The Second Love of my Life by Victoria Walters

Victoria Walters' debut novel is a powerful tale of love, grief and survival, perfect for fans of Cecelia Ahern, Lucy Dillon and Miranda Dickinson. 'Brilliant and superior women's fiction' Heat

In the Cornish town of Talting, everyone is famous for something.
Until recently Rose was known for many things: her infectious positivity; her unique artistic talent; and her devotion to childhood sweetheart Lucas.
But two years ago that changed in one unthinkable moment. Now, Rose is known for being the young woman who became a widow aged just twenty-four.
Though Rose knows that life must go on, the thought of carving out a new future for herself is one she can barely entertain. Until a newcomer, Robert, arrives in Talting for the summer...

Can Rose allow herself the chance to love again?
Get lost in Victoria Walters' immensely touching debut novel, and discover a world that will capture your imagination and heart.

Title:        The Second Love of my Life
Author:    Victoria Walters
Published By: Review
Date:        April 7th 2016
Link:        UK: Amazon  US: Amazon

My Review

First of all the title of this book gave me goosebumps as it was so emotive and suggested that something had happened to the first love of their life but also gave a suggestion that love could be found again.

This is a beautifully tender story of a girl called Rose who has been devastated by the tragic death of her husband Lucas. Since losing her husband, Rose has been looked after and protected by the small and very close knit community in the small seaside town of Talting where she lives.

Her relationship with Lucas was perfect and we are shown this through various memories she shares. Rose is quite an accomplished artist but is so broken hearted by the loss of her husband that she finds she can't paint any more and has decided to sell all of her paintings as they are a constant reminder of what she has lost.

When she meets Robert, a lawyer from out of town she can't quite believe how much he likes her artwork mainly because she doesn't believe in herself any more. Robert can see Rose's full potential and tries to encourage her but she pushes him away. Then something totally unexpected happens which I found to be a really shocking moment and this sends Rose completely back into herself and causes her to question why she ever let her guard down in the first place.

I loved the characters in the book and especially enjoyed the relationship between Rose and her best friend's Emma and John, they were so important in her life as they knew Lucas almost as well as she did, so they had lots of happy memories of them as a foursome and they felt his loss almost as much as she did. The same was true for Lucas's parents who treated Rose like their daughter.

I loved the respect that Rose showed them when making heartfelt decisions later on in the book as it was such an emotive time for them all.

This book dealt with grief and the heartbreak of losing someone very sensitively and also gently explored the idea of eventually finding someone else and another unique love which would never take away the importance of the first love. I loved the fact that she never has to lessen the love she felt for Lucas and how she was able to keep his rings close to her heart.

Thanks to Netgalley and Headline books for the Arc in exchange for an honest review.

Sincerely
Book Angel x

About the Author

Victoria Walters has always loved creating stories. Her first book was handwritten when she was sixteen years old, and was closely modelled on the Sweet Valley High series. Victoria studied sociology at Warwick University and has since worked for a business publisher and as a Waterstones bookseller. She lives in Surrey with her cat Harry (named after Harry Potter, not Harry Styles).

Her debut novel THE SECOND LOVE OF MY LIFE will be published by Headline in 2016.

DANCING IN THE FIRE, her New Adult romance, was the winner of a short story competition run by Simon and Schuster and is available as an eBook exclusive now.

You can discover more about Victoria - and find pictures of Harry the cat - by following her on Twitter at @Vicky_Walters or by visiting her blog at: http://victoria-writes.com/.