This Changes Everything
Should first love be left in the past, or is first love, forever love...
Sisters Annie and Jess are used to their mother Julia being spontaneous. But when Julia announces she’s flying off to Rome to meet her first love Patrick, whom she hasn’t seen for fifty years, it's an adventure too far. So, her daughters decide the only way to keep Julia safe, is to go too – without actually telling their mother she has chaperones!
Julia and Patrick’s love story was everything – epic, once-in-a-lifetime, with a tragic ending and life-long consequences. First love is hard to forget, but sometimes, just sometimes, life delivers a chance to rewrite your story.
As the eternal city of Rome works its magic, old secrets, old friends and old loves become new possibilities and new dreams. And when the four travellers return home, nothing will ever be the same again.
Join Helen McGinn for a timeless, joyous, unforgettable journey through love, family, and long-forgotten dreams. A novel to hold to your heart and treasure, perfect for fans of Elizabeth Noble, Cathy Kelly and JoJo Moyes
Purchase Link - https://amzn.to/3eR441O
Excerpt
Annabel Armstrong had loved James for as long as she could remember. But on this particular morning she wanted to tip the contents of her half-full cereal bowl over his head. It wasn’t that he was being deliberately unhelpful, but rather he was so busy rushing around the kitchen asking who’d moved his keys (answer: him) he didn’t seem to notice Annie could really do with a hand. The boys had to be fed, teeth and hair needed brushing, and everyone needed to be in the car ready for the school run in the next twenty minutes. Meanwhile, chaos reigned. The noise – shouting from the boys, whining from the dogs, mewing from a hungry cat – was ridiculous. Annie contemplated sitting on the floor under the kitchen table, closing her eyes and covering her ears.
‘Come on, Rufe, eat up!’ she managed.
‘I am! I can’t eat any faster,’ Rufus replied dramatically. He really was the slowest eater.
‘I’ve finished all of mine,’ said Ned, wiping the last of the cereal from his mouth across the sleeve of his newly washed school jumper.
Annie sighed, reaching for a cloth. ‘Good boy, Ned. Now let’s get going, otherwise we’ll be late.’
‘You never say good boy to me when I finish my breakfast!’ protested Rufus.
‘If you finished it, I would,’ said Annie, immediately feeling mean.
‘Thanks a lot.’ He looked distinctly huffy.
‘What’s your plan today?’ Annie called after James as he headed down the hall.
‘Oh, you know, the usual,’ he replied over his shoulder. ‘Get in, be driven to distraction by people much younger than me. Try not to shout at people. Come home.’ James was having a work mid-life crisis of sorts. Having spent twenty years working in advertising, changing company a few times as he worked his way up to a management position, he now seemed no longer to be doing the work he loved. As he saw it, he was a glorified babysitter for (just about) grown men and women who all appeared to be younger, hungrier and better equipped to get ahead than he was. Cue resentment, inevitably leading to a ‘what’s-it-all-for’ phase. And now he’d started talking about retraining as a woodcutter, or something like that; Annie couldn’t quite remember.
‘Oh, come on, Jimmy, you love it when things are going well. Maybe this is just a, you know, down bit? Things will get better, they always do.’
‘Annie, I love you for your optimism, I really do.’ He came back to kiss Annie on the top of her head and shout goodbye to the boys.
‘’Bye, Dad!’ they hollered before careering off into the garden.
The sun was out and it was already warm, despite the early hour. They were still just under half a term away from the summer holidays but there was already a holiday feel in the air. Annie watched them run, dogs in tow, into the garden before she turned to attack the kitchen table. The boys’ cereal of choice had a habit of attaching itself to that table like barnacles. A blowtorch really would have been more appropriate than the damp cloth she held in her hand.
Author Bio
Helen McGinn is a much-loved wine expert on TV and in print and an international wine judge. She spent ten years as a supermarket buyer sourcing wines around the world before setting up her award-winning blog (and best-selling wine book) The Knackered Mother’s Wine Club. She is the drinks writer for the Daily Mail and regularly appears on TV’s Saturday Kitchen and This Morning. Helen lives in the New Forest and Boldwood are publishing her debut women’s fiction title in Spring 2021.
Social Media Links –
Website: www.knackeredmotherswineclub.com
Facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/knackeredmotherswineclub
Twitter https://twitter.com/knackeredmutha
Instragram http://instagram.com/knackeredmother
First, I want to thank Helen McGinn, Boldwood Books and Rachel’s Random Resources for providing me with this book so I could provide you with this review.
Readers are in for a treat as they sit back in their comfy chair and are magically transported to Rome in Helen McGinn’s latest novel This Changes Everything. After reading about all the beautiful sites, the scrumptious food, and picturesque scenery that Helen describes in such a beautiful way you will want to book a trip there.
The book cover originally drew my attention to wanting to know what it was about. It was so pretty and so different from anything I had ever seen. The graphic artists definitely captured the essence of the book.
This Changes Everything was a very interesting read and for most of the beginning I was laughing out loud. You see the Mother in this book was married 4 times. Helen lists all 4 men and their traits and a little bit about them in detail. Now come on that is funny! Then mentions Patrick, her first love out of the blue writing to her after 50 years to go on a Roman Vacation with her! Now on one hand it was sweet and romantic but on the other it could be considered as creepy.
The letter he did write her though was very beautifully written.
Patrick’s story where he was for the past 50 years was a very fascinating story.
With all the descriptions and talk of all the delicious food in Rome I was getting hungry. I wanted to try it all.
The daughters were being a little overprotective of their Mom by booking a flight to go make sure she was ok. It was kind of cute but also creepy at the same time. I know I wouldn’t want my parents doing that to me in return.
Jess only dating married guys rubbed me the wrong way. I understood that she got hurt in the past but still it is wrong.
Out of the blue the story flips back to 50 years ago and we get to learn how they first met.
1 comments:
A book set in Rome has a huge appeal!
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