Review (giveaway now closed) - Bridge Over The Atlantic by Lisa J Hobman

Mallory Westerman is a full-figured, successful, young business woman living in Yorkshire. Though very career minded, she is extremely self-conscious about her ample curves and so her love life tends to pay the price. 

Concentrating solely on her business, she has almost given up on finding someone to love. That is until she literally trips into the arms of a stranger who becomes her Knight in shining armour. 

The immediate sexual and romantic spark that blossoms into love and the events that follow, irrevocably change Mallory’s life-path and self-image forever, but only go to prove that the road to true love is never smooth and that things don’t always turn out how you expect…

Please don’t be put off - as you could well be - by that rather clumsy Amazon summary, or by the fact that this book is currently selling at only 49p for the Kindle in the UK. It was a really lovely read with well-drawn characters (you can’t help but love Mallory), a strong sense of place and a rollercoaster of a storyline that has you laughing and crying in turn. It’s really well written – the dialogue in particular – and I loved the way the author portrayed some of the more minor characters too. It’s a lovely exploration of damaged people being repaired by love, and is as strong on the nature of friendship and the healing power of human kindness as it is on the central romance. 

The action moves from Leeds – where Mallory has a gift shop in the Victoria Quarter – to Scotland, with the sort of vivid descriptions that had me searching the internet to see if they are real. (They are – the bridge over the Atlantic is the Clachan Bridge which links the island of Seil, near Oban, to the mainland, and the photograph is exactly as I pictured it from the descriptions).  I hate spoilers, and there’s a change of focus and direction part way into this book that turns everything on its head - I’m not going to give it away, but I would suggest you avoid some of the more detailed reviews on Goodreads if you want it to be a surprise you experience for yourself.  

As a music fan I particularly liked the way certain songs and tracks are used to underscore some of the more emotional moments or to convey messages, and I’ve been spending time on Spotify to explore some of the unfamiliar ones and refresh my memory of the lyrics of others – a Spotify playlist to support the book (like Rachel Abbott did for The Back Road) would actually have been a very welcome extra (but maybe less fun!).  

This book was quite lovely – that well-written style of chick lit that I always enjoy, unashamedly romantic and emotional, and the perfect escape for a rainy Sunday afternoon.  The only thing I must mention is that – in the Kindle edition – the American publishers have put every place name into italics: once the story fully kicks in, you’ll really stop noticing. 

Lisa Hobman is a happily married mum with two crazy dogs, who relocated from Yorkshire to Scotland in May 2012. She loves writing, singing and is very passionate about music, with quite eclectic tastes. To find out more about Lisa and her books, have a look at her website and Facebook page. Her second novel, Through The Glass, was published on 25th August 2013 by 5 Prince Publishing, and her new one The Girl Before Eve is due for release in January 2014. 

(Giveaway now closed - the winner was Margaret Pickess. Well done Margaret, and I'll be in touch to check your address before sending.)