#Newrelease #review: Little Pink Taxi by Marie Laval @MarieLaval1 @ChocLituk #amreading

It’s an absolute delight today to share my review of Marie Laval’s first novel for Choc Lit, Little Pink Taxi, published today on all e-book platforms – my thanks to the publishers for my advance reading e-copy. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting Marie on a few occasions, and she popped in to Being Anne for a chat back in November 2016 (you can read it again here), but I’ve never before managed to read one of her books. But I was so delighted to see her join Choc Lit, and I’d imagine they’re rather delighted to have her with them too – I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of this gorgeous book…

Take a ride with Love Taxis, the cab company with a Heart…

Rosalie Heart is a well-known face in Irlwick – well, if you drive a bright pink taxi and your signature style is a pink anorak, you’re going to draw a bit of attention! But Rosalie’s company Love Taxis is more than just a gimmick – for many people in the remote Scottish village, it’s a lifeline.

Which is something that Marc Petersen will never understand. Marc’s ruthless approach to business doesn’t extend to pink taxi companies running at a loss. When he arrives in Irlwick to see to a new acquisition – Raventhorn, a rundown castle – it’s apparent he poses a threat to Rosalie’s entire existence; not just her business, but her childhood home too.

On the face of it Marc and Rosalie should loathe each other, but what they didn’t count on was somebody playing cupid…

If you’re in any way put off by this book’s pinkness, set that aside straight away – I often have a similar aversion (“little” in a title sometimes affects me that way too), but I’m so very glad I didn’t let it put me off this one. This is a wonderfully told story, and Rosalie will capture your heart as soon as you meet her, driving her pink taxi, rubbish at running a business but providing a lifeline to the community of eccentric characters living around the Scottish village of Irlwick, while singing along (badly) to her favourite Happy Baby radio station. There’s a real sadness in her background – the loss of her mother, the carefully preserved room at Raventhorn castle, the unknown identity of her father – made up for by the loveliest relationships with the laird Geoff McBride and housekeeper Lorna. And then there’s her relationship with Niall – long over, but he can’t take “no” for an answer – and with her loyal friends, all beautifully done. The arrival of Marc Petersen threatens everything she loves – he has a sad background too with the recent death of his father, but his reputation as a ruthless businessman looks like it’s justified, until… oh no, you’ll just going to have to read the book.

There’s a bit of everything here – the dilapidated castle, ghosts and legends and ravens, a vividly drawn Cairngorms setting in the depths of winter, lost treasure, corporate shenanigans, moments of life-threatening drama, dangerous villains, evil family members, even a Danish dimension – all handled quite perfectly, with gentle humour, touches of the totally unexpected, and more than a few moments that certainly get your heart beating faster for a whole range of reasons. I just love a book that can whisk you away from everything for the whole time you spend between its pages, and this lovely book really delivered at every level, perfectly plotted and sheer enjoyment from the start to its perfect end. I can’t wait to see what Marie Laval does next – and thank you to Choc Lit for finding an author I’ll be happy to add to my list of favourites.

About the author

Originally from Lyon in France, Marie now lives in Lancashire with her family. She works full-time as a modern languages teacher, and in her spare time loves writing romance and dreaming about romantic heroes. She writes both historical and contemporary romance, and her historical romance The Lion’s Embrace won the Gold Medal at the Global eBook Awards 2015 (category Historical Romance). She is a member of the Romantic Novelists Association and the Society of Authors. Her native France, as well as her passion for history and research, very much influences her writing, and all her novels have what she likes to call ‘a French twist’!

Follow Marie on Facebook, Twitter and Goodreads: she also has an excellent blog.