It’s a real pleasure today to be helping launch the blog tour and sharing my publication day review of the latest book from Samantha Tonge, If You Could See Me Now: published today (28th February) by Boldwood Books, it’s now available as an ebook (free via Kindle Unlimited), as an audiobook, and in paperback. Just in case you might have read it before, I will mention that it’s a book that’s been been re-polished and released for a second time – it was previously published (by Canelo) in 2019 as Knowing You, but at that time totally passed me by. My thanks to Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources for the invitation and support, and to the publishers for my advance reading e-copy (provided via netgalley).
Sam really has become one of my “must read” authors – since she joined Boldwood, she’s just become better and better with every book, her storylines so very original, with those beautifully developed relationships between her wonderfully drawn characters, and the emotional elements she always brings to her storytelling. You’ll find reviews of all her books since she joined Boldwood (and a few from before that too) if you pop her name into my search bar – and absolutely guarantee I’ll also be reading and reviewing every book she writes in the future. Her last-but-one book, A Single Act of Kindness, thoroughly deserved its inclusion as one of my 2024 Books of the Year – yes, a few heavy issues, powerful and emotional, but beautifully balanced with warmth, lightness, and humour and I loved every single moment (you can read my full review again here). And then there was the wonderful The Promise of Tomorrow – unlike anything I’ve read before, really difficult subjects dealt with so very beautifully, the warmth of the bond between two very different people slowly overcoming all that dread and fear as they find strength in each other, and a story about the power of love that moved me so deeply.
So, let’s take a closer look at her latest…
A brilliant, beautiful story from the bestselling author of A Single Act of Kindness
How far would you go for a perfect life?
Back in her troubled school days, kind-hearted Violet always dreamed of a life where she was happy. Now it feels like she’s just about getting there. She has her dream job working with books, and she’s living with her handsome boyfriend, Lenny.
But when her relationship with Lenny falls to pieces and he moves out, Violet, hurt and alone, decides it’s time to really take her happiness in hand. With help from her new flatmate, Bella, she changes her image and takes control at work, ready to show the world that she doesn’t need Lenny in her life. And when she meets magnetic author Casey, she begins to wonder if all she needed all along was a makeover.
But – with Bella – all is not as it seems. And Violet too has a secret, one that dates right back to her childhood, which could change everything…
If You Could See Me Now is a powerful story about friendship, trust, and taking control of your life while not being afraid to stand out. Perfect for fans of Shari Low, Milly Johnson and Colleen Hoover.
Violet didn’t have the easiest of childhoods – the sudden loss of her much loved uncle, her mother falling to pieces, her struggles when bullied at school, and a friendship that became particularly important to her abruptly ended. Now an adult, having often escaped between the pages of books when younger, she has the perfect career – as an editor of children’s books – with supportive friendships at work and in the book club she runs, and a comfortably settled relationship with boyfriend Lenny. But things go badly wrong – he cheats on her with the woman who was her personal role model, and she rather loses her way for a while. Until she finds a new flatmate, Bella, who encourages her to take radical steps to change her image, to push away all her former friends, and to stake everything on attracting a new and particularly special author to her publishing house. She’s brimming over with confidence – Bella’s friendship is so important to her, and that author might just also bring the new romance she’s looking for – until everything comes tumbling down.
For a while, Violet does become very driven and rather unlikeable, single-mindedly pursuing her own happiness and hurting others along the way, apparently taking control of her life but with the increasingly toxic Bella directing her every move – but her longer term friends are always there in the background, poised to intervene when she finds herself at her lowest ebb. Those friendships are something I particularly liked about this lovely read – all the better that they were diverse and multi-generational, and the individuals so very real and well drawn.
But I’m sure it won’t surprise you – if you’ve read any of the author’s other books – that there’s far more to the story than I can share in a review, serious issues that come as a real surprise, rooted in Violet’s difficult childhood that we sometimes revisit in flashback. And, as always, the full story is a particularly emotional one, with its very real and serious issues handled with considerable insight and exceptional sensitivity.
The pacing of the whole book – especially the timing of the reveal – is quite perfect, and if your sympathy for Violet has sometimes wavered as she changed her life in so many ways, it’s certainly more than restored when the true facts begin to emerge. I’d love to go into more detail, but this really is a book you need to experience – it’s an entirely compelling read, and I’m sure you’ll find Violet’s story as impossible to set aside as I did. It does have plenty of lighter moments, but its emotional depth is stunning – I thought it was quite wonderful, and couldn’t recommend it more highly.
About the author
Samantha Tonge is the bestselling and award-winning author of over 15 romantic fiction titles published by HQ, and most recently Aria. In 2020 one of her novels won the RNA’s Jackie Collins Romantic Thriller Award. Her books for Boldwood marked a broadening of her writing into uplifting, emotional woman’s fiction. She lives in Manchester with her family.
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