A pleasure today to join the blog tour for A Year of Second Chances by Kendra Smith: published by Aria on 20th June, it’s available for kindle and in paperback via Amazon, and also for Kobo, as an iBook and via Googleplay. My thanks to Vicky at Aria Fiction for the invitation and support.
I’m rather sorry I couldn’t fit this book into my reading list – I tried so hard, because it really looked like one I’d enjoy – but it sadly wasn’t to be. But I do think Kendra Smith is an author I’ll look forward to catching up with later…
Three women. Three very different lives. One life changing adventure.
Charlie is a single mum unlucky in life. Her multiple jobs make barely enough to feed the family cat, never mind being able to give her son the life he deserves. So when an opportunity to make a lot of cash comes along, she simply has to take it.
Suzie has always wanted to be a mother. But fate has been cruel and now time is running out. Soon her final frozen egg will be destroyed and her last chance of having a baby will go with it. With her husband resolved to their childless life Suzie takes matters into her own hands.
Dawn is about to turn fifty and seems to have misplaced her mojo along with the car keys. But with an interfering mother-in-law and a gaggle of judgemental mums at her children’s school, it’s proving harder to find than a decent fitting bra. Especially after a series of highly embarrassing incidents…
Over the course of a year three lives are about to collide and as they do be prepared to laugh, cry and fall in love with these women as they discover how life can give you a second chance.
It has “Anne will love this one” written all over it, doesn’t it?! But as I can’t share a review, let’s take a look at an extract:
Dawn
The children had both done their homework; the shirts were ironed. She was just checking a few emails. Briefly. No harm done. Spot of Facebook. Suddenly there was an advert bubble for ‘her’ website. It was amazing how her computer knew that she liked that website. She clicked on it for a quick look.
Have sex in the shower.
She gulped back some air. She reread her list of challenges.
Go out to dinner with no pants.
‘Darling? There you are!’
Her eyes flew up over the top of the screen and she slammed it shut as if it was burning hot, just as Eric walked into the kitchen.
‘Hi, dear.’ She smiled up at her husband, watched him take off his waterproof jacket, wander back out to the hall to hang his coat up. She noticed he’d carefully taken his muddy boots off this time. Last time, they’d had an awful row about the dirt he’d brought in. Hormones? She shuddered. It’s a wonder he puts up with me. He planted a kiss on top of her head.
‘What were you looking at?’
‘Oh, nothing!’ she said too quickly. ‘Some Mumsnet thing. How was your day?’
‘The usual – massive laurel hedge to trim, took all day. The boys were great, especially when my back was playing up.’
Eric’s back was always playing up. She didn’t blame him: at fifty-five, the life of a landscape gardener wasn’t always a picnic – especially as Eric was good at his job. Having his own company meant there were lots of word-of-mouth recommendations. He didn’t have a business partner and as a result was always terribly busy. Autumn was a particularly intense time for gardening: dividing herbaceous perennials, picking the raspberries and potatoes, cleaning out the greenhouses, covering crops with bird netting, planning spring bulbs. She looked over at him lifting the lid at the stove, stirring the supper, and felt a pang. What was it? Pity? God, no.
‘What’s in here, love? Smells great.’ He turned around to smile at her. Eric was a kind soul, so complimentary – it made all the drudgery at home worthwhile. He had always loved her cooking – even her dreadful baking.
Wishing you every success with this one Kendra, and I’m sure you’ll be making a return visit to Being Anne… here are the other stops on the tour:
About the author
Kendra Smith has been a journalist, wife, mother, aerobics teacher, qualified diver and very bad cake baker. She started her career in Sydney selling advertising space but quickly made the leap to editorial – and went on to work on several women’s magazines in both Sydney and London. With dual Australian-British nationality, she currently lives in Surrey with her husband and three children.
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I love the look of this one too!