Book review – A Girl’s Guide to Moving On

At last I’m catching up with a bit of a book review backlog, but that’s good, right, because it means I’m getting some reading in. Today’s came courtesy of the publisher, via NetGalley, which provides ebooks for review (visit at your peril, as it’s quite addictive and you seem to have a good chance of getting most of the books you request …). I hadn’t realised that it’s the sequel to “Last One Home”, which is actually on my TBR shelf in paper form, but it didn’t seem to contain toooooo many spoilers and could certainly be read happily as a standalone, so here’s my review, and when I read “Last One Home”, I’ll try to remember to link the reviews.

Debbie Macomber – “A Girl’s Guide to Moving On”

(Received from NetGalley for Kindle, December 2015)

Nichole and Leanne both hope that they’ve moved on from their cheating husbands by now. Although of different ages, they share a link and have bonded during the couple of years they’ve been alone (incidentally, I was OK with this theme, even though I have had trouble reading about infidelity since I got married, maybe because both men were so unlike my husband that the theme was totally unrelatable to me. Good news, though, as avoiding that theme does limit one’s reading somewhat!). Anyway, they are making a new life for themselves following some precepts such as embracing new things, loving and accepting themselves and getting away from the heavily gossip-orientated country club that they both used to belong to.

I loved the two heroes, Rocco the tow truck man and Nikolai the Ukrainian taking a language class – although they did serve a role, they were fresh and lifelike, a bit different, and certainly used to make a valuable point about judging people – and especially immigrants – which felt useful in the rather cosy and small-c conservative world of this author’s books. They also provide some comic relief, but not at the expense of the characters or the people they represent. Although themes of love across differences etc. are common, I felt this was done well, freshly and nicely – it was enjoyable and more modern than some of her books (they do get reissued a lot, so you’re never sure whether you’re getting an older one or a newer one).

As I’ve agreed with my friend Linda in the past, Macomber has a knack of introducing quite upsetting themes into her books but placing them in a safe place where you can deal with them, and this is no exception. A good and recommended read.

This book would suit … romance readers who want something a little different, people looking for a cosy read with a moral backbone.

Coming up, a novel about software implementation and a comedian’s autobiography in one post that I’ll try my hardest to draw links in but probably won’t be able to.