Author: Jane Green
ISBN: 978-1-4472-5869-8
RRP: $29.99
Emma Montague was born and bred in the English countryside to an extreme extrovert with delusions of grandeur and an introvert, she grew up knowing she was loved but feeling out of place nonetheless. She was living the life that was expected of her, until she realised that she’d well and truly had enough and took a job in New York City.
Five years in finance in New York is enough for Emma to realise this is not the life she wants to live. A sea change is what she needs so she packs up her New York life for a beach cottage in Westport, Connecticut. An opportunity to take a step back and discover what it is that she wants from her life. Not what is expected from her life but what she actually wants.
The cottage she rents is not somewhere she could feel comfortable, unless she can make some changes. This cottage could be perfect to start exploring her passion for interior design and finally have her own garden.
The landlord is a sexy local who was born and bred in the little town of Westport, with no desire to ever live anywhere else. Dominic is a bartender, local handyman and single father.
Emma and Dominic are polar opposites in pretty much every way. She has an upper-crust English background while Dominic is very much working class but I think the biggest difference is Dominic is extremely comfortable and confident in his own skin and his own life. Emma is still very caught up in the expectations of her parents, even though she is working hard to find her own way and not be driven by those expectations.
Falling is a novel of self-discovery, both for Emma and for Dominic. Dominic is already far down his path of self-awareness but we learn about the journey he has taken. Emma has decided to pave her own way but she needs to find what it is that will bring her happiness.
I have always believed that when you stop looking you will find what it is you seek, whether it be the pesky lost remote or the love of your life. I had a string of relationships, at least one of which I thought could have been the one, that ended and left me deciding that was it. It was time for me to spread my wings on my own, find my own place in the world as a single woman and create my own happiness… and it was then that I met the man I would marry, when a relationship was the last thing on my mind.
The whole finding love in the unlikeliest of places does feel quite realistic and totally possible to me so I can understand the way this one played out.
The story is well paced, the setting is beautiful and the twist is a tear jerker. The chemistry is subtle, I knew it was there but more because it was talked about than I could actually feel it.
Emma is finding her feet with her passion for interior design so this plays quite a large role in the narrative so there’s lots of design descriptions that at times feel a little bit much but it fits with the exploration of a new passion.
For the most part quite a feel good story about finding your own way in the world, finding what’s right for you and learning to move past expectations and your past.
Thanks to Pan MacMillan 10 of our Beauty and Lace club members will be reading and reviewing Falling so please be aware there may be spoilers in the comments.
Falling is available now through Pan MacMillan, Booktopia, Angus & Robertson Bookworld and where all good books are sold.
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Jane Green can be found on Facebook, Twitter and her Website.
I devour books, vampires and supernatural creatures are my genre of choice but over the past couple of years, I have broadened my horizons considerably. In a nutshell – I love to write! I love interacting with a diverse range of artists to bring you interviews. Perhaps we were perfect before – I LOVE WORDS!