Heaven Can Wait

by Cally Taylor

A fabulously warm, funny and romantic novel that will have you laughing and crying in equal measure.

'What would I do without you, Lucy Brown?' he said, and kissed me softly. I held his face in my hands and kissed him back. I felt that life just couldn't get any more perfect. And I was right, it wouldn't.
By the end of the next day, I'd be dead.

Lucy is about to marry the man of her dreams - kind, handsome, funny Dan - when she breaks her neck the night before their wedding. Unable to accept a lifetime's separation from her soulmate, Lucy decides to become a ghost rather than go to heaven and be parted from Dan. But it turns out things aren't quite as easy as that. When Lucy discovers that Limbo is a grotty student-style house in North London she's less than thrilled. Especially after meeting her new flatmates: grumpy, cider-swilling EMO-kid Claire; and Brian, a train-spotter with a Thomas the Tank Engine duvet and a big BO problem. But Lucy has a more major problem on her hands - if she wants to become a ghost and be with Dan she has to complete an almost impossible task.

How the hell does a girl like Lucy find a girlfriend for the dorkiest man in England? IT geek Archie's only passions are multi-player computer games and his Grandma. But Lucy only has twenty-one days to find him love. And when she discovers that her so-called friend Anna is determined to make a move on the heart-broken, vulnerable Dan, the pressure is really on...

• ISBN10: 1409103234
• ISBN13: 9781409103233
• Publish Date: 15 October 2009
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Orion Publishing Co
• Imprint: Orion (an Imprint of The Orion Publishing Group Ltd )
• Format: Paperback (B-Format (198x129 mm))
• Pages: 384
• Language: English

Reviews

[SilverThistle]

I loved it so much! Chick Lit-esque, this one has ghostly going's on and despite the fact that the leading lady dies within the first few pages it's really funny. I especially loved the other characters. Stinky Brian was my favourite. Bless. He's got a rug in his room that smells like boiled cabbage and a Thomas the Tank engine duvet cover. Loved him!

Anyway, as mentioned Tess dies (on the eve of her wedding) and is given a choice - go straight to heaven or go back down to earth and become a ghost so she can hang around her husband-to-be Dan. She chooses to become a ghost so needs to pass her 'task' first and she's got 21 days to do it in. She shares a grotty bedsit in London with a couple of other Wannabe ghosts who also have their own 'tasks' to complete and it's impossible to not get dragged in to their respective dilemma's and feel for them. The characters are so well written that I pictured them clearly in my mind and couldn't put the book down until I knew how their stories ended. I really felt like I knew them.

Trainspotter Brian has his work cut out for him with his task and has some fantastically funny moments trying to solve it. Damaged Claire's has attitude and has erected a shield of bitchiness around herself to mask how vulnerable she really is (I felt really sorry for her). The IT guys are suitably geeky and it's like watching an episode of 'The IT crowd' when they get going (the boss especially reminds me of the IT crowd boss). Even the secondary characters are fleshed out and Sandwich Sally is like a little powerpuff girl - cuteness and sass all rolled into one. Love them all.

The only bit I wasn't overly fond of was the last chapter. I didn't care for how it ended. Really, given that this is chick lit it was the only way it could have ended but that doesn't mean I like it. The options were probably limited and another ending would have given a whole different feel to the book but I still wasn't keen on that last chapter.

That said though, I wish this was a series so that I could read more about other wannabe ghosts. I'd auto buy all the others if it was. I might even go back to this one for a re-read some time. I'd definitely LOVE to see this made into a movie!!

[Leah]

Ghost stories seem to be all the rage this year. First up we have Sophie Kinsella’s fantastic Twenties Girl and now we have Heaven Can Wait from debut author Cally Taylor. Heaven Can Wait as I said is a debut novel but when I was reading it I found that hard to believe. I’ve read a few fab debuts this year and this is another fab one.

Heaven Can Wait begins just before Lucy dies although the first line tells us that Lucy thinks she’s just about to die right then and there on the toilet and I was instantly intrigued and couldn’t help laughing. Two chapters in, though, and Lucy is dead. Cally’s descriptions of limbo, where Lucy is given her choice between heaven and ghost, were fab and Cally made it sound so intriguing. Lucy’s entrance into the House of Wannabe Ghosts was hilarious and I instantly loved Brian and Claire, Lucy’s fellow ghost wannabes. As the story progressed I found myself wanting to read the book quicker and quicker to find out if Lucy could complete her task and become a ghost.

Lucy’s task, finding love for Archie, made for quite hilarious and interesting reading. I know Archie was some kind of super-geek who loved LAN parties but I liked him immediately. I truly hoped that Archie could find love, not just so Lucy could become a ghost. It took Lucy a while to get to know Archie but I liked that they became friends. I also liked that, despite having 21 days to complete her task, Lucy took it upon herself to help Brian complete his task.

All of the characters in Heaven Can Wait were fantastic. Lucy made for a fantastic heroine. I loved her hypochondriac ways immediately. She was instantly likeable and I couldn’t help but feel for her at how much she missed Dan. The scenes where Lucy goes to see Dan were incredibly sad because Wannabe Ghost rules stated that Dan wouldn’t see her as Lucy nor would she be able to talk to him. Her helplessness really added to the book and I thought that was a clever twist from Cally. We didn’t see much of Dan but from what there was I really liked him. He and Lucy seemed so much in love. As I mentioned above I immediately loved Brian and Claire, Lucy’s Wannabe Ghosties. They were so different to Lucy and had died in different ways but they all had the same thing in common: they all wanted to become ghosts and complete their tasks. Strangely enough, although Anna wanted to ‘steal’ Dan, I kind of felt sympathy for her. She didn’t seem to be doing it maliciously and for me it came across quite genuine.

Cally’s writing is fantastic and I am incredibly shocked this is only her first novel. Cally is quite a writing talent and if I didn’t know any better I’d have guessed she was an established author. She really gets us into the mind of Lucy and makes her so likeable I just wanted her to get her happy ending. Just before the end Lucy makes a completely shocking decision which comes across sad and also quite noble in the context of things. I thought that was that but Cally gave us another huge twist which finished the book perfectly. I didn’t see it coming at all but it was the perfect ending.

Heaven Can Wait is a truly outstanding debut novel. It’s different from most chick lit out there considering it’s about Ghost Wannabes, but that doesn’t detract from how great it is. I can totally see why so many people have raved about it and I’m pleased to be joining them in telling people just how good it is. It really is fab and I recommend you read it. Right now.