Review: heartwarming and hilarious
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 04 7, 2014
As a writer I read with a fairly critical eye (and not on purpose. It just happens.) But something happened when I read Fairway to Heaven.I just read. I fell into the story and was swept along by thoughtfully conceived characters that set this story apart. I have read Lily Malone’s previous work and with this book she has really hit so many perfect shots (excuse the golf analogy). The writing in first person, present tense is not a favourite of mine, but for some reason (must be the characters) I didn’t notice after the first few pages. Her characters are very relatable and authentic. Brayden is a bloke I loved for his emotional contribution to the story (and I was grateful there was very little mention of manly body parts! In fact, he could have been less hunky and I would have related to him even more).As for the main character – Jenn! Seasoned authors will tell you: “Avoid putting babies in books.” This is largely because the little characters must be accounted for to avoid readers asking, “Where’s the baby right now?”Lily is obviously an author unafraid to go with her own. Her writing is fresh, her beautiful turn of phrase sometimes making me think, “Why didn’t I think of that!” This is most evident as she showed me the devoted mother/son relationship in a way that gave me goose bumps. When Jenn and Seb (the baby) are together the writing made me miss not being a mother. Truly lovely in every way.The theme is about finding the courage to move forward, the plot containing certain women’s issues (again, something that surprised me for a split second and then I thought …  You know what? This is so real.) This is a contemporary story about a very real woman facing real life challenges – moments in her life that are both heartwarming and hilarious.  I look forward to more.