I’m always up for a Carole Matthews tale, you can rest assured you are in for a satisfying read. For anyone interested in crafting/scrapbooking, there is an added bonus here. The main character Christie, is a mad paper crafter and that is a nice added dimension for us ‘crafty scrappers’ out there. This is a definite appealing aspect because this could (in some respects) be a tale about anyone from the suburbs who finds themselves in the humdrum of life and looking for a creative outlet. A forty something heroine also makes a nice change:

‘My forty-odd-year-old face takes quite a lot of time to reassemble itself into the right symmetry after being reshaped by the pillow all night. Seriously, it’s a good half-hour these days before the creases go.’


A single parent, Christie spends her evenings, weekends and any spare moment she finds crafting and watching the Crafting Channel - ordinary and relatable. A challenge to always make ends meet is proven that more difficult when a couple of dramatic bombshells push Christie to her limits - but she shows great strength and resolve when dealing with them. In fact, these circumstances force Christie into making some radical and life changing decisions. There is also a good cast of supporting characters I especially loved Christie’s devoted parents.

‘I’d always dabbled with crafts, but I guess I started doing it in earnest when Liam first left. What can you do at night on your own when you’ve got a child upstairs in bed?’

My only criticisms were that it was a tad long and could have done with some good editing. At times it got somewhat repetitive and that led to it getting bogged down and a bit dull. I also found the ending to be a bit too neat, that took it from being relatable to unrealistic. However, if you love crafting, family and happy endings with a splash of forty something realism then Carole Matthews new book is for you.

‘And I’m still not interested. Besides, I like crafting. You can rely on paper hearts much more than love-struck ones.’

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher and provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The quoted material may have changed in the final release

This book started out promising. It's written in the first person point of view of Christie, a 42 year old single mum with a teenager son. I nodded and agreed with just about all of her observations in the early part of the book. Then, somewhere around the 35% mark I found my interest waning.

Christie has a passion for crafting. She tries to juggle this crafting hobby around her 'real life' job as a PA in a solicitors' office. It's a job which involves a ridiculous amount of time commuting on a bus where she meets a potential suitor, Henry.

Soon, however, her apparently boring career and lovelife is given a boost when her mother puts her name forward to a huge US craft company. It ends up that she's not only offered a new job, but a place in its owner's, Max, bed also.

Now, I admit to knowing zero about craft companies, but I will admit to having issues with Max. I just found it very difficult to imagine a craft company flying their employees around the world and its owner living such an extravagant millionaire lifestyle. So, for me, Max's character slipped over into trashy romance territory far too many times.


Meanwhile, Christie's son is diagnosed with a serious illness. I'm not marking this a spoiler because it was predictable from page one. The outcome also was a little predictable. No tenterhooks with this storyline, I'm afraid.

I also wasn't anxious to learn just which man would win over the fair maiden. There was no chemistry between Christie and either leading man, in my opinion. I wasn't rushing to turn the pages as one should when reading.

I've got to point out that I can't even sew on a button, and craft isn't something I've ever done (not even when my kids were kindy/preschool age). Despite that, I want to make it clear that the passages dedicated to describing what craft project Christie was carrying out at various times didn't have any bearing on my rating. If you are into crafts you'll probably be in heaven. If you're like me and have no interest, you should know those scenes aren't too intense.

It was the romance that didn't work for me and that would help in a chick lit/romance novel. And unfortunately, overall, I didn't really find Christie an appealing heroine either.