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BOOK TOUR STOP x RandomThingsTours: Love Life - Nancy Peach


 


Love can be found in the most unexpected of places. 


Dr Tess Carter is sure of many things - she's an excellent doctor, her ex boyfriend is a cheater and there's no such thing as happy endings. So far, between her Dad leaving without so much as a goodbye and finding her last boyfriend in bed with another guy, nothing has come along to prove her wrong.

And she's usually giving herself a hard enough time with the constant monologues running through her head without Edward Russell adding to the problem. The son of one of her new patients, who she spent an almost forgotten night with years ago. He's a typical successful, wealthy guy who loves to hear the sound of his own voice. But Tess can't even drown out her own voice, let alone his - can she figure out how to really listen to herself so she can figure out what she wants?

Love Life was a somewhat charming story about a woman struggling with her own negative thoughts and learning to love herself - but while this is a romance story, it's also rather heavy in places dealing with issues such as illness, cancer and cheating so it's not exactly the light-hearted read I was expecting going in.

Tess has two voices in her head - one a quiet woman named Jane Austen and one a larger-than-life obnoxious talk show host who loves grilling her about every embarrassing moment she's ever experienced and reminded me of a crossover between Piers Morgan and a generic Newsreader.  I found these characterizations rather interesting, albeit somewhat out of place at times, especially because we don't know if Tess is suffering from any conditions or using these to manifest her thoughts and feelings. But this inner monologue not only provides dry and sometimes dark comedy, but gives us a full insight into Tess' head and just how she thinks. 

The  characters themselves took a while to warm up to but there was definitely a noticeable spark once we get to know our potential couple, as they become more rounded characters along with the supporting cast (especially Morris the cat.) Each character is somewhat flawed, makes bad decisions, and has issues but rather than magically falling in love and becoming perfect have to work hard to better themselves and watching as the slowly evolve was a joy. 

The concept of the story was really interesting - there aren't many people who can make a story about loss, grief and heartbreak have an somewhat uplifting charm to it. I loved Tess' journey to learn more about herself and try to figure out romance again. For me, the star of the show was Tess and her recovery from everything she's been through in life to find herself and learn to truly love life. 

Love Life might not be the cute easy romance I expected, but it's definitely a peach of a book. 

RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐






About The Author: 


Nancy Peach is a writer of commercial women’s fiction, a mother of three, and an owner of various ridiculous-looking pets including a dog who unexpectedly grew to be the size of a small horse. She is a practicing doctor working for both the NHS and a national cancer charity, and has been writing (in a terribly British, embarrassed, secretive sort of way) for as long as she can remember. Nancy has been longlisted for the Comedy Women in Print Prize 2020 and shortlisted for the Harper Collins / Gransnet competition 2019.
Her debut Love Life is published by One More Chapter at HarperCollins.
She is a member of the Romantic Novelists Association and is represented by Tanera Simons at Darley-Anderson.
You can find her on Twitter at https://twitter.com/Mumhasdementia 



Thank you to Nancy Peach and @RandomThingsTours for inviting me to take part in this tour. I was gifted this book in exchange for an honest and unbiased review. All images credited to nancy-peach.com. 

I previously reviewed a different revision of the title, this review has been updated to reflect the current published version. 








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