Ten years ago when Lily was just 16, she fell in love with someone she really shouldn't have. Now, living in Sydney and engaged to another man, she can't forget the one that got away. When her past comes back to haunt her, she has to make a decision that will break her heart - and the heart of at least one of the men who love her.

not very spoilery



A colleague of mine lent me this book, as she is quite the fan of Paige Toon, and I thought I'd give it a go after reading her first book, Lucy in the Sky (review) (I loved it). I really did like this book, it's lighthearted and fluffy story which is nice to read after reading something quite heavy. I did, however, find parts that I had issues with.

 My first issue was the protagonist. She was just a bit annoying. At first, I  thought 'No, give her a chance, she's young' because the book starts with her at age 16 and being a little dramatic about a boy she's just met. Convinced she was in love with him from day 1 or 2, I felt she was too immature for my liking. I know people who are younger than her - real life and in books - and they're not this irritating. Still, I tried to not let her annoy me and I continued on with the book, and I was pleased to see that the character ten years later had matured. Thank God.
Lily did, however, do things that I felt she could have handled better. Her decision-making wasn't ideal and if I were in her position, I would have gotten issues resolved a long time ago. Which is why I'm not a protag in a book, so there would be no story. But still, Lily...

 The other issue I wasn't too thrilled about was the age difference. I know that age is just a number, but a 28 and a 15/16 year old...not too sure about that. He's nearly 30 and she's not even old enough to drink yet. When I was reading this, I felt that even Ben thought Lily was being too young, naive and immature, and even if things were different, it would have been a mistake. So, we come back to the story in the second half of the book, and she is 26 and he is 38. Interesting.

 The other characters, however, were lovely. I enjoyed their stories, it's nice to see characters from Lucy in the Sky in there as well as others (but I've not read those). I'm quite the fan of authors interweaving their stories and dropping little hints and appearances, giving them relationships with our new one's in some way. Lovely to see Nathan and Lucy again! 

 Author Paige Toon grew up between three different countries; UK, Australia and the US. She does include them in most of her stories, so reading about Austalia is always fascinating to me. I doubt I'll ever go there, but I can say that I've learnt a lot about slang and various different places and things Down Under, so that's something I love about reading her books. 
Her writing style is incredibly easy to fly through, it's effortless to read and her stories really do flow well. Toon's timelines are similar in terms of she'll do a story in the past and then she'll do ten years later (amount of time passing varies), which is always interesting to me.

 It was a cute story about falling in love, family, friendship and doing what makes you happy. Paige Toon is an author to read if you're new to chick lit and you wish to try that genre, her smooth-flowing storytelling is easy to consume is one sitting. 


Have you read any of Paige Toon's books? If you have, come share your thoughts! If not, let us know if you're going to give her books a try. These are great for cold nights, you want to live vicariously through other people in warm countries, wrap yourself in a blanket and put the kettle on. Travel without leaving the warmth of your bed, it's the cheapest and laziest way!
Leave a comment down below or find us at any of the following social outlets: