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Apr 19, 2013 Natasha S rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: awesome-lead-male, favorites, great-female-lead, hilarious, just-date-your-bestie, loveable-characters, oh-my-god, realistic-characters, serious-sexual-tension, tormented-main-character, trying-not-to-cry, what-a-twist

LOOOOVEEEEE.
LOVELOVELOVELOVELOVEEEEE!
Read immediately.
Immediately.

Okay full review:

This book is charming in so many ways it's hard to explain.
I'm a fan of chick-lit books. Chick-lit is more enjoyable to me than romance generally because I like the humor. This book is a sweet ride between hilarious, heart-warming, heart-breaking, surprising, and very sweet.

(SPOILERS)

Sweet young Lily is uprooted to go live in Australia with her mother who is always moving from guy to guy. Lily is pissy at this an...more

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Jul 21, 2012 Kevin I Heart.. Chick Lit rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Rating : 5/5

'Will you marry me?'

I think of you, then. I think of you every day. But usually in the quietest part of the morning, or the darkest part of the night. Not when my boyfriend of two years has just proposed. I look up at Richard with his hopeful eyes. 'Lily?' he prompts.

It's been ten years, but it feels like only yesterday that you left. How can I say yes to Richard with all my heart when most of it has always belonged to you? I take a deep breath and will myself to speak...

Ten years ag...more Rating : 5/5

'Will you marry me?'

I think of you, then. I think of you every day. But usually in the quietest part of the morning, or the darkest part of the night. Not when my boyfriend of two years has just proposed. I look up at Richard with his hopeful eyes. 'Lily?' he prompts.

It's been ten years, but it feels like only yesterday that you left. How can I say yes to Richard with all my heart when most of it has always belonged to you? I take a deep breath and will myself to speak...

Ten years ago when Lily was just sixteen, she fell in love with someone she really shouldn't have fallen in love with. Now, living in Sydney and engaged to another man, she can't forget the one that got away. Then her past comes back to haunt her, and she has to make a decision that will break her heart - and the heart of at least one of the men who love her.

First of all, I love Paige Toon. Her books are like the perfect escapism for me, whenever I feel sad, low or even bored, I just think of her books, as slivers of memory from reading them will brighten my mood. Her books are amazing, all of her books are 5/5 for me, I loved them. Really enjoyed the plot and lovely characters. Well, be ready, because Pictures of Lily is joining my ranks of favourites!

Where can I start? Could I tell you how much I loved the ingenious storyline? Or the amazing characters in the book? Well, there are so many things to say about this book. Okay, first off, Lily. The book is split into two parts - ten years ago when Lily was in Adelaide, where she met Ben and the present where she's engaged to Richard - which was really lovely to read about. The breaking down of the plot was really well-written.

All right, ten years ago..
Lily was young, naive and really lovable - your average teenage girl - as she was rebellious towards her mother's constant move from country to country. It's sad to read about Lily's mum not landing the perfect man, and it was quite sad to read about how Lily had to struggle in different cities after her parents' divorce. Back then, Lily was really sweet, well, sometimes. Her new stepdad, Michael was really caring and thoughtful when Lily and her mum arrived in Adelaide and his son, Josh was really something. Well, nobody's perfect, right? He's good-looking but has a really bad attitude and tends to drink and drive. Then there was Ben, a colleague of Michael who works in the conservation park who befriends Lily and acts as an older brother/mentor when Lily signed up to be a keeper as a summer job. Ben was everything a man should be, sweet, caring, kind and believed in whatever you do. On the down side, he was about 12 years older than Lily but age is not a factor when it comes to love, right? The romance between Lily and Ben began to blossom, but on to Lily it did. Ben couldn't fall for someone so young, which was really gentleman of him. Towards the end of the "ten years ago" part, Lily did try to tell him how she felt and it ended with her being heartbroken.

The present!
In the present, Lily is engaged to Richard, but how could you love someone when you're heart is with someone else? Throughout the other half of the book, Lily carried on with her life, engaged and working as a temp. Which is quite sad for her as Ben told her to pursue what she loved. Then, out of the blue, you can call it fate or coincidence, she came face-to-face with Ben again. Slowly, they became closer and soon, things got complicated. I was really pleased with the cameo appearances by ALL Paige's characters. From Lucy in the Sky right until Chasing Daisy. Lucy, Nathan, Sam and Molly were a part of the second half of the book as they are friends with Richard. Remember Nathan's colleague in Lucy in the Sky? Yup, that's him! Johnny Jefferson and Luis Castro were briefly mentioned in the book. Personally, I love these little cameo appearances. Paige is really creative, as it helps to build up her readership.

