Review: An Easy Read for the Hopeless Romantic
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 07 4, 2014
When I started Love Redesigned I had quite high hopes, I thought this might be a bit different from most chick-lit; I was immediately reminded of Bridget Jones, the story that banishes the sickeningly perfect heroine for the real, fallible and likeable Bridget. Though the characters in Love Redesigned don’t share the same, slightly mad, realism as my beloved Bridge, the story promised something a bit different, mistakes, regrets, and hardships that won’t easily be forgotten or forgiven.The book tells the story of Holly and Harry, a mother and her young son who, upon learning of her pregnancy, was abandoned by her husband who never wanted children. The two had muddled along quite happily for five years, loving one another but missing the father/lover figure that was missing from their little family. Things get thrown up in the air when, out of the blue, estranged husband Daniel, turns up on the doorstep asking to take his son to school, be a part of his life and, possibly, even Holly’s.Now if this had been a more Bridget-esque story there would have been a lot of swearing, too much wine and some real, believable fights. Instead, after little resistance, Holly lets Daniel back into her life and the life of her son. The relationship that they had shared before Harry’s birth begins to rekindle itself and, well, you can see where this is going. And for me it just didn’t work.Perhaps I’m too much of a cynic but as I read the book I was willing Holly to throw Daniel back out on his ass, sue him for custody, hire a bitch of a divorce lawyer. I wanted some realism, some grit, some anger and resentment and Iles’ story just doesn’t pay out.If you like a clean and easy happy ending then this book is ideal for you, a great, modern love story with just enough conflict to drive the narrative forward, but for me I wanted something with a bit of meat on it.