one would expect two older women to be. One the current lady of the manor, the other the help who is the confidant of the lady. They are silly and a bit nutty, but pretty typical of old-style money situations.We soon discover that Max's heart has been broken three years prior, by the Minister's daughter no less, and he is insulating himself with the attractive, yet crass, money-grubbing Reba. His mum, Molly is a hoot, her husband Fred dead, what better way to spend time then drinking with the cook over the holidays; they certainly are a lonely time. The holidays are the worst, and the book brings strangers and family together very well for Christmas, Boxing Day and New Years Eve.The book does take some suspension of disbelief. We, as readers, have to acknowledge that William and Reba are going to get away with anything because Molly doesn't want to see her son hurt or affected by bad press. I grew up in an old money family where appearances are everything, so I understand this mentality, but it's hard when Livvy has been so abused by her husband whom she trusted with her chastity and she can't even speak to her parents about it. Max seems to want to take his time, he seems to understand Livvy is damaged, yet they end up having sex on the beach. A quickie of sorts, and it is a bit shocking to consider Livvy was abused, Max can tell, but then would take advantage of her in such a manner. Additionally, Reba's resources to prove a fake pregnancy are incredible! I wondered how that was possible. So, as I stated, you need to suspend disbelief, because, for example, while Max can seem so smart, you'd think he'd have Reba checked by his personal physician to see if she was with child, instead of people she could pay off to falsify that she was pregnant. Max seems gullible in some areas and not in others, and they don't mix well, those issues.We are shown, one night when Molly, Martha and Livvy are drinking that Livvy was a cook, and a good one at that, for nine years, before her marriage to William. Because of Livvy's personality (naive, a bit blind regarding what's in front of her) and her experience as a cook, she is asked to replace Martha as the house cook. She does, and what I find so sad is that she is really lonely. Livvy just wants to be accepted, and her parents don't seem to be of the accepting sort. But Reba and William trying to rob Molly's home comes as a bit of a shock. It appears the two will go to enormous lengths to get what they want, it's almost surreal.Numerous events in the book, the dogs, the seals, the interactions between everyone, make it a super easy read. There are some typos and grammar issues, it could have used a diligent editor, but not so many errors that it makes the book unreadable, which has happened to me with books found on Twitter.@krautgrrl says a cute little read with a nice, sweet happy ending; an ending that Livvy deserves after all she's been through.