This is a prime example of a book that rather outstays its welcome. I enjoyed the story of how Claire picks her life up again three years after the sudden and tragic death of her husband, but it didn’t particularly grip me, and it went on for too long in the end. The loss of 100 pages or so would have made it a sharper and more interesting novel. And losing those pages would have meant the badly written and unbelievable scene in the art gallery would thankfully have vanished …

That said, it’s a light and easy read, though it’s certainly not top notch O’Flanagan. She’s written better stories. The problems for me were the rather irritating perfection of the dead husband, as I simply didn’t believe they were soulmates from the age of 14 and our heroine never needed to explain things to him as he was so in tune with her. Harrumph! It all sounds very unlikely to me. I also didn’t really get any spark between the heroine and her new potential boyfriend. Yes, they get together in the end (after a fashion), as you’d expect in a romance novel, but I wasn’t that bothered about them.

I was far more gripped by the story of Eavan, the best friend, and her husband, and how they deal with living with alcoholism and redundancy. It was far more interesting, and with a better plot line. I also loved Claire's daughter, Georgia, and felt she deserved her own stand-alone novel for sure. The scene where she’s far more aware of dating etiquette than her mother was expertly done.

So, all in all, not vintage O’Flanagan but, as I say, it’s easy reading.

Verdict: 3 stars. A welcome outstayed. ( )

about the difficulties of having a relationship and making it work. It is true to life, a little sad. the character's are believeable...the friends husband makes me so mad that I find myself talking out out and shaking my head. I just wanted to strangle him. Listened on Audio Caroline Lennon ( )

I really loved this book. The characters we real and even though it was all pretty obvious the book was funny and poignant. The "How Will I Know" was because she was widowed and suddenly out of her depth with a teenage daughter. It all worked out in the end but as Marian Keys says "what is wrong with a happy ending" Just fun - easy to read - and by the end you feel as if you know a lot more people. It was the first book I had read by Shiela O'Flanagan but I shall certainly read more - just something light for sunny (or rainy day) ( )

I picked this up in a cabin at Cradle Mountain in Tasmania from a bunch of books left behind by visitors. I subsequently left it behind somewhere else after I read it. Pretty terrible, but OK if you're looking for a fairly interesting mindless pageturner. ( )