Published 1st January 2015 by Pan Macmillan
Read in January 2015
The Blurb:
IT's New Year's Eve, and Gemma and Spencer Bailey are throwing a house party. There's music, dancing, champagne and all their best friends under one roof. It's going to be a night to remember.
Also at the party is Caitlin, who has returned to the village to pack up her much-missed mum's house and to figure out what to do with her life; and Saffron, a PR executive who's keeping a secret which no amount of spin can change. The three women bond over Gemma's dodgy cocktails and fortune cookies, and vow to make this year their best one yet.
But as the following months unfold, Gemma, Saffron and Caitlin find themselves tested to their limits by shocking new developments. Family, love, work, home - all the things they've taken for granted - are thrown into disarray. Under pressure, they are each forced to rethink their lives and start over. But dare they take a chance on something new?
The Review:
A beautifully written book which I adored.This is definitely a book which makes you consider the things that you set out as your New Year's resolutions and how you cope with the things that life throws at you. We all make promises to ourselves every year and don't always keep them but in the back of this book are some tips to help you stick to your resolutions (and there's even a recipe so you can make your own fortune cookies, perfect for helping you decide on your resolutions. So what's not to love?).
This book is about three women; Gemma, Caitlin and Saffron who meet by chance at a New Year's Eve party which Gemma is hosting. As the women bond over cocktails and fortune cookies they make a vow to make it their best year yet, however, it is not all as it seems. I loved how the these women met and the stories behind their lives that we gained an insight into. All of their lives are completely different and I liked how we got the opinions of each of the women about how they perceived each other at first and how this changed as they got to know each other better.
Although they met by chance, it was as though fate had brought them into each others lives for a reason as all three women had to overcome various personal issues. Even though they had barely known each other it was lovely reading about their emotional journeys and how they coped with the situations that life had thrown at them. I loved the fact that they had bonded so well and were there for each other through the toughest times and helped each other to realise what they could lose and what they could gain depending on the decisions that they made.
I love how this book reinforced just how important friendships are at the toughest times of your life as well as the best times. Although Gemma, Caitlin and Saffron had gained such a wonderful friendship after their brief encounter at the New Year's Eve party, I enjoyed reading about how their friendship blossomed and how they provided once in a lifetime opportunities for each other due to links that Saffron had, and how this grew into something much more than just a friendship.
I also enjoyed how the relationships between the characters were portrayed and how they all interlinked with each other in some way. I was also taken on an emotional rollercoaster throughout this book as I got to know the characters and their relationships. There was tears and laughter but I experienced these emotions in places that I didn't quite expect to but it made the story even more powerful. I also learnt family may not always be your best ally or treat you in the way that you deserve. I could definitely relate to Gemma's relationship with her mum and this made me realise that you can't always fix a relationship that has been broken for a long time.
I will definitely be reconsidering my New Year's resolutions and making them more achievable and I will be hopefully making some new friendships this year and making use of the friendships that I already have. I literally have nothing left to say about this book apart from I loved it and I will definitely be trying to make my own fortune cookies soon.
Aimee x