Live the Dream

by Josephine Cox

Plain, down-to-earth Amy Maitland can't help but notice the sad and handsome stranger who spends every Tuesday at the local café,— an artist who puts his heart and turbulent emotions on canvas in vivid, powerful paintings. No stranger herself to the pain of loss and betrayal, she is drawn to this haunted man, his kindness, and his mystery.

But Luke Hammond is more than he seems. A wealthy factory owner in financially depressed Blackburn, he seeks a haven from his guilt and tragic past — an escape he seems to find in Amy's warm smile and gentle spirit. Yet Amy Maitland is not of his world, and there is no place for her in Luke's shattered life — unless they can both open their wounded hearts to a promise each believed long dead ... and find the courage to embrace the most glorious dream of all.

Genres: Romance, Fiction

515 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Josephine Cox was born in Blackburn, one of ten children. At the age of sixteen, Josephine met and married her husband Ken, and had two sons. When the boys started school, she decided to go to college and eventually gained a place at university but was unable to take this up as it would have meant living away from home. Instead, she went into teaching – and started to write her first full-length novel. She won the ‘Superwoman of Great Britain’ Award, for which her family had secretly entered her, at the same time as her novel was accepted for publication. She is now a No.1 bestselling author with over 40 books to her name.

She wrote dark psychological thrillers under the name Jane Brindle.

Reviews

[Michelle · Rating 2 out of 5]

I couldn't get into this at all; I just couldn't get into the story line or relate to the characters.

Two stars.

[Sue Gerhardt Griffiths · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

A very easy read sometimes that is just what’s needed.

*Book #40/72 of my 2019 coffee table to-read pile challenge, cont. 2020

[Roxie Gallinger · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not one of Josephine's better ones:(

[Carolyn Hupfield · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable read. May not be everyone's choice though.

[Jordan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Took a while to get into by chapter 3 I was hooked. But the ending I'm confused by. What happend too luke?

[Dana Burda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Autoarea acestui roman, Josephine Cox are o biografie extremd e impresionantă. A șasea dintr-o familie cu zece copiii, trăiește copilăria și parte din adolescență în maximă sărăcie și nesiguranță. cunoaște perfect lumea muncitorilor și a soțiilor lor care trebuie să facă cu greu față unor familii numeroase, unor salarii insuficiente și mai ales bețiilor soților lor, beții însoțite nu odată de violență de tot felul. Aceasta este și lumea descrisă în romanul tradus la noi cu titlul " Un nou început"apărut la editura Orizonturi în 2004. Cartea are o impresionantă dedicație pentru mama sa, Mary Jane, care i-a fost nu numai o mamaă minunată ci și o prietenă perfectă. Acțiunea romanului se desfășoară în anul 1932 - 1933 când și Anglia ca toată lumea de altfel trăiește încă sub semnu marii crize economice. Lumea micului orășel se învârte în jurul încă înfloritoarei fabrici de perii, mături și depozite ale lui Luke Hammond. Dar Luke hammond trăiește o tragedie personală Bpgăția, talentul, hărnicia nu=l scutesc de suferință. Spția sa Silvya suferea de o gravă afecțiune psihică urmare a unei bătăi crunte primite de la amantul ei de ocazie. Așa că Luke trebuie să facă față crizelor de nebunie a unei soții care îl înșelase dar și avansurilor fățișe pe care sora Silvyei i le face permanent. Nu are decât o zi pe săptmână pentru a se deconecta, ziua d emarți când îmbrăcat ca un muncitor se retrage la cabana pe care și-o construise singur în mijlocul pădurii unde se împrietenește cu un pui de căprioară și visează la drăguța, blânda, vesela Amy cea cu ochi atât de albaștri pe care o și pictează din memorie. Amy este fiica lui Mary și a lui Dave Atkinson și lucrează în magazinul mamei sale în timp ce tatăl este șofer pentru frima lui Luke Hammond. Amy trăiește propria sa dramă pentru că fusese părăsită chiar în ziua nunții de Don Carson fără prea multe explicații. Amy știe însă sî-și ascundă suferința și teama arătând tutror și mai ales prietenii sale Daisy ce provine dintr-o familie complet dezorganizată numai căldură și prietenie sinceră.. De acest mod de comportament se simte atras Luke Hammomd care în cele din urmă ajunge să o cunoască pe Amy fata visurilor lui. Momentul critic al romanului este acela în care Amy are de ales între muncitorul, seriosul și simplul Jack și impresionantul Luke. Ce va decide ca și încercărilecărora trebuie să le facă toți față pentru a se regăsi pe ei înșiși și pentru a se elibera de proprii demoni este partea finală a romanului și cea mai plina de suspans. În ciuda traducerii care lasă de dorit cartea este atractiva si interesantă. Nu este propriu zis un roman de dragoste clasic, ci o poveste care se spune pe două voci, una vorbind engleza educată și alta engleza clasei muncitoare. Două lumi care după părerea autoarei nu se pot contopi pentru binele tuturor.

[Daisy Watkins · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't like the author's style of writing which is sentimental so I hard a hard time finishing the book.A lot of it is repetition. Plot is insipid and dialogue dull.

[Sian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Amy Maitland has had her heart broken before when her fiancee cancels their engagement and although heartbroken she gets on with her life, working in her parents shop and spending time with her friend Daisy.

