It’s My Birthday
… I’ll cry if I want to.
Oh boy, another birthday …
Karen could be excused for crying on her birthday, especially as it’s the first one since her husband got on a plane to the States and never came back. Then there’s the fact that her workmates were practically bribed to attend her birthday meal. But when a restaurant double booking leads to her sharing a table with single dad Elliot and his daughter, things start looking up.
As Karen gets to know Elliot she experiences feelings she thought she’d never have again. But is it enough? Or will the thing that destroyed Karen’s previous relationship also ruin things with Elliot?
.
Favorite Quotes:
Squeezing in to a gap at the bar, I dug a ten-pound note out of my handbag and waited until I finally caught the attention of the young man behind the bar. Again, in days gone by I might have been tempted to pop a button on my blouse and lean forward to see if I could get served more quickly, but these days my bras were less a feat of construction, pushing my wares up and out with their scaffolding, and instead were more comfortable and practical. I tried to pretend that buying them in black was enough to keep them from being boring but it probably wasn’t true.
I’m a child psychologist. And no, that doesn’t mean that I have all of the answers when it comes to bringing up my own child. It just means I have more insight into where I’ve gone wrong.
My Review:
I greatly enjoy stumbling upon books featuring mature professional or established women facing significant life transitions or epiphanies, and such was the case for Karen – teacher, recently betrayed and abandoned wife, and somewhat of an unsociable loner – being dragged out by her only friend on her fortieth birthday. Her party attendees were limited to a few of her vaguely familiar fellow teachers who had required the incentive of a free meal and drinks to attend a celebration in her honor, ouch. Ms. Pearl’s amusing writing style was observantly insightful and often ironically humorous and fairly balanced in emotional tone with entertaining storylines which were easy to follow and relevant to many. Her characters were an interesting, authentic, and quirky mix of realistically flawed personalities with relatable traits and issues. And score, I noticed a new phrase for my Brit word list with “gee myself up,” which Mr. Google implied is to encourage and lift someone’s spirits.
Hannah Pearl was born in East London. She is married with two children and now lives in Cambridge.
She has previously worked as a Criminology researcher, as a Development Worker with various charities and even pulled a few pints in her time.
In 2015 she was struck down by Labrynthitis, which left her feeling dizzy and virtually housebound. She has since been diagnosed with ME. Reading has allowed Hannah to escape from the reality of feeling ill. She read upwards of three hundred books during the first year of her illness. When her burgeoning eReader addiction grew to be too expensive, she decided to have a go at writing. In 2017 she won Simon and Schuster’s Books and the City #heatseeker short story competition, in partnership with Heat magazine, for her short story The Last Good Day.
Hannah is a member of the Romantic Novelists Association.
Blog – dizzygirlwrites.wordpress.com
Twitter – https://twitter.com/HannahPearl_1
I have read reviews of this book. Seems like a good fun read. Great review. I need to gee myself up so reading horror 😂
This one sounds sweet!
I love the cover. I enjoyed reading your review as always. Glad to know that you are expanding your Brit vocabulary
I’m loving the cover of this one. Great review.
Gemma @ Gemma’s Book Nook
I am kicking myself for not leaping at the chance to join this tour. Your review has me jealous.
Great review! I really like the cover!
Great review. I always love it when you find words or phrases us Brits use. There was an advert on Facebook the other day for a chocolate teapot for Easter (No idea either) but I laughed and said – Like the quote ‘as useful as a chocolate teapot’, to which my kids looked at me and thought I’d gone mad. They’d never heard of it before. Spookily someone used the phrase the next day in a newspaper article. I went up to my kids with the article saying – see I didn’t make it up. I know I’m very sad.
This looks sweet and fun! Thanks for sharing.
this review certainly ‘geed me up’ and the cover is so pretty,, will look for this read
Sounds sad and entertaining at the same time LOL 🙂 Great review! I definitely need to read this one.