The Secret of Happy Ever After

by Lucy Dillon

[Leah]

Last year I read my first Lucy Dillon novel when I read Walking Back To Happiness. I loved it, it was warm and it was just the perfect book to curl up with during the colder Tenerife months. (Yes, Tenerife has colder months!) So when I received a copy of her new novel The Secret of Happy Ever After I was looking for yet another warm and enjoyable read, not to mention some loveable dogs (it’s all about the dogs for me; who needs likeable characters when you have loveable, cute dogs?) and I’m pleased to let you know The Secret of Happy Ever After was indeed another Lucy Dillon hit.

When you’re reading a new book by an author who’s written a few books you have expectations. I expect Sophie Kinsella to make me laugh; I expect Marian Keyes to tackle some difficult issues; and from Lucy Dillon, even though I’ve only read one of her books, I know I’ll be getting a great book setting (Longhampton in this case, also the setting of two of her previous books: Walking Back To Happiness and Lost Dogs and Lonely Hearts), some dog characters I want to adopt (Pongo! Tavish!) and I know it’ll make me happy when I read it, that it’s really heartwarming and warm. Some authors can just easily tap into a book that warms the heart, some can’t, some do it differently, and The Secret of Happy Ever After is the sort of book you curl up with (if you’re the curling sort; I don’t curl up with books, personally) and you can’t put down.

What really made the book for me was the book shop. Lots of Chick Lit books give their characters jobs as hairdressers, as writers, as whatever else is in vogue at the time, but rarely do Chick Lit books feature book shops. (I know – weird, right?) But in The Secret of Happy Ever After, there’s a book shop. A book shop that sound divine, quite frankly. Whenever I dream of running my own bookshop (I own tons of books, I love books, it’s a natural progression!) I imagine it’s somewhat like the bookshop Anna runs. Although I would add in sofas to my bookshop and it would perhaps look a bit like Central Perk. What I mean is, it was cosy. It was homey. It added to the novel. It was like a character in itself. Yes, the characters had their troubles – Anna struggling to be a good stepmother whilst longing for her own baby and Michelle struggling with her past, but sometimes it’s the extras in novels that make it what it is. Having a good plot, having good characters, is all excellent but the added scenery is even better and the book shop gives the book a bit more of a kick.

I spend a lot of my reviews saying I find characters fascinating (really, I do) but there aren’t many other words to describe characters if I’m honest and so, it is inevitable that I say I found the characters in the book fascinating. I’m loathe to say I enjoyed Anna and Michelle’s struggling, as that’s not the right way to put it, but I enjoyed their plot lines, I enjoyed seeing Anna do her very best to not try and take over becoming Becca, Chloe and Lily’s mother, I liked how Michelle was this strait-laced businesswoman intent on making money and keeping her life in order down to a T. I found it even more interesting how two seemingly rubber-and-glue-type people became friends, as Anna and Michelle did. I actually really liked Anna’s step-family, I was prepared to hate them for being mean to Anna, but the kids weren’t that bad, really, and Lily and Becca in particular had their sweet moments (the jury is still out on Chloe). I wasn’t a bit fan of Phil, Anna’s husband, who was a bit on the spineless side but thankfully, there was a male around worthy of mentioning in the shape of Rory Stirling. I loved Rory, he really lit up the book when he appeared.

I very much enjoyed The Secret of Happy Ever After. I’m not entirely convinced it was as good as Walking Back To Happiness, but I found myself reading it quickly nevertheless and I liked the characters and the dogs and the bookshop. I liked the return of some previous characters, too, which was a nice added bonus. Lucy Dillon just seems to have this natural storytelling ability, this natural way of just making you fall in love with her book until you get to the very end and the addition of the pets makes it all the more. This is definitely a book you’ll want as the nights draw in faster. I generally don’t go for the whip-out-a-blanket, pour-a-cup-of-hot-chocolate stuff the publishers like to go with, but if I was that’s what I’d suggest you do with The Secret of Happy Ever After. Don’t forget the fire, too, for added wintery affect!