That Loving Feeling [Paperback]

What can I say? I have to be totally honest and say that whilst reading this book I embarrassed myself on numerous occasions by actually laughing out loud whilst on the train. This book was an absolute joy to read. I am a huge fan of the series the Chocolate Lovers and found that I was comparing each book to that series. This book needed no comparison.

Juliet Joyce is a typical married mother of two. Her husband Rick along with their two children in their late teens Tom and Chloe, live in a regular close leading a very ordinary life. Juliet's mother has recently moved in after deciding that upon reaching her 70s she was going to start living her life the way she wanted. Juliet works in the local library and the most excitement her life sees is what lies in store for her when she gets home with regards to what new and inventive ways her children have come up with top avoid cleaning their rooms, or god forbid, getting a job!

However, when her ex fiancé who jilted her at the alter, Steven Aubrey turns up, her life is thrown into the mixer. This along with the predicaments her husband manages to get himself into along with the behaviour of her kids, her party animal mother, and her father who has changed his life dramatically make for an absolutely explosive and hilarious story. Her marriage starts to teeter when Steven comes on the scene and she has to decide whether she wants to make a new life for herself or stick with what she already has.

This story was told with such humour that I was hooked from the first chapter. The characters are the most honest version of mixed up families I have read in a while and some of the one-liners that were told had tears running down my cheeks. I finished this book in a day and a half and haven't laughed that much at a book in a long time. Thoroughly enjoyed every page and would highly recommend to anybody. The Chocolate Lovers series although still a firm favourite, doesn't seem quite as important after reading this latest Carole Matthews books. A definite must have.

Having enjoyed the Chocolate Lovers books and Let's Meet on Platform 8 I was looking forward to this, particularly with the good reviews it already had on Amazon. However, I actually found it difficult to make myself stick with it throughout. I felt that the author was just clutching at every idea that came to her and throwing them in to try to spice up a dull idea that was going nowhere.

Each plotline could be seen a mile off and the formulaic endings to all the threads were like a typical American movie where everyone goes off happily into the sunset. I'm all for happy endings but this was like the author just needed to find a neat way to end everything.

Very disappointing.

Juliet and Rick Joyce have been married for 25 years but they feel as if the spark is burning out. Not only that but Juliet's mother and father have just separated and her mother has decided she wants to live with the Joyce's; Juliet & Rick's two children are beyond spoilt; and Juliet's father has announced he's gay. Throw in Steven Aubrey, the man who jilted Juliet at the altar 26 years ago, and there's bound to be trouble.

As with all of Carole's books the writing alternates between first person to third person and, as always, it makes the transition with relative ease. It's told in the first person by Juliet and is told from the viewpoint of Rick once it switches into third-person. It works perfectly and we easily see Juliet & Rick's life from both perspectives.

Juliet and Rick's relationship gets steadily rockier through-out the book when each and every drama throws itself in the face of the pair. The book was like reading the script to an episode of EastEnders, it was that full of drama and twists. It also had it's laugh-out-loud moments, particularly where Rick was concerned. The situations he managed to get himself into were incredibly amusing and yet, at the same time, so incredibly innocent.

Juliet was our main character and while I enjoyed hearing her inner-most thoughts I also wanted to strangle her multiple times. Yes, Rick got himself into some sticky situations but as I said earlier, they were perfectly innocent but what Juliet was doing was the complete opposite of innocent and it just didn't sit well with me. Yet I still lived Juliet, that's how good Carole's writing is. No I don't agree with her moral compass but she was still a nice character at heart and in the end, she made the right decision.

I loved Rick, he was amusing and yet came across quite naive too. Going out to look at the stars but getting arrested for dogging is one of the examples. Through-out the book I kept wishing he wouldn't get himself into any more trouble and just laughed as he pluged himself into yet more trouble.

I couldn't warm to Chloe and Tom, Juliet & Rick's kids, but I loved Juliet's mother and father. I thought Juliet's mother, Rita, was a bit bonkers but on the whole I loved her. Juliet's father was a sweet character and I was surprised when he announced he was gay - at 70! We don't see what it was like for Juliet's parents together but reading about them apart made it seem as if both parties were finally free. Back on to Chloe and Tom, I thought they were completely irresponsible as well as shockingly lazy. They didn't treat their parents with any respect and did treat the house more like a hotel. I could relate to Juliet better than I could relate to her children and I'm a teenager myself. However Chloe and Tom didn't detract to the story, they just added to the madness really.

There were a couple more minor characters, Stacey Lovejoy the Joyces' neighbour who resembles a WAG minus the footballer, Hal, Rick's annoying-at-times boss and Una, Juliet's work-friend from the library. Of course I haven't even mentioned Steven. I didn't like him. I thought Juliet let him back into her life far too scott-free considering he jilted her at the altar. I also didn't really believe anything he said either. I also found Una and Juliet's friendship was cast aside with relative ease which was a shame as I enjoyed the interaction between the pair.

The only thing that irritated me about the book was the fact Carole managed to spell Jodi Picoult's name wrong at the beginning of the book. She added an `e' on Jodi and considering she's an author herself you'd think she'd know how it's spelt. Always a pet hate of mine, names of celebs or authors or whoever spelt wrong. Apart from that I loved the book. Carole's writing is just so easy to read that I flew through the book. I wholly recommend it.