Published in 2008 this is the second book which I’ve read by Rosy Thornton. At first it seemed a bit strange to me and then I realised that it is the first contemporary book set in Britain which I’ve read for absolutely yonks. Tapestry of Love was set in France and I’ve been concentrating on vintage and classic books recently.

Anyway, I don’t make a habit of reading much in the way of romance, but I quite enjoyed this one even although it involves mundane aspects of family life and the soul destroying experience of call-centres. However I did find it to be very predictable, I wasn’t far into it when I thought to myself this is going to be ….. – I won’t say it because it turned out that what I thought were the very last words of the book! Possibly it was supposed to be so predictable as some people find that comforting.

Mina and Peter are both single parents of daughters but otherwise their family circumstances are quite different with Mina having a very bookish daughter and living in a down-at-heel housing estate, whilst Peter is living in the much more salubrious Cambridge with his twin daughters and just as much stress.

It’s another feel-good book, which is no disparagement because sometimes that’s just what you need and the characters are all fairly likeable and realistic. Mina’s daughter Sal will be especially recognisable to people who preferred to have their friends in book form when they were children. Her reading experiences certainly reminded me of myself as a youngster reading Jane Eyre and Romeo and Juliet when still at primary school.

As with Tapestry of Love I was happy that the storyline didn’t take the usual modern turn which seems always to be some tart running off with another woman’s husband, with no thought to the mayhem to other lives caused by it. That isn’t romance to my way of thinking anyway although it does seem to go by that name nowadays.

So if you’re looking for some light reading give Rosy Thornton a go.