The Romance Reader's Guide to Life

A very pleasing read, the story follows two sisters, Lilly and Neave, and their two siblings, as they grow up in mid 20th century USA. When the war brings returning servicemen home and work for women dries up, the two start their own make up business. Lilly marries, and then re marries, this time in an abusive relationship that results in her disappearance and death. Neave is now the target of that man. Meanwhile, Lilly has been recruited in the afterlife by Neave's former dog, and together they do what they can to help Neave. As a girl, Neave read and re-read a racy novel, The Pirate Lover, and pieces of that work are laced throughout this. Different roles and expectations of women are presented throughout, in both the main action and The Pirate Lover, which could make the book a good one for discussion groups. The main story has plenty of thrills and romance too, which made it a difficult to categorise read, but very enjoyable.

This book was different, funny and surprising. It took me a while to get to it as from the title I was expecting something completely different and I'm not generally a romance reader but once I started it I found it to be something more original and not just your typical romance book.

You might be forgiven for expecting this book to be a simple and straightforward romance story. There is a romance within the pages, in fact there are two romance stories, but that is not all there is. This is a complex story that touches on romance, abuse, the roll of women in the man's World of the 1950's.
I found myself turning pages, wanting to know what would happen to Neave, what had happened to Lilly and of course how the Pirate romance, that was also woven through the story, would turn out.
I was a little less convinced by the supernatural element and the families deceased dog. It didn't really work for me, but it didn't detract from the story.
I really enjoyed this book and wanted to know how it would all end.

This book turned out to be very different from my expectations. Yes it certainly is a romance and it is historical fiction but it is also a lot more than that! There is a book within a book, an interesting but dysfunctional family, some astonishingly poor marriage choices, violence and murder and a certain amount of interference from the 'other side.' I thoroughly enjoyed it!
The author writes well and her characterization is good. The most prominent character is Neave who along with her sister Lilly manages, in the aftermath of World War 2, to start up a successful business along the lines of Nutrimetics or Avon. Lilly is the one who chooses the wrong men and eventually sets the main plot in action.
I guess the book is a commentary on Romance, the people who read it and how it compares with real life. It is also great fun, very engaging and a really good read.