When I read the blurb, I knew instantly that I would love this book. I was completely blown away, the author literally had me gripped throughout. The story is, a woman going through divorce, seeing her ex husband remarry. She never thought she would be in this place at the age of fifty plus. She’s extremely lonely, her lad at uni, living his own life. But Gwen is not very social, so she thinks sod it, I’m going to start looking for companionship.
She finds someone nice. A big BUT, as the time goes on, she starts to see the real Tom. The book goes onto darker themes, seeing people’s real colours.

This is a remarkably assured debut. It's breathtakingly stylish and beautifully crafted. Anyone who knows their George Eliot will appreciate the names of the three sisters at the heart of this story: Dorothea, Gwen and Maggie. It is Gwen who changes all their lives after loneliness threatens to engulf her in middle age.
I loved the emotional depth of the story. It is easy to lose oneself in the beguiling and evocative plot. The author paints an atmospheric picture of life in suburban London and later rural Cornwall.
Gwen's love for a man she has met via Internet dating is scratched away at by her sisters' and her son's doubts about him. The shifting sands of family relationships are perfectly observed as Gwen battles to regain her own self-love.

Thanks to NetGalley and The Book Guild for this early copy, I found the book quite detailed but not interesting as well it was predictable to the point I felt like a read a book similar to this.

I loved this book and couldn't put it down. I loved the characters and the suspense. Looking forward to reading more by the author!

Really enjoyed this well written novel.The characters come alive the anti hero picked up the pace of the story.Will be reading more by this author.#netgalley #the bookguild

This was a fairly predictable book, and to me, nothing really exciting happened. Actually, it was rather depressing. The author's writing style is fantastic and detailed, but I just didn't enjoy the story.

A fairly predictable tale with nothing extreme about it. The characters were not particularly true to life and the sisters all equally uninteresting.

This is a slow burn book. Actually I'm not really a fan of slow burns, it was written well, but the conclusion was not that solid. It was dragged but the book was good.

I was given this book by NetGalley for an honest review-
Is it better to be alone or do you need a man?
When Gwen’s husband leaves her she is sooo lonely. She asks her son to help her set up a dating account, The second man sweeps her off her feet. Is he for real? But as time goes on she begins to notice things- is he using her? Is this what she wants? As things begin to tumble Gwen finds the strength to be herself, strong, alone, and maybe, a new man.

I really enjoyed this book - there is a slow build up which sets the scene and I enjoyed the descriptive prose around the main characters who are well-rounded and believable. The pace picks up as the anti-hero emerges and never lets go after that. It’s a well-written page-turner and I feel ripe for a follow up.

I enjoyed reading this book, it was a bit predictable but the characters were good enough that I found myself wanting to know what happened to them. The pace was good, no boring bits! I would recommend it! Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

"Dashing and dastardly"

I really struggled with this book. I wanted to love it but it was so slow - it takes 9 chapters for the villain to enter the story. I could try to convince myself that these early chapters were boring and mundane to emphasise Thea's loneliness but it was a drag.

Tom was well written. Incredibly charming and kind, until he's not.

The descriptions within the book were good and I appreciated how Thea's loneliness was written: "then came the silence. Silence dripped down the walls and rose from the floor."

I also felt that the action during the climax of the book was brushed over and barely included. I also felt like the last time we heard of Tom was very anticlimactic and felt as though the book was being set up for another instalment.

I can see what the author was trying to do, and for the most part the book was good but I really didn't enjoy the lack of a solid conclusion nor the missing action and slow start.