All in all, this was a beautifully-written book of unrequited love. I loved it. The settings were perfect! Adelaide was described wonderfully with its gorgeous view on Mount Lofty. Sydney, well I loved Sydney very much, back when I was 10, I went and fell in love with it. Summer all year long, well.. I loved that it was always sunny! The plot of the book was perfect and well-written, dividing the book into two parts was in face a genius idea. Brava, Paige! The characters were wonderful to read about, especially the lovely cast from Lucy in the Sky and I really loved how the book ended. To summarise all the crap I've written - Pictures of Lily was a beautifully-written and addictive love story.(less)

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Nov 01, 2010 Goddess Of Blah rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book isn't well-written... nor is it a book that will remain with you forever. But its incredibly romantic and the sexual tension seeps from the page. I haven't read a book with so much tension like that (without any physical elements involved) in a very long time.

Somehow the author has managed to brilliantly manifest the sexual tension between the characters without resorting to tacky sex scenes. She has captured the charged energy and repressed emotional chemistry in a sensitive manner....more

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Oct 04, 2010 Lynsey rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: romance-fluff, favourites-romance

I have just read this book for the second time, and I have to say I think it is the most romantic book I have ever read.

I loved this book and can not recommend it highly enough.

I totally fell in love with both the main characters, Ben & Lily. I felt heartbroken for them and couldn't wait for them to meet again later.

It's really refreshing to read a book where the existing boyfriend isn't a complete loser. I have read so many books where the choice of two men is a real no brainer. The couple...more

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Jul 18, 2012 Danielle rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: to-read-from-the-library, read-agin

I love the writing style of these books and how Paige makes the characters so believable and lovable. The heroines usually make mistakes which to makes them all the more human. The descriptions of Australia are great and I wish I could go there. I was a little worried about the story line to begin with, a teenage girl falling in love with someone older, I thought it would be some girly crush and pervy man but it felt like true love, you could feel the attraction and the pain.

There are mentions o...more

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Aug 13, 2012 Megan Readinginthesunshine rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favourites

Paige Toon’s Pictures of Lily was published in 2010 but I’m writing a review on it now because I loved it so much. This was actually the first Paige Toon book I picked up, I fell in love with the title, started reading it as soon as I arrived home and finished the entire book in one sitting.

This book is very interesting in that the first part is written from Lily’s perspective when she is a teenager, and then we fast-forward ten years for the second part which sees Lily now engaged to a man that...more Paige Toon’s Pictures of Lily was published in 2010 but I’m writing a review on it now because I loved it so much. This was actually the first Paige Toon book I picked up, I fell in love with the title, started reading it as soon as I arrived home and finished the entire book in one sitting.

This book is very interesting in that the first part is written from Lily’s perspective when she is a teenager, and then we fast-forward ten years for the second part which sees Lily now engaged to a man that she loves, but doesn’t quite live up to the one that got away. In her teenage years, we see Lily forced to move from the UK to Australia with her mum to live with her new boyfriend, and as you can guess she’s not too impressed with being uprooted to the other side of the world. With a camera in her hand, Lily starts working at the conservation park where her mum’s boyfriend already works, and there she meets Ben. Even though he is 27, they have a lot in common, he encourages her photography and teaches her about the world around her, and she falls in love with him. But despite having feelings for each other, Ben moves to England to marry and Lily is heartbroken. Ten years later, a newly engaged Lily is still living in Australia and by chance bumps into the now single Ben. and all the feelings come flooding back. But what should Lily do? Will Lily follow her heart?

I loved this book, I really felt for Lily, I felt her heartbreak and I felt her rush of hope and nervous excitement when she saw Ben again. Paige Toon did a wonderful job in connecting the readers with the characters, I felt like I knew Lily so well, and I desperately wanted to read on to find out how things progressed for her and if she was brave enough to take the risks that she wanted to. I won’t say any more because I don’t want to spoil the whole book, but if you’re a romantic at heart, you will love this novel!

One word of advice: If you’re going to start it, make sure you have a good length of free time ahead of you, because you won’t want to put it down!!!(less)

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Oct 27, 2011 Naomi rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Pictures of Lily is an exceptional summer read by Paige Toon. This story reminds you that you can never forget your first true love, they are always with you.

