This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.
REVIEWED BY DEBS CARR
Nina Jones, a blonde PA with legs up to her armpits, is secretly in love with her happily married, celebrity chef boss. Her adoration is hopeless and she’s fully aware that nothing can ever happen between her and the god-like Edward Jett. Opportunity for a completely new life comes her way, and Nina, determined that handsome Spaniard, Juan is the true man of her dreams, gives up everything she thought was important and goes with him to start a new life and their own restaurant in Spain.
Unfortunately for Nina, before their restaurant has even opened for business, Juan reconnects with his childhood sweetheart and leaves her not only alone and humiliated, but broke. She is left with no option but to return to England. Wishing she hadn’t been so quick to donate her clothes that would have been far more suitable for the English weather she has returned to than the floaty dresses making up her wardrobe, she moves into her dead uncle’s flat in the middle floor of the ugliest, gothic building she’s ever seen, which she nicknames, The Temple of Gloom.
Nina isn’t sure what to make of the eccentric couple living in the downstairs flat, and Viktor, the tall, brooding character who seems to have very little to say and only appears to venture out under the cover of darkness, is definitely someone she’s determined to avoid. But first impressions can be misleading. Can’t they? After all, is Nina being completely honest to those close to her? And can she realistically hope to hide away from her past forever before it starts catching up with her?
I love Julie Cohen’s books and this was just as entertaining as I had hoped it would be. From the chemistry between the well-drawn characters, to the unusual locations and twists and turns of the novel, I devoured every page. This is a story that will stay with me for a long time.
Definitely a must read book. 9/10
Check out our Interview with Julie Cohen