The Love of Her Life by Harriet Evans

Kate is an office assistant living in New York but soon she has to travel back to London, where her ill father lives, and where she ran away from 8 years ago and hasn’t looked back. Can Kate make things right again?

Having read A Hopeless Romantic, I was slightly apprehensive in reading another Evans book, and when I started reading this, I thought I had good reason to. Yet after a slow start, the book started to gather pace and I began to get drawn into Kate and her back-story, which was intriguing, shocking and emotional. The characters are fully developed and seem “real”, and the plot was excellent, and after Kate’s return to London, the bid to rebuild broken relationships was crafted well by Evans. A great read. 4 stars.

A Hopeless Romantic - Harriet Evans - final update!

OMG!!!! I have finally finished!!! This is the best day of my life!!! Trying to read this has been a great chore. At first I abhorred the book and the author for making her main character, Laura Foster, so selfish and unlikeable, especially during her affair with Dan. Her life then goes bad, but it is a bit too much to expect the reader to feel sympathy for her. Later she goes on holiday to Norfolk with her family, which felt like it dragged too long, before she met Nick. Initially I like the way these two characters fell for each other, and the fairytale storyline, but after Nick’s secret was revealed, the book started to lag again. Nick become a dithering, weedy character and Laura became selfish, whiny and self-obsessed again. After that, the story just falls flat. Nothing in the rest of the narrative stands out, and none of the characters present themselves as likeable. At the end, I didn’t really care what happened to Laura, and the events that followed in the final parts of the story where predictable, and I think that Evans hasn’t achieved in telling the romantic story she wanted to. I’ve given it a chance – with other books, I would have stopped reading, but I thought that perhaps it might get better, but overall, A Hopeless Romantic has been a great disappointment. Reading the blurb of this book, I thought it was a nice idea, but I just never took to the character of Laura, and never interested in her story. 1 star.

Update on A HOPELESS ROMANTIC by Harriet Evans

As you know, i've started reading this a few weeks ago and I found it awful, but I am pursuing with it...slowly. The good news is it does get better with the arrival of Nick. Laura isn't as bad as she was earlier in the book, but she is far from being likeable, and i like the general fairytaleness of the plot (marquis falls in love with commoner, etc.). However, now that the truth has been revealed, Nick is starting to sound a bit weedy as he tries to hide his relationship from his sister & there is still a long way of the book to go. At the point where I have reached, it is starting to lag again, and I fear I might start getting frustrated with the story again...I'll press on nonetheless...

A Hopeless Romantic - Harriet Evans Part 1

Reading the synopsis for this, I was intrigued by this book so I headed off to get a copy from my local library. I have started reading this (so not finished quite yet) but I have to say I am not enjoying this book. The main character is very unlikeable - she is having an affair with another man, who tells her he loves her and wants to be with her - quite cliched. The main character, Laura, is so selfish and so obsessed with this man that it is hard for any reader to be charmed by her "wonderful" character. Usually what sells a chick-lit novel is the appeal of the main character, but in Laura, there doesn't seem to be anything redeeming, I feel sorry more for the pigeon that has an unfortunate incident than I do when things go wrong for Laura. At the moment, she is on an extended holiday with her family, which is utterly boring to read about.

Perhaps I am being too hasty, after all, I haven't read the majority of the book yet, but the problem is, I don't really connect with the story or the characters. With other novels, such as  You Drive Me Crazy  -see below, I can't wait to see what happens next and find it hard to put the book down. A Hopeless Romantic, on the other hand, does not bother me when I stop reading it, and when I am reading it, makes me sleepy. I will persevere nonetheless to see whether the story improves, and whether Laura has any redeeming features/ changes in personality...