Lily is uprooted from England by her mother so that she can go live with her new lover in Australia. Lily isn’t happy about it at all and can’t wait to move back to England, well that is until she meets Ben. Ben works at the local national park with Lily’s mother’s new beau. Lily gets a summer job at the park where she helps Ben out with th...more

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Jul 10, 2011 Rea Sinfield rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The first thing which always sticks out for me with all Paige Toon books are the front covers. They are eye-catching and glitzy and you know by looking at the book before reading the author that it is a Paige Toon novel. Having said this the new book that is being released looks like it has a different style to the cover.
I love that with both Paige Toon and Christina Jones books that although these are stand alone books, characters from the other novels pop up from time to time in the other nove...more The first thing which always sticks out for me with all Paige Toon books are the front covers. They are eye-catching and glitzy and you know by looking at the book before reading the author that it is a Paige Toon novel. Having said this the new book that is being released looks like it has a different style to the cover.
I love that with both Paige Toon and Christina Jones books that although these are stand alone books, characters from the other novels pop up from time to time in the other novels and I like this as it brings a little bit of familiarity to the book.

Pictures of Lily is split into two. The first part of the book we meet a young 15 year old Lily who has just moved to Australia and is finding it hard to settle into her new life. The second part of the book skips to the present day when Lily is 25 and her life has changed somewhat. I did find the story got off to an incredible fast pace which I fell into straight from the first page, and it had me turning the pages so quickly that before I knew it I was half way through the book and starting the second part of the book. I did find it came to an obvious stop when we switch to the second part of the book and it did take a few pages to pick up the pace again. The structure of this novel suits the book well as we get to know our main character Lily from a young age so by the time we read the second part of the book where she has become a woman we feel as if we know all about her. As with the main characters of all of the Paige Toon books you can not help but warm to these characters straight away.

There are a real mix of characters in this book and they all work well together. It is the first book I think I have read where I have enjoyed each and every character.

Through Lily we see many different emotions and I did find towards the end of the book I did have a tear in my eye! This book is a real page turner as you can tell as I have read this in under a day! If you are looking for a real feel good read that is not predictable and will keep you gripped all the way through then this is the book for you.(less)

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May 27, 2011 Katie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Paige Toon truly is an amazing author. Each one of her books just gets better and better and this book is no different. I always think, how can Paige Toon's latest novel compete with her previous fantastic novel? But she does indeed do this.

One thing I love about her books is the fact that the main character is always so likeable and Lily, the main character in this book really is. You really do feel for what she has to go through, because she really is a kind person; someone that we would all...more Paige Toon truly is an amazing author. Each one of her books just gets better and better and this book is no different. I always think, how can Paige Toon's latest novel compete with her previous fantastic novel? But she does indeed do this.

One thing I love about her books is the fact that the main character is always so likeable and Lily, the main character in this book really is. You really do feel for what she has to go through, because she really is a kind person; someone that we would all want to be friends with.

In this book, the main love triangle is between Lily, Ben and Richard - who happens to be Nathan, from Lucy in the Sky's best mate. Yes that's right, we get a big taster of what Nathan and Lucy are upto as they appear quite a lot in this book. Lily juggles with her feelings for Richard and her childhood sweetheart who she never got to have the happy ending with, as he was already engaged to another woman and was moving to England. Oh and he was twelve years older than her...

The first half of the book focuses on Lily's sixteen year old self as her and her mother move to Austalia for the first time to start a new life with Lily's mum's new man and son. Lily starts work at the sanctary with her new step father and this is the place she meets Ben. As we delve further through the pages, it becomes quite obvious that Lily has developed feelings for Ben and vice versa; the problem is, while at first Lily tries to deny her feelings and then eventually opens up to Ben what she feels, he doesn't do this for her; he flees to be with his "loved" fiance in England. Roll on ten years later.

The second half of the book focuses on Lily's twenty-six year old self ten years later, where she is living in Sydney with her boyfriend turned fiance, works as a temp for various magazines and has made new friends, including her boyfriend's friends Nathan and Lucy. She still can't get over Ben, the man she had fell so deeply in love with; however, she gets the shock of her life when she takes her younger half-sisters to the zoo when her father and family flies to Austalia, and bumps into Ben who is indeed working there; this is where she recieves his number and things change a lot more...

