Review: Light-hearted and fabulous <3
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 12 10, 2013
*ARC courtesy of Momentum Books on Netgalley.*4++ starsThe Happy Endings Book Club is an endearing novel that will leave you feeling encouraged, hopeful, and yes - quite happy, indeed.I love the set up of this novel. Each of the seven women in the book club get at least one chapter to tell their stories of love. My favorite thing about a Jane Tara book is that the author has been everywhere, (really!) so as the setting moves from a London bookstore to the busy streets of New York and even to the Vienna Christmas markets (now on my bucket list), you KNOW she’s writing about places she’s actually been.I also really liked - and this was unexpected - that there’s a magical element to this story. Her previous novels, Forecast and Trouble Brewing, deal with a world full of fairies and magic, so having a bit of a crossover in this book was such a delight (Hi Batty!).I thoroughly enjoyed EVERY woman’s tale of Christmas love. I keep trying to pick a favorite, but it’s difficult. There’s something to love and relate to in each of their stories. Here are a couple of women who stood out to me:MICHI – I probably highlighted this one the most. Michi’s story takes her to Sydney, where she reunites with her rather unorthodox family. Actually, that’s an understatement – her family really IS nuts. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the humor in this one. Michi + Jake are a hot pair and her brother Greg had me cracking up. I chatted with my Australian bff during this chapter and it was cool to hear her talk about the places mentioned in the book. She also enjoyed making fun of the way I tried to copy words like honing, barney and hoicked. (Oh and “Heck no! Cherry Ripes are AMAZING!”)TILDA - The author just has a way of making the absurd, believable. So yeah, you may consider Tilda’s rapid invisibility to be a real but rare issue for about five seconds. Or you may possibly be looking for the fairies in St. Nectan’s Glen. ;)I really adored Tilda’s story. What woman CAN’T relate to feeling invisible and just going through the motions. Her love interest, Patrick, is such a dream, never letting what many consider to be a disability stop him from living his life to the fullest. It also doesn’t stop him from wooing a resistant-at-first Tilda…“…I find you attractive, Tilda.” He shook his head, amazed she didn’t get it. “Apart from the picture I have of you in my mind, I also liked the way you slammed that book shut. I liked the sound of your voice the first time we spoke. The slight scent of flowers that surrounds you.”Tilda was grateful he couldn’t see the tears in her eyes. "But you can’t see me.”“On the contrary,” he said. “I see you clearly.”A few more quotes I felt especially inspiring/entertaining:"It’s this freedom that’s the key to becoming visible again. Not caring what others think is freeing. Expressing yourself any way you want is freeing. Having opinions, emotional wisdom, spiritual understanding…these things free you. And in freedom, we find power.""Age has taught me that what other people think of me is none of my business."“Well, I’ll keep it in mind.”“Things never get done when they’re kept there.”He’d lost her. “Kept where?”“In mind. When you say, ‘I’ll keep it in mind, that’s usually where it stays.”*my note after that quote was – isn’t Jane Tara a little advice queen? =)*"It’s often only as beauty fades that it becomes apparent it was ever there."“Why do people love particular places? Because they’re the best version of themselves there, right?”“There are countless ways to see things. What’s it mean to see something anyway?””Perhaps truly seeing is the ability to see things through the eyes of others.”I just loved this book. It made me smile, it made me cry (shhh) and it just left me feeling a bit more lighthearted than when I started. It focuses on only a small moment in these women’s lives, but it’s a beautiful one and it will leave you wishing their stories could go on for much longer than they do."How do you see the world? Happy endings come not through events but through a shift in perception."Highly recommend.Oh - and when you're finished with this book, make sure to check out the following blog post about the fascinating story behind The Happy Endings Book Club.[...]