Genre: Contemporary fiction

Stars: 5

Links: Amazon UK and Amazon US

The Blurb:

How would you feel if, one day, you discovered everything you thought you knew about your family was a fabrication? Your mother wasn’t your mother, your father was a liar and your whole upbringing was a sham.

Confronted with this exact situation, Dave Fazackerley doesn’t feel great. It doesn’t help that he has just buried the woman he thought of as his mother. Or that his wife, his one true soulmate, recently jumped into bed with a librarian. Even his band, his only escape from reality, is going through a rough patch.

How will Dave respond? Will he discover the truth about his family? Will his band ever play a gig again? More importantly, can Dave entice his wife back from the arms of the book-dork or will he take a chance on a new love?

My Review:

This was fresh, poignant, and witty contemporary fiction with healthy doses of drama and romance.

Dave Fazackerley is in a bit of a rut, life-wise. His wife has left him for a librarian, his mother’s died (although, about that: apparently she wasn’t really his mother), his dad is not quite as worship-worthy as he always thought, and his band refuse to acknowledge that it is no longer the 80s(ish) and that ballads were never cool anyway. Dave decides it’s high time he turned his life around, but soon discovers that he has a knack for self-sabotage. Which is great for us readers.

The story was serious yet light, the writing well-crafted yet fluid, the romance charming yet cynical. The novel packed in so much, but was wrapped in humour and was never overwhelming for the reader. I loved it.

*I received a free copy from the author, via Rosie’s Book Review Team, in exchange for my honest review.