I won't spoil it for you, but this book is well worth reading. I finished it in a day, which is a big deal for me as there aren't that many books out there anymore than I would consider reading in a short space of time. I'm really excited for next year, when Paige Toon's fifth novel, the sequel to Johnny be Good will be released. That is definately a book worth waiting for.

If you are new to Paige Toon's books, then I would suggest that you read her previous novels as well as they shouldn't be wasted and are definately unique. Titles; "Lucy in the Sky", "Johnny be Good" and "Chaising Daisies". I hope you enjoy them as much as I did. (less)

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Jan 23, 2011 Tina rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

See review at BookCouture.com

The book begins with a prologue, which you’ve just read above, and then cuts to a twelve-chapter long flashback of Lily’s life at 16, when her mother moves her from the UK to South Australia for her mother’s newest man. And in Australia, Lily falls in love with “someone she really shouldn't have fallen in love with”. When we cut back to the modern day, Lily is being asked the big question. But can she find it in her heart to forget her one true love?

I quickly got abs...more

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Aug 19, 2010 Laura rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Paige Toon seems to have taken the chick lit world by storm in the last couple of years, and no wonder, her books are immensely readable and once you start there really is no putting them down!

‘Pictures of Lily’ is Paige’s fourth book and has been very eagerly awaited by her fans, not least because she has been promising updates on our favourite characters from her other books.

The eponymous Lily is a twenty-six year old temp who lives and works in Sydney, Australia. The book begins with Lily bei...more Paige Toon seems to have taken the chick lit world by storm in the last couple of years, and no wonder, her books are immensely readable and once you start there really is no putting them down!

‘Pictures of Lily’ is Paige’s fourth book and has been very eagerly awaited by her fans, not least because she has been promising updates on our favourite characters from her other books.

The eponymous Lily is a twenty-six year old temp who lives and works in Sydney, Australia. The book begins with Lily being proposed to by her boyfriend Richard. Lily loves Richard and is happy living with him. She should be thrilled to be marrying him but she has never got over losing her first love at the age of sixteen. Can she marry Richard when she knows that part of her heart will never be his?

‘Pictures of Lily’ is set in Adelaide and Sydney. I enjoyed the way that Paige used landmarks and the beautiful Australian scenery as a backdrop to the story. Her descriptions of the conservation park which Lily works in and of the animals there are very memorable.

One of the aspects of ‘Pictures of Lily’ which I really liked was the way that Paige takes us back ten years for almost half the book to when Lily is sixteen and falls in love with someone that she realty shouldn’t have fallen in love with. Paige does a wonderful job of writing as a 16 year old, conveying all the teenage angst, whilst still ensuring that the reader knows that the love she feels isn’t just a teenage crush. It’s the real thing and will never leave Lily. Paige also manages to deal with the large age difference between Lily and her love very well. The relationship between them never seems wrong. The reader knows that despite the age difference, the two characters really are made for each other.
Something that I admire about Paige as a writer is the way that she sees all the sides to her characters. There is no simple answer to what Lily should do; she does love Richard and he is a good person, while Lily herself is not perfect in the way that she deals with the situation.

In writing this book Paige certainly fulfilled her promise of bringing back previous characters. Lily’s boyfriend Richard cameoed in Paige’s first book, ‘Lucy In The Sky’, as Nathan’s flatmate in London. He’s still friends with the old gang, so fans of ‘Lucy In The Sky’ get an update on what Molly, Sam, Lucy and Nathan have been up to! There are also brief mentions of Johnny Jefferson (‘Johnny Be Good’) and Luis and Daisy (‘Chasing Daisy’).

I recommend Paige Toon far and wide, and this book is certainly no exception. Readers will be able to relate to the characters but the situations and Australian backdrop give added interest that really keep the reader hooked. I can think of no better way to spend an afternoon than curled up reading this!(less)

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Jan 31, 2011 ALPHAreader rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

‘Pictures of Lily’ is the fourth book from contemporary romance author, Paige Toon.

Lily came to Australia when she was fifteen. She and her mum moved halfway around the world (and took a 24-hour plane trip!) to come and live in Adelaide with her mum’s new fella she met on the internet.

