Love is in the air: Dear Emmie Blue by Lia Louis #BookReview @LisforLia @TrapezeBooks

At sixteen, Emmie Blue stood in the fields of her school and released a red balloon into the sky. Attached was her name, her email address…and a secret she desperately wanted to be free of. Weeks later, on a beach in France, Lucas Moreau discovered the balloon and immediately emailed the attached addressed, sparking an intense friendship between the two teens.

Now, fourteen years later, Emmie is hiding the fact that she’s desperately in love with Lucas. She has pinned all her hopes on him and waits patiently for him to finally admit that she’s the one for him. So dedicated to her love for Lucas, Emmie has all but neglected her life outside of this relationship—she’s given up the search for her absentee father, no longer tries to build bridges with her distant mother, and lives as a lodger to an old lady she barely knows after being laid off from her job. And when Lucas tells Emmie he has a big question to ask her, she’s convinced this is the moment he’ll reveal his feelings for her. But nothing in life ever quite goes as planned, does it?

How many times do you read a novel and when you finished it you want to start reading it all over again? It really doesn’t happen very often to me but this time it did! I absolutely adored this novel! Dear Emmie Blue is a novel about loneliness, homeliness, about family, friendship and love, about caring for someone and being cared for, and of course there’s an utterly enchanting romance involved at the very, very end as well. It’s not only the romance though that makes this book so amazing, all the other characters are so lovely and caring and fill your heart when reading (except maybe Emmie’s mother and Ana, Eliot’s girlfriend). A special mention though for Rosie and Fox, Emmie’s friends and colleagues who work with her at the hotel and who were wonderful and lightened up the mood every time, their comments were truly funny.

I don’t want to get into the plot, if you pay a little attention and have a sixth sense like me you will know where the story is going but that’s absolutely fine because it only builds that anticipation and makes you ache and long for that perfect happy ending.

A little word of warning that this novel does include the mention of abuse, a moment already spoken of in its first pages, but that moment is not written in any detail in the novel, it does play a role in the story though but it certainly shouldn’t hold you back from reading this emotional rollercoaster of a novel.

Dear Emmie Blue was able to do the craziest thing, it brought tears to my eyes and gave me a great big lump in my throat the size of eh.. an avocado more than once when I was reading this. They weren’t all sad tears and I often smiled through my tears but my heart did get a serious beating. The best romance novels are the ones where you truly fall in love a little yourself and you definitely don’t have to worry here, you’ll fall so hard you’ll hit your head. It’s not about the big words, it’s about the small gestures, am I right? The guy in this novel has my heart!

The blurb of this novel states boldly that it is perfect for fans of Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine. I’ll tell you even more, it is perfect for fans of Eleanor, of The Flatshare and of The Sight of You (which happen to be three of my favourite novels). If you enjoy reading romance Dear Emmie Blue should be on your list! It’s an absolute winner in the romance genre for me and if this novel doesn’t make my favorite list at the end of the year, I don’t know what will! This novel is guaranteed to be a bestseller and I can’t wait to read this author’s next novel!

I received a free copy of this novel from the publisher Trapeze Books for review. This is still my honest opinion.

Advertisement

The Lion Tamer Who Lost by Louise Beech #BookReview

Be careful what you wish for…
Long ago, Andrew made a childhood wish, and kept it in a silver box. When it finally comes true, he wishes he hadn’t…

Long ago, Ben made a promise and he had a dream: to travel to Africa to volunteer at a lion reserve. When he finally makes it, it isn’t for the reasons he imagined…

Ben and Andrew keep meeting in unexpected places, and the intense relationship that develops seems to be guided by fate. Or is it? What if the very thing that draws them together is tainted by past secrets that threaten everything?

A dark, consuming drama that shifts from Zimbabwe to England, and then back into the past, The Lion Tamer Who Lost is also a devastatingly beautiful love story, with a tragic heart…

 

What is there to say except that it was… exceptional! After finishing Call Me Star Girl I wanted to see if another story would have a similar effect on me. So, a few weeks later I’m on my second Louise Beech novel and I can officially say that I have added her to my list of must-read authors. This novel is, again, heartbreakingly beautiful.

I loved reading about Ben’s adventure in Zimbabwe with the lions. I had put off reading this novel for soooo long because I was afraid to find out what the setting would entail. I have such a tiny heart when it comes to animals and I thought it might be depressing or that there would be a mention of animal cruelty towards the lions but it was quite the opposite, it gave me so much joy to read how Ben tried to create a bond with his lion cub. Of course Ben had to say goodbye at some point and that was hard but it was also a satisfying and beautiful moment, so if this is the only thing keeping you from reading this as well then I can tell you, you need to pick it up pronto, as you’re really missing out on an amazing story. No, the hardest parts of the novel were definitely yet to come and had really nothing to do with the animals but with Ben, Andrew and their families.

When Ben was in Zimbabwe I knew he had such strong feelings for Andrew but for some reason he had left him behind and they had no contact. I couldn’t imagine why that was and I first suspected it was for some trivial reason but that didn’t last long as it was quickly replaced – her previous novel working as my reference point – with a sense that it would go deeper than that, and I was so right! If you’re thinking this is just a run of the mill love story, you are dead wrong. This is an unprecedented love story, one I haven’t read before. Oh how I felt for Ben and Andrew and the whole impossibility of the situation. Andrew is older than Ben and has long come out but Ben is afraid of the reaction he’ll get, especially from his father. As if that wasn’t enough, Louise Beech ripped my heart apart with more tragedy. Have I already told you that I love star-crossed lovers themes and Romeo and Juliet are forever in my heart? Well I had the same feel here, Ben and Andrew’s initials are not only carved in a tree but also in my heart. Oh and that wishbox, that damn box… when I realised what was in there, god I wanted to stop time, I wanted to go back in time, anything to avoid that moment where everything would collide as in a heads-on car crash.

The Lion Tamer Who Lost is a remarkable novel, it left me spoilt and spent. She’s only done it again. I highly highly recommend this novel and even though I didn’t cry, I did have a lump in my throat and felt emotional. So did Call Me Star Girl though so the struggle for favorite novel so far is real. Because Star Girl was the first one – first love – I’ll keep it at first place but you don’t need to twist my arm. Either way, I can’t wait to read her next novel and become all emotional all over again!

I bought a paperback copy of this novel. This is my honest opinion.