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
Happier Than She's Ever Been… is a follow on book to Men, Money and Chocolate, an autobiographical story of a woman who longs to be a writer but lacks the self-confidence to ever think it's possible. Maya eats too much and her relationships are pretty lousy, until she has a chance encounter that changes the way she thinks and looks at herself and Maya ends up becoming the published writer she has always longed to be.
In Happier Than She's Ever Been we find May happy, in love with Ben, the man of her dreams, and living with him above his bookshop. Every Tuesday and Thursday evening she holds special events for anyone who wants to attend and tries to make these evenings magical and welcoming hoping to give back something to others to make their lives a little bit more special.
Her past haunts her and May starts to fret that maybe it's not possible to have it all. She begins to worry that Ben will become bored of her and instead of talking to him about her fears, she keeps her worries to herself. Ben is aware that May is becoming distant, but doesn't like to broach the subject for fear of pushing her away.
When May's book becomes increasingly successful she is invited onto tv shows and book tours. She enjoys the publicity and attention more and more, but pushes Ben further away. Then something happens between them that could potentially end everything they've ever hoped for. May and Ben have to find a way to stop their relationship from disintegrating and have to decide whether or not they're going to fight to keep their relationship alive, or if they'll walk away from each other.
This is a gentle book with a sweet story. You want May to see the error of her ways and for Ben to speak up and do something to save their relationship. Even though I hadn't read Men, Money and Chocolate before reading Happier Than She's Ever Been… it was easy enough to read this book as a stand alone story.
6/10
Happier Than She's Ever Been is available in paperback and on Kindle
To find out more about Menna Van Praag and her books you can visit her website or her blog