Lily was initially reluctant. Not even her sexy quasi-stepbrother, Josh, could sweeten the deal . . . and then she met the kangaroos, and koalas. Lily’s sort-of-stepfather, Michael, worked at a local conservation...more

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Jul 29, 2012 Hsiau Wei rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: books-read-in-2012

This book tell the story of Lily and the love that she have for Ben that has lasted a decade. It started with Lily who have to move to Australia because her mother wanted to be with Michael, her online boyfriend whom she has never met. Lily who was then, 15 years old, resented the move, eventually begin to like the place when she joined her mother's boyfriend to work at the animal conservatory. It was there she met Ben and the start of their friendship. Without realising, both of them started to...more

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Oct 22, 2012 Marcella rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I’m a big fan of the author,
This book was magical from start to finish and a fine example of Paige Toon’s amazing writing style. Again Paige manages to incorporate some serious topics into a beautiful read and encourages you to feel the same emotions each character feels.
This book is very interesting in that the first part is from Lily’s perspective when she is a teenager, and then we fast-forward ten years for the second part which sees Lily now engaged to a man that she loves, but doesn’t qui...more

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Apr 10, 2011 Vanessa rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: my-books

Inhalt
Lily muss von England nach Australien ziehen, da sich ihre Mutter verliebt hat. Die damals erst 16 Jahre alte Lily, findet diese Idee absolut schrecklich, doch mit der Zeit lebt sie sich ein. Sie beginnt in einem Reservat zu arbeiten und kümmert sich liebevoll um die Tiere. Sie lernt Ben kennen und verliebt sich in ihn. Doch diese Liebe überschreitet die Grenzen des Möglichen, denn Benn ist 28, also zwölf Jahre älter als Lily. Auch zehn Jahre später, als Lilys Freund, ihr einen Antrag mach...more Inhalt
Lily muss von England nach Australien ziehen, da sich ihre Mutter verliebt hat. Die damals erst 16 Jahre alte Lily, findet diese Idee absolut schrecklich, doch mit der Zeit lebt sie sich ein. Sie beginnt in einem Reservat zu arbeiten und kümmert sich liebevoll um die Tiere. Sie lernt Ben kennen und verliebt sich in ihn. Doch diese Liebe überschreitet die Grenzen des Möglichen, denn Benn ist 28, also zwölf Jahre älter als Lily. Auch zehn Jahre später, als Lilys Freund, ihr einen Antrag macht, muss sie immerzu an Ben denken…

Cover
Das Cover ist mit Abstand das schönste, das ich besitze. Die Kombination der Farben und dem Schriftzug gefällt mir gut. Außerdem sind Glitzerpartikel am Buch verteilt. Sogar am Buchrücken (Die sieht man am Foto leider nicht).

Meinung
Voller Erwartungen, da ich ein großer Page Toon-Fan bin, begann ich „Pictures of Lily“, zu lesen. Wieder einmal hat Paige Toon bewiesen, wie gut sie schreiben kann. Das Buch liest sich flüssig und ist in einfachem, leicht verständlichem Englisch geschrieben. Die Story ist hinreißend und ich konnte mich gut in sie hineinversetzen. „Pictures of Lily“ wird in der ersten Hälfte des Buches, aus der Sicht der 16 jährigen, in der zweiten Hälfte, der 26 jährigen Lily geschrieben. In die junge Lily konnte ich mich besonders gut hineinversetzen, da sie meinem Alter entspricht, aber auch die Handlungen der 26 jährigen Lily konnte ich durchaus nachvollziehen. Lilys Denkweise bringt zum Schmunzeln, denn oft kommt es vor, dass sie im Kopf Diskussionen mit sich selbst führt. Alle Charaktere sind, typisch für Paige Toon, sehr ausführlich beschrieben, so dass man sie sich sehr leicht vorstellen kann. Auch die Nebencharaktere lernt man gut kennen.

Mein Fazit
Wie immer hat Paige Toon ganze Arbeit geleistet. Ein wunderbarer Roman, der einen zum Schmunzeln bringt und auch Sehnsucht wachsen lässt. Ich konnte mich sehr gut in Lily versetzen und habe Seite um Seite mit ihr gefühlt und mit ihr gelacht. Meiner Meinung nach muss man „Pictures of Lily“ einfach gelesen haben.(less)

