Evie's Year of Taking Chances by Christie Barlow

It’s Evie’s birthday and the start of a year she’ll never forget. An emotional story of love, friendship and grabbing life by the horns.
Evie’s job has always been her safe haven. As a librarian in the little town of Becton she loses herself in books - after all it’s far easier to read about other people’s problems than set about solving her own. Then, one birthday, everything is turned upside down. A mysterious parcel containing a beautiful book with a poignant inscription arrives for Evie. It’s the start of new chapter for Evie and she’s inspired to try and find her real mother. Evie’s search leads her to meet handsome author Noah Jones. Charming and intelligent, Noah seems the perfect catch but what Evie doesn’t realise is that he is hiding something – a key to Evie’s past. As Evie gets closer to Noah and discovering her real mother, she must take a giant leap of faith. Can she embrace the new and make this her year of taking chances? And if she does, will she get her heart broken? A romantic, funny and poignant story of living life to the full and finding love in the most unlikely of places. Fans of Debbie Johnson and Cathy Bramley will adore this book!

Title: Evie's Year of Taking Chances

Author:   Christie Barlow

Published by:  Bookouture

Publication Date: 10th March 2017

Links: UK: Amazon    US: Amazon

Our Review

What a lovely story with not one but two happy endings.

Evie Cooper has a reasonably happy life, she works in the library which she loves, has a best friend called Clara who is always lots of fun and a foster mother called Irene who loves her so much. But things hadn't always been so good for her as she didn't have a very good start in life.

After having a very unsettled childhood she eventually found stability with the lovely Irene and the relationship between those two characters was beautiful. They were so close and really needed each other it was lovely to know that whatever happened in her life Irene would be there to hold her hand. There was no doubt that Irene may not have been her biological mum but she was her real mum.

After giving it a lot of thought Evie decided that on her birthday she would begin the search for her biological mum. I could really feel the angst she was going through and could imagine how much her stomach would be churning whilst she waited for news. Also because she loved her foster mum Irene and didn't want to hurt her by looking for her biological mum.

Having not told anyone about Irene being her foster mum she eventually confided in her best friend Clara who was very supportive.

I loved Evie's explanation of why she hadn't found anyone because she felt she needed to try and meet her birth mum before she could move forward in her life with regards to relationships.

Evie has a crush on author Noah Jones and I was really rooting for her hoping she could get together with him because he sounded gorgeous.

The whole issue of searching for her birth mother was handled very sensitively and there were some shocking revelations which Evie needed to come to terms with.

I really enjoyed accompanying Evie on her journey which was filled with lots of ups and downs and found this book to be completely entertaining from beginning to end.

Despite having a very bad start in life I was pleased to find there was a happy ending for Evie. But just when you think it's over and that life couldn't get any better for her there is another even happier ending.

A heartwarming, emotional read full of heartbreak, tenderness, love, laughter, friendship and the love of a good mum.

Sincerely

Book Angel x

About the Author

Christie Barlow is the author of A Year in the Life of a Playground Mother, The Misadventures of a Playground Mother, Kitty's Countryside Dream, Lizzie's Christmas Escape and Evie's Year of Taking Chances. She lives in Staffordshire with her husband, four kids, horses, chickens and a mad cocker spaniel. Her writing career came as somewhat a surprise when she decided to write a book to teach her children a valuable life lesson and show them that they are capable of achieving their dreams. The book she wrote to prove a point is now a #1 bestseller in the UK and USA. Christie also writes her own book column in Mama Life Magazine too! www.mamalifemagazine.co.uk

Christie loves to hear from her readers and you can get in touch via her website www.christiebarlow.com Twitter @ChristieJBarlow and Facebook page Christie Barlow author