Review: Ivy
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 06 4, 2014
The first thing that I loved about this book is that the main female character has a warmth and depth to her that makes her immediately likeable.  She is a young widow (not a virgin for a change) who is still grieving for her husband who died unexpectedly from pancreatic cancer.  She is encouraged (bullied!) to leave her flat to go Christmas shopping but whilst she is in the store there is a terrorist attack.  She doesn't just scream and flap and wait to be rescued.  No, she thinks about the advice her husband gave her and follows it to the best of her ability.  And that, is just the start.This book is amazingly written and it is hard to believe that it is the debut novel.  I would have loved more scenes with the three of them as there were quite a few with Ivy, and Ivy and her friends, but not so much with Ivy, Gareth and Steve.  Maybe I'm just being greedy but they had such a good connection, I wanted to see more.  Hopefully they will be in other Blackbird books, which I am eagerly anticipating.On the whole, this book has a well-developed plot line which proceeds with a great pace.  The characters are all believable and have layers to them.  The story itself is funny, warm and romantic.  Definitely recommended.