Absolutely amazing!! I guessed the first shock/twist but just when I thought it was looking predictable the second one hit I did not see that one coming. Must read!!

Beautiful story. Heart warming and emotional, funny and real. Brilliant characters who you can relate to. A wonderful, feel good tale that you can lose yourself in. Loved it! Cannot wait for more by this amazing author!

Evie's Year of Taking Chances is a fabulous story filled with the most wonderful characters. This has to be one of the first books where there wasn't one character that I didn't like and enjoy reading about.

Evie I took to straight away. She hasn't had the easiest of starts to life but that all changed when Irene came into her life. She loves her job in the local library and she has a great set of friends, especially Clara who she works with. Clara certainly brings some fun to the book and she is a great friend to Evie. So much so, that Evie lets Clara move in with her as they get on so well.

Being a book lover, this really is the ideal book for readers who love a good story which is laced with romance and where books are a big part of the characters lives. I mean we have Evie, Clara and Aiden who work in the library, there is a lovely cafe run by Mim where they hold the book clubs, throw some authors and wanna be writers in there and you have the perfect ingredients for a great book.

As my biggest love of genres is crime, I always love to be taken by surprise. Who knew that there could be twists, turns and surprises galore in this genre of novel? I loved that I didn't fully know what was in store for me and it had my heart pounding madly with all the emotions I was going through.

Evie's Year of Taking Chances was a book I wanted to climb into and lose myself totally into. As a devout book lover, parts of Evie's life I was so envious of. To work with books, to socialise where books are the main topic it was like the author was writing of my own dreams. This is such a feel good book that broaches on some tough topics but written expertly as ever by a wonderful author. Loved it!

Love Love Loved this!

Evie's story is just beautiful, and absolutely emotional from start to finish. A real tear jerker.

Evie is a loveable character you just feel for, shes been through so much in her life and she has reached a point in her life where she is so settled and has a great job at the library, a perfect adoptive mum Irene and lovely best friend Clara. But there is a hole in her life and loads of unanswered questions so when her birthday arrives Evie embarks on a rollercoaster of a journey to find out who her birth mum is and her story to try and get closure.

There are plenty of shocks and surprises throughout the book which are absolutely fantastic! With so much drama you are left unable to put this book down.

Normally nothing can separate me from my crime thriller reads but I have one exception to this rule and it comes in the shape of Christie Barlow. I would be the first to hold up my hand and admit I'm not a big fan of Rom Coms, I know I shouldn't generalise but I usually find they all pretty much follow the same formula boy meets girl, lots of misunderstandings and then "happy ever after", but this author provides the reader with so much more, her books have hidden depth, the dialogue is refreshing and superbly written and her characters are so well developed by the time you reach the End Of Evie's Year Of Taking Chance you feel like your heart will break as you say "goodbye" to new found friends.

Evie has a good life she loves her job working in a library , she has wonderful relationship with Irene her foster mother and she has Clara the best friend anyone could ever wish she for, but this doesn't stop Evie wondering about her birth mother, as you can imagine there are so many questions Evie needs answering as to why she ended up in foster care. In finding the answers she hopes she can bring closure to her difficult childhood and start a new chapter in her life in the shape of Noah a handsome author, but like real life Evie will first have to face many "up and Downs" before she can't find true happiness. What I absolutely love about this authors books is her attention to her characters, they are so believable real that you find yourself becoming completely immersed in their story's.


My emotions were all over the place whilst reading this novel, there are so many sensitive and heart breaking scenes in this novel one minute I would find myself laughing uncontrollably and the next minute I would find myself a snivelling mess as I reached yet another poignant moment in this delightful tale. Christie Barlow has the unique ability to turn a Rom Com into something much more, yes there's laughs a plenty, but she also draws on real life issues and writes about them with sensitivity, you can't help but become involved in each characters story. Evie's Year Of Taking Chances is like opening the most delicious box of chocolates a treat to be savoured. In my opinion Christie Barlow is one of the best writers in this genre and I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a Rom Com with that extra special something.
This review maybe altered slightly and edited prior to publication on my blog
5⭐

Eva has a perfectly happy life. Her job as a librarian allows her access to all the books she could ever want and she can escape to any place, any time she like through her books. All that changes on her birthday, when she gets (not surprisingly) a book, but this books has a very meaningful inscription for Evie and starts her on a search for her real mother. When she encounters Noah James in her search, she wonders if she might find love, too. But, Noah is not telling Eva the whole truth, and when she discovers what he’s been holding back, it may be the end of all of her dreams

Too cliched and too underwhelming of a read. I had to DNF it.