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May 15, 2013 C rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I was hooked into this book right from the word go. Given that it starts with a proposal that remains unanswered until a later point in the book, it is hardly surprising! I’ll admit that I was surprised that the book begins in Lily’s teenage years, I was expecting this to be the usual chick-lit formula starring someone my age, but to begin with, and we are taken back to Lily’s formative years, just as she is turning 16. She has found herself in Australia because her mum fell head over heels for...more I was hooked into this book right from the word go. Given that it starts with a proposal that remains unanswered until a later point in the book, it is hardly surprising! I’ll admit that I was surprised that the book begins in Lily’s teenage years, I was expecting this to be the usual chick-lit formula starring someone my age, but to begin with, and we are taken back to Lily’s formative years, just as she is turning 16. She has found herself in Australia because her mum fell head over heels for ‘another guy’ over there and she really doesn’t want to be. The theme of escapism and distant lands is really strong throughout the entirety of this novel, something which I found to be common throughout Paige Toon’s writing.

I found Lily to be rather a petulant teenager, but she does begin to mellow when she meets some of the animals in the conservation park she begins working at and I found it easier to read from this point. I did dislike her mum, however, she is written as a very selfish character the whole was through the book and I found her relationship with Lily quite difficult to read, even thought it is written so well.

The male ‘supporting’ characters in this book are quite interesting, they seem to be poles apart and yet Lily has strong feelings for both of them at various points in the novel. Ben is laid back and yet level-headed. His relationship with Lily when she was only sixteen made me a little uncomfortable, I have to admit, but later on in the novel, I too had a major soft spot for him! I disliked Richard as a person, showing how well developed he is as a character, but I really didn’t think he was right for Lily. She seemed to be such a free spirit and he seemed so corporate.

This is book is almost written as if it were in diary form, because it is written entirely from Lily’s point of view and this makes it incredibly easy to read. It also means that as Lily grows up, you get to know her in more and more depth and she begins to feel like a friend to you, adding immensely to the enjoyment of the book. The way the book is structured, split into two time periods, then and now, ten years apart, works really well and meant that there was a clear division for me as a reader to a kind of ‘before Ben’ time and ‘after Ben’ time. Paige Toon also brings in characters from her other books which I really liked, but if you haven’t read Lucy in the Sky, you should probably read that first because otherwise, they ending will be spoiled for you!

This was the perfect read for a hot bank holiday weekend and I got through it pretty quickly because of the strong voice and the author’s writing style. This is the third book I’ve read by Paige Toon and I’m already thinking about which one to read next!
(less)

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Mar 15, 2013 Nicole rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book by Paige Toon was incurably romantic. But the main reason I was drawn to it was that I discovered by accident that it was set in my beloved Adelaide Hills. I live only a couple of minutes down the road from Piccadilly and Paige Toon has got the whole Adelaide Hills region spot on, from gorgeous but touristy Hahndorf, to the view from Mount Lofty (if you could call it a mountain). I could picture Ben and Lily at a Cleland-like conservation park and it is refreshing to have an author wri...more

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May 03, 2013 Carrie rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

**SPOILERS**

If the second half of the book was as good as the first, I'd have given this 4 stars.

I loved the first half. I loved Lily & Ben's relationship & I cried when he lef, not quite believing he would actually go through with getting married! :(

I was going through pages so fast, eager for their reunion but, well, it was a bit of an anitclimax really. I wanted Ben to declare his undying love, say how sorry he was, that he'd regretted his decision to leave her for the past decade. I...more

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Sep 20, 2011 Amoena rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I don't know. I really liked the "ten years before" part of the book though it annoyed me that nothing ever happened between Lily and Ben. I guess that would have been a little appropriate, but it's a little weird for me to long for a decade for someone who you haven't even kissed once. I would have wanted there to be something. Holding hands? Cuddling?

The second part, the "now" part, was, at least for me, all about the big reunion. Wherever she went, I was always like "will he be there". Then...more

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May 06, 2013 Zanna Mackenzie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: my-favourite-books

This book has been added to my 'favourites' book shelf - it's a week since I finshed it and the characters are still so memorable - totally loved it!

The book starts with a marriage proposal, then goes back ten years to when Lily was just fifteen, uprooted to Australia by her mother. Lily falls in fall with someone she really shouldn't and this part of the book is written superbly; I couldn't read it fast enough and couldn't put the book down either!

