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30/04/2016

The Second Love of My Life by Victoria Walters


Published in paperback original by Headline Review on 7th April 2016. My thanks to the publisher for sending me my copy.

In the Cornish town of Talting, everyone is famous for something.
Until recently Rose was known for many things: her infectious positivity; her unique artistic talent; and her devotion to childhood sweetheart Lucas.
But two years ago that changed in one unthinkable moment. Now, Rose is known for being the young woman who became a widow aged just twenty-four.
Though Rose knows that life must go on, the thought of carving out a new future for herself is one she can barely entertain. Until a newcomer, Robert, arrives in Talting for the summer...


Can Rose allow herself the chance to love again?

My Thoughts:

This book is set in the fictional town of Talting in Cornwall. It was a great setting, Cornwall is a place I love and allows for some lovely scenery and settings for the story to unfold.

This books is primarily a love story, but also that of grief and finally being able to move beyond grief to the future and the realisation and acceptance that it is possible and OK to fall in love again. 

I found this story to be quite sad and poignant in places, Rose has become a widow at the age of 24, she wanted to grow old with Lucas and she never imagined a future without him in it. Their relationship was one of the forever kind. Rose is a talented Artist but after the death of Lucas she loses her passion for everything, her life, her future, and ultimately painting - her muse no longer around to inspire and encourage her. She is incredibly despondent.

Things begin to change one summer when there is a new face in town, a man called Robert. Robert notices Rose and eventually gets her to open up about herself and gives her a glimpse of a future that could be possible. However with all things in life, things don't always run 100% smoothly.

This book was a good debut, which I enjoyed reading. I found the characters to be well written and the story held my attention. I particularly liked the characters of Emma and John who were friends of Rose, they are grieving too. They were also close friends of Lucas and they sense his loss deeply.

I found this an interesting way to examine grief and it was made all the more sad by involving relatively young characters. I think the emotional elements of the story could have been explored even deeper than they were to pull on the readers heartstrings more strongly. 

All in all and interesting concept for a book and I would like to read more from this author in the future to see how her writing style develops. 


About the Author:

Victoria Walters has always loved creating stories. Her first book was handwritten when she was sixteen years old, and was closely modelled on the Sweet Valley High Series. Victoria studied Sociology at Warwick University and has since worked for a business publisher and as a Waterstones bookseller. She lives in Surrey with her cat (named after Harry Potter, not Harry Styles). This is her first novel. 

You can discover more about Victoria - and find pictures of Harry the cat - by following her on Twitter at @Vicky_Walters or by visiting her blog at: http://victoria-writes.com/


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