“Yesterday was Valentine’s Day. Three weeks since I lost my job—made redundant and turned out of my office with no notice—and ten days since my husband, Chris, henceforth known as “that bastard,” left me. Or did I leave him? Maybe I did, since I’m the one who had to, you know, leave.”
Genre: Romance, ChickLit, Adult
Location: Scotland
Pages: 431
Publication year: 2021
Average Goodreads Ratings: 3.59
Goodreads // Amazon// Book Depository
A woman desperate to turn a new page heads to the Scottish coast and finds herself locked in a battle of wills with an infuriatingly handsome bookseller in this utterly heartwarming debut, perfect for readers of Evvie Drake Starts Over.
Thea Mottram is having a bad month. Her husband of nearly twenty years has just left her for one of her friends, and she is let go from her office job–on Valentine’s Day, of all days. Bewildered and completely lost, Thea doesn’t know what to do. But when she learns that a distant great uncle in Scotland has passed away, leaving her his home and a hefty antique book collection, she decides to leave Sussex for a few weeks. Escaping to a small coastal town where no one knows her seems to be exactly what she needs.
Almost instantly, Thea becomes enamored with the quaint cottage, comforted by its cozy rooms and shaggy, tulip-covered lawn. The locals in nearby Baldochrie are just as warm, quirky, and inviting. The only person she can’t seem to win over is bookshop owner Edward Maltravers, to whom she hopes to sell her uncle’s antique novel collection. His gruff attitude–fueled by an infamous, long-standing feud with his brother, a local lord–tests Thea’s patience. But bickering with Edward proves oddly refreshing and exciting, leading Thea to develop feelings she hasn’t felt in a long time. As she follows a thrilling yet terrifying impulse to stay in Scotland indefinitely, Thea realizes that her new life may quickly become just as complicated as the one she was running from.
My Thoughts
I absolutely loved this book. Thea was such a likeable character. She’s 44 years old but she acts like a mature young adult. I absolutely loved her. I felt like we were friends the entire time I was reading. All the characters in this story are likeable. I think side characters could have had a little bit more depth to them but overall they were fabulous nonetheless. I also loved Edward and all his brooding.
Although Thea is 17 years older than I am at this moment, I found her to be extremely relatable. Her husband cheats on her. I was cheated on too. I felt what she was feeling in a way. There was a moment between her and Edward that reminded me so much of a moment between my fiancé and I during my breakup with my ex-boyfriend (this was before him and I were dating). It reminded me so much of us that I got emotional and cried. I have never felt more relatable to a character than I did in that moment. It was an out of body experience.
I loved the writing. I was mostly listening to this out audiobook, which was AMAZING. The narrator has an accent which really added to the story. I did read some of this on e-book too and still thoroughly enjoyed it. I’m honestly not sure why this book has such an average rating on goodreads!
My biggest criticism is probably how fast the conflicts all resolved themselves but overall I loved it. I loved the chemistry between Thea (the main character) and Edward (the love interest). I felt like Theas feelings and their relationship was very believable because I’ve lived through something so so similar. Anywho, I highly recommend! 🙂
Final Verdict:
escapelifeinthepages.com 
great review 💅🥰
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Thank you!!!!!
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