I was totally influenced by all the shares of the beautiful copy of ‘What If I Never Get Over You’ by Paige Toon over on Bookstagram, so when I had my little bookish holiday to Bath, I thought I had to pick up a copy. I was totally and utterly influenced by the cover, because this is my first Paige Toon. And, of course, it became a lovely book to buddy read with my lovely book club buddy.
Romantic fiction is not my usual go-to choice, other than Cecelia Ahern and Marian Keyes (I seem to have a thing for Irish authors – who sort of write some romantic fiction) but sometimes you need just that sort of book, especially when the sun starts to shine, as it has finally decided to do.
This book was a joy to read; it reminded me of one of my favourite ever TV shows, ‘Monarch of the Glen’ (although it has nothing to do with Scotland), because it was that tale as old as time: falling in love across the social divide. A reluctant to-be Lord of the Manor meets a young lady, who turns out to be one of the staff at his family home – even if this was not her starting point. None of this is a spoiler, as it is fairly clear that this is where the plot is going, but it is just a lovely story. Ellie is a fantastic leading lady in her own story, and you can imagine becoming her friend and having a good old natter with her. And there is quite a charm to Ash, who I think all the readers will spot and rather grow to love.
I have to say that Paige Toon has managed to create a story that I could not put down, because I just had to know how this story would finally play out. And I have to admit I did spend a lot of the time rooting for this pair to have their happy ending.
Although, I think it was great that Paige tackled so many important issues in this book. Such as handling grief and the all the different ways that people may do this – or some of the things that stir this emotion in people. How Ellie has many of the insecurities that many women have, and how she deals with those, but also how she finds the courage to do some of the things that she does in the story. I really admired some of her actions, and I think she can be a bit of an inspiration.
I do not think this will be my last Paige Toon; she has hit my list of authors to look out for, and I am a little bit disappointed that I had not discovered her books before a recent book tour she did that visited a local bookshop. So, I will be keeping my eye out for any recommendations of books by Paige Toon, because I think her books could be the little pick-me-up I need every now and again to escape from some of the doom and gloom of the modern world.