Moonlight on the Thames

by Lauren Westwood

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Worlds collide when two strangers meet at Waterloo station. It’s a moment they’ll never forget. Perfect for the fans of Milly Johnson. 

Christmas is a joyous time, but not everyone is merry and bright.

Nicola is a rising star at the top of the corporate ladder, but her personal life is a disaster. Her office affair has lost its allure, and the last thing she wants to think about is Christmas. A night of canceled trains and festive Christmas carols at Waterloo Station is just about the last straw…

Dmitri loves conducting his pop-up choir during the festive season, meeting people, and spreading joy and cheer around London. But he carries deep secrets from his past that robbed him of his dream to become a concert pianist. 

Can their hearts and souls be unlocked by music and moonlight and will they discover the healing power of love?

 

My Rating:

Favorite Quotes:

 

Jules had what many people would consider the perfect life: a perfect husband, a perfect house and three perfect children – and therefore took it upon herself to appear busy and stressed at all times.

 

Her penguin jumper had a white pompom stuck on the back – the penguin’s tail. Not that real penguins had tails like that. The jumper was probably made in some sweatshop in Bangladesh by women chained to sewing machines who’d never even seen a proper picture of a penguin, let alone a real one.

 

When she caught sight of him, he could tell from her face that he must look like an old shoe that had been chewed by a dog and spat out again. Which was better than he felt.

 

For a brief moment, her life had been shaken up like a snow globe and filled with magic.

 

… it was as if she was experiencing the world for the first time. The colours looked brighter; the people were people, not simply obstacles to be avoided on public transport.

 

Chrissie put her hands on her hips. Even the appliqué reindeer on her Christmas jumper seemed to look annoyed.

 

My Review:

 

This was an angsty holiday tale, fraught with tragic histories, regrets, guilt, anxieties, personal pain, and tension. Both main characters were heavily marked with scars, although where Nicola’s were internal, Dmitri’s were equally distributed inside and out with PTSD. I held my breath they would not damage each other further as Dmitri was so fragile and Nicola so full of anger and hostility, she was difficult for me to care for initially as she was so cold, selfish, and basically abhorrent. Both characters were fascinatingly complex, deeply damaged, and brilliantly crafted.   And the music – oh my heart, I’ll never be able to listen to Chopin or Rachmaninov again without remembering this heartrending tale. Ms. Westwood certainly made me earn that hard-won, well deserved, and highly desired HEA, but it was well worth the effort.

In addition to the new additions to my Brit Word List of bursary (scholarship) and chivvy (hurry along); I have learned a new manner of drinking tea as Dmitri enjoyed his strong black tea with one spoonful of strawberry jam, I’d never heard of that before. I’m going to have some while I listen to Chopin’s Nocturnes one more time.

Author Bio

 Lauren Westwood writes romantic women’s fiction and is also an award-winning children’s writer. Originally from California, she now lives in England in a pernickety old house built in 1602, with her partner and three daughters. facebook: @Lwestwoodbooks; twitter: @lwestwoodwriter; web: www.laurenwestwoodwriter.com; Instagram: @lwestwoodwriter; Goodreads: Lauren Westwood

Social Media Links –

facebook: @Lwestwoodbooks;

twitter: @lwestwoodwriter;

web: www.laurenwestwoodwriter.com;

instagram: @lwestwoodwriter;

Goodreads: Lauren Westwood;

Booktrail: https://www.thebooktrail.com/book-trails/moonlight-on-the-thames/ (this is a third-party site).

Playlist (music plays a big part in the book): http://www.laurenwestwoodwriter.com/playlist

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