Starting Over by Wendy Lewis

I love transitional, "second chance" kinds of stories. 

I even wrote my first novel with that kind of theme: Third Chapter, Second Chance. ;-)

Starting Over by Wendy Lewis is that kind of story. 

I was attracted to the great cover on this novel to begin with. But unlike (too) many books I start to read, this one did not disappoint, after I started tapping the pages on my Kindle, far from it. I loved this story!

From the Amazon Product Page:

Fiona’s life seemed perfect. 

The cottage she had recently bought with her husband was lovely and the little country town was charming, and with two mad dogs and a vintage bicycle, she assumed she would be perfectly content. 

But when Martin decides to remodel the 400-year old cottage, he manages to bring the roof down. And Fiona finds herself living in a cramped caravan overlooking what was once her dream home. 

After that, things slowly start spiralling downwards. Fiona and Martin can’t stop arguing and she begins to wonder whether her marriage is at breaking point. 

When she takes a job at the local post office, sparks immediately fly between her and Simon - her boss. While things get worse at home, Fiona and Simon slowly become closer. 

Fiona realises it is time to start changing her life, whether Martin likes it or not…because love believes in second chances. 

And quickly she is 'Starting Over' all over again. 

***

Author Wendy Lewis has a wonderful talent for breathing life into her characters. I felt that I knew everyone who showed up along the way. 

Main character Fiona finds herself increasingly disillusioned by how her life with husband Martin is evolving, since moving to a small country town to start over; after Martin's business has failed. It's not only crumbling walls on the vintage cottage that they have now bought that is cracking up in a big way; their marriage seems to be headed for the rubble pile too.

And speaking of "cracking up" I enjoyed a LOT of LOL moments, reading this book. Some really hilarious passages in this book. Many in relation to Martin's definite lack of ability when it comes to all things carpentry. 

It also brought to mind a number of guys I knew from years ago (when I was between marriages and dating) who thought they were also talented in this respect but weren't. What is it about men and power tools?? ;-)

Along with the many, many laughs, this is a story I enjoyed to the very last page for other reasons too. As I said above, the characters are so well developed. I was cheering Fiona on almost from the get-go to move on and to find the kind of happiness she deserved, with Martin or without. 

Could their marriage be saved or was it doomed? And what about the handsome shop owner Simon (who hires Fiona to work for him part-time) and his gorgeous but overbearing fiancee Louise? What was on the horizon for them as well? 

The author kept me guessing for quite a while and built up the anticipation slowly. I like that a lot. Too many novels I read (make that too often ATTEMPT to read) are so obvious about where the story will eventually end, right from the first chapter. When that's the case, why bother reading the book? Definitely not the case in Starting Over.

If you are looking for a light but realistic, funny, endearing, "second chance" kind of novel with great characters and an ending you'll love, give this one a try. I think you'll be glad you did. I hope that Wendy Lewis writes a sequel to this story, I'll be looking for that one too.

Overall rating for this book: Excellent. 5 out of 5.