Half of the book is ten years earlier, the next...more

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Aug 13, 2011 Emma rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

'Will you marry me?' I think of you, then. I think of you every day. But usually in the quietest part of the morning, or the darkest part of the night. Not when my boyfriend of two years has just proposed. I look up at Richard with his hopeful eyes. 'Lily?' he prompts. It's been ten years, but it feels like only yesterday that you left. How can I say yes to Richard with all my heart when most of it has always belonged to you? I take a deep breath and will myself to speak… Ten years ago when Lily...more

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Nov 10, 2012 inga rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Those, who appreciate light-hearted romance and chick-lit

Shelves: didn-t-like-the-heroine-or-the-hero, reviewed, reviewed-2011, blah

I wasn't sure whether I should give this two stars or three. I rated it three because I liked the first part; the second part, however, is very boring and I considered calling it quits. I did not stop, though, and finished it - although I just didn't like Lily anymore. She's cool as a teen but becomes very whiny as a grown up.

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Feb 22, 2013 Chrissy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: chick-lit

This is a good read for all you romantics out there that believe true love lasts forever.
The first half is told through the eyes of a 16 year old Lily and focuses on her friendship with Ben, where she soon falls in love with him despite the 12 year age difference. This part reads like a young adult book which to the author's credit works well as you get to enter the mind of a moody teenager who has just moved from the UK to Australia. It's not a typical teenage crush like you would think, but a...more

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Jul 07, 2010 Leah rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: for-review, books-read-2010

When Lily moved to Australia with her mother aged 16, the last thing she expected was to fall in love with someone, but fall in love she does. It doesn’t help, though, that the man she falls in love with not only has a girlfriend in England, but is also twelve years older than her. When he departs for England to join his girlfriend Lily is heartbroken and finds that, even 10 years later, she still can’t forget him. So when her boyfriend of two years, Richard, proposes, she’s quite literally gobs...more When Lily moved to Australia with her mother aged 16, the last thing she expected was to fall in love with someone, but fall in love she does. It doesn’t help, though, that the man she falls in love with not only has a girlfriend in England, but is also twelve years older than her. When he departs for England to join his girlfriend Lily is heartbroken and finds that, even 10 years later, she still can’t forget him. So when her boyfriend of two years, Richard, proposes, she’s quite literally gobsmacked before eventually accepting despite the fact she can’t forget the man who broke her heart a decade ago. So what’s Lily going to do when her past comes back to haunt her and she realises that she will have to break the heart of one of the men who loves her?

If you haven’t read any of my Paige Toon reviews then you won’t know just how much I love her books. Until now; I love Paige Toon’s books. Lucy In The Sky was fantastic, Johnny Be Good was even better and Chasing Daisy was stunning. I’ve read them all multiple times and I still marvel at how well written they are and how much I love them. I also love going back and connecting the dots because all of Paige’s characters re-appear in her later books and it’s so good figuring out who we’ve already met in previous books. I’ve been waiting for a new Paige Toon book since, you know, July last year when I read Chasing Daisy. Even more so when I heard about Pictures of Lily, I loved the sound of it and was so happy to receive a copy earlier this week. And, because I have no self control, I started it almost immediately.

Pictures of Lily is done a bit differently to Paige’s previous three books. There’s the standard prologue, which is set in the present day, in which Lily’s boyfriend Richard proposes and whilst Lily ponders the question, we head back to 10 years ago when Lily first moves to Australia. Then for the next 175 pages we learn about Lily’s life as a 16-year-old. What it was like to move to Australia and be wrenched away from everything she’s ever known just so her mum could be with a man she met on the Internet, how she ends up accompanying her mum’s boyfriend Michael to the animal sanctuary where he works and ends up loving it and then, falling in love with someone, Ben, who is twelve years her senior, has a girlfriend and is moving to England to be with said fiancee. I thought it was a stunning opening to the book. I was immediately sucked into Lily’s 16-year-old self and I was hooked.

We then move back to the present day which follows immediately from the Prologue where Lily is being proposed to by Richard (at a wedding, no less). After reading all about what happened to Lily when she was younger, it was easy to see why she was so hesitant and it was equally as easy to see why she was still hooked on Ben. I worried that maybe I would just see it as a teenage crush and that Lily should have gotten over it years ago but it wasn’t like that at all. Paige writes the first 175 pages so well that it would be far too mean to just brush off Lily’s love for Ben because it just comes across so real and all consuming. I must admit, I did find the present day part of the book a little bit slow. After the fast pace of the first 175 pages, it all seemed to slow down a little. That’s not a criticism at all, though, and I eagerly awaited the arrival of someone from Lily’s past because for me, it couldn’t come soon enough!

Much like Lucy, Meg and Daisy before her, I absolutely loved Lily. I adored her 16-year-old self and could have read an entire book about her at that age. She doesn’t have an easy time of it at 16 and she handled it well. To then still be pining over Ben after a decade made for sad reading. It was clear that he had really helped her when she first moved to Australia despite the fact it all took place in such a short amount of time. Like Lucy, Meg and Daisy, Lily is warm and funny and just as down to Earth as the others. I have to say I liked Ben from the off. He’s a huge part of Lily’s new life in Australia, as I said, everything that takes place within the first period of the book made complete and total sense to me. Surprisingly I liked Richard, Lily’s boyfriend ‘now’. He was nice, and was good to Lily. But obviously, I always preferred Ben. There are other characters who make appearances but no one regular enough to be honest. Although I did like Michael and Josh, Lily’s mums boyfriend (and the reason for their move to Australia) and his son.

Paige Toon is an incredible writer. Her writing flows so easily and is such a pleasure to read. I knew that once I began reading Pictures of Lily I would have to finish it on the same day and I did. I managed to finish it in about 5 hours, it was that readable. As I said, the thing Paige does best is bringing back her characters from her earlier books and they’re all mentioned here; Lily is friends with Lucy and Nathan, she sees Luis on the telly (“snogging his gorgeous girlfriend”) and she had posters on the wall of Fence (the band Johnny Jefferson was part of until he went solo) as a 16-year-old. Even Richard, Lily’s boyfriend, appeared in an earlier book, causing me to speed over to my bookshelf to check I was right (I was!). It always makes me smile when I hear from previous characters and to know their life is going well. Pictures of Lily is definitely another hit from Paige and I wholly recommend it. It’s just as good as her previous three books and having read Pictures of Lily, it means the countdown is on for her sequel to Johnny Be Good which is going to be her next book!(less)

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Jul 27, 2012 Alex Robinson rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is another amazing book from one of my newly dicovered aurthors.
i really enjoyed reading this book becuase it was just up my street.
again a few tears shed whilst reading this book and it was so interestion.

although i really did enjoy this book, i did enjoy her newest book 'one perfect summer' better, i don't know why, maybe because of the age gap be Ben and Lilly, but i still am very impressed with this book, still worth the all mighty 5 stars!

i think the reason i loved this book even more,...more

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Nov 19, 2012 Cha Cha rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I SO enjoyed this book! I could hardly put it down, and was rooting for true love to win in the end. And, it does :)
It was well written, easy to read, and the author skillfully makes the characters both lovable and believable. It was easily to see the world from their perspective, to feel their love, their pain, their frustration, their joy, etc.

Things I liked:
- The story is about "real" people. No one is famous, fabulously rich, etc. They are just average, every day people falling in love. I...more

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Jul 17, 2012 Michelle Sallay rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: own

This was almost a 5 star all time fave, at least through the first half. I thought this was going to be my dream book since for the first part our heroine is 16 so it was half YA novel and the other half chick-lit. Unfortunately the second half dragged on and on without getting to the good stuff. Then by the time the good stuff happened the book was over. Abrupt endings are my main complaint with Paige Toon books. I wish she would just give us a little bit more of the happy endings after we have...more

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Apr 22, 2013 Catriona rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Another fantastic book by Paige Toon.
Again, I was able to read this in one sitting. I started at 11:30 this morning and finished at 3:30 this afternoon. It was brilliant and I was so pleased that we learnt that Nathan and Lucy from Lucy in the Sky got married and that they were in this book also :)
I'll admitt, I was hoping Lily would end up with Josh at the start but I quickly warmed to the idea of her and Ben, despite the 12 year age gap.
I cannot wait to get my hands on yet another book by th...more

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Oct 06, 2012 Inga rated it 4 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Sep 05, 2010 Gemma rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Loved it, really good book. People say sometime that a book is hard to put down, Ive even said it myself but in this case it was inpossible to put down I started reading it on Friday night (I like to read for an hour or so before going to sleep general that's it so books can last a while) but it now 5:30 on sunday and I have just finished it.

I often find books hard to get into as they can take a couple of chapters to get started but this gets u hooked from page one.

Love the story only fault I co...more

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title link	preview: Immer wieder du
avg rating	preview: Immer wieder du Goodreads rating: 4.00 (1382 ratings)
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