Until she meets Luke Hammond a wealthy businessman who visits the village once a week to get away from his ever growing problems but Luke is not the only one trying to win Amy's heart.

Who will she choose? Will she let herself be open to the potential of heartbreak again?

Again, not my usual type of book, but I actually enjoyed this one, seeing how all the people's relationships intertwined, Amy and her friend Daisy are brought to life well and you can tell they both have a good heart. I was slightly disappointed how the book ended it seemed quite sudden and not all the characters stories were wrapped up. But enjoyable.

[Susan Burns · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book where it follows the story of Luke Hammond, who has to care for his mentally unstable wife, and Amy who works in her parent's shop. I enjoyed the wondering of who Amy would end up with and who she'd choose further on in the book but the ending left me wanting to know more about how some of the central characters ended up.

[Laureen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Typical Josephine Cox.

[April · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book teaches a very important lesson. There are plot lines that were stretched out and some parts were hastened up. But it was a good read, after all.

[Alvina Dossani · Rating 3 out of 5]

With all the character connections the end was a bit wierd.. it was a good read though . Simple book with simple characters.

[Lynn Hutchinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Typical book by this author, interesting characters who kept your attention.

[Nicola Rowland · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was slow going.

[Solay · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book a long time ago, so I can't give an in-depth review at this point. But I do remember really loving it when I read it. Personally, I thought the ending was perfect.

[Maria · Rating 3 out of 5]

Em “Viver o Sonho” Josephine Cox brinca-nos com duas personagens singulares e divertidíssimas. Por um lado temos Amy, uma rapariga bem formada, com uma família estável e exemplar, por outro temos Daisy, uma rapariga incrível, mas que vive com uns pais que não param de discutir, e que lhe causam bastante desgosto.
E é numa pacata localidade dos anos 30 que se desenrola “Viver o Sonho”. Um sonho compartilhado por estas jovens amigas de encontrar um homem certo, que lhes dê estabilidade e as faça feliz.
Amy tem uma relação estranha com os homens já que foi abandonada pelo ex-namorado pouco antes de casar e Daisy desespera para sair de casa. No café onde Daisy trabalha aparece, todas as terças-feiras, um homem misterioso que as põe curiosas e é motivo das suas conversas. Quem será ele? Não fala com ninguém e quando sai deixa o dinheiro da despesa na mesa para não estabelecer qualquer contacto.
No seu íntimo, Amy sonha com ele e, sem que o saiba, é também correspondida, mas essa relação está condenada ao fracasso.
O homem misterioso é Luke Hammond, um industrial rico, patrão do pai de Amy, casado com uma mulher completamente louca. As terças-feiras para Luke são o seu refúgio, servem para descansar e pensar em Amy.
Um estranho amor impossível, com um inesperado fim por parte da protagonista, que me agradou bastante, uma vez que foge ao estereótipo “e foram felizes para sempre”.

[Ann · Rating 2 out of 5]

A friend lent me a lot of books, I really don't know how I will tell her how dreadful I found them! How do these authors get published? The plot in this book was very muddled, it also had a strange ending, nothing wrong with that but it was rather abrupt. I was disappointed in the depiction of the character who was brain injured, I think more research about the condition would have been in order, it seemed to me to be reinforcing misconceptions of mental illness. There were other anomalies in the story, was the Forest of Bowland only 30mins away from Blackburn in the 1930s, the roads weren't like they are nowadays. I would have thought it would take rather longer than in the story. The description of the convent was unusual to say the least, I don't think the nuns would have had stained glass windows along the corridors! Possibly in their chapel, but not along the corridors. Neither would they have had 'ceilings dripping with beautiful works by ancient artists' also along the corridors - not a lot of research done. I have actually been in a convent in Blackburn - about fifty years ago.

[Bronwyn Rykiert · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book most of the way but I was disappointed with the ending and it seemed a bit rushed to me. The story on the back cover misled me to expect a different story.

Amy Atkinson and her friend Daisy called him the Tuesday Man – this was Luke Hammond, the wealthy owner of a local factory. Luke took every Tuesday off to go and spend some time at his cabin in the woods. He would go to Mrs Toomey’s for lunch and that is where he met Amy. For weeks Daisy and Amy would talk about him, they never knew who he was. Luke was attracted to Amy but he was married to a wife who was mentally ill due to a bashing she had received.

The story entwines the lives of Amy, Luke, Daisy and Jack and Roy who would become partners to Amy and Daisy. It had some tragedy – I think that storyline was a little weak too.

[Hayley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Live the Dream is about two people learning to trust again when it comes to matters of the heart.

I read this book after losing my reading mojo. I wanted something easy to read and something light and that is what I got. I found he characters quite unbelievable; especially Amy who was perfect to the point of annoyance.

The book plodded along at a fair pace until the last couple of chapters when it speeded towards a conclusion.

I don't think I will read anymore by this author but the book did serve me for what I wanted it for.

[Sue · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little disappointed with this, normally I love Josephine Cox books and find them hard to put down. It took a while to get into then as it started to get interesting it slowed down again. It seem d there was a lot of 'padding' some of the detail seemed unnecessary. It held my interest enough to keep going to the end, with the ending being so so. I haven't been put off reading Ms Cox as I have known so much better but if it had been my first I am not sure I would be in a rush for a second. Although maybe for the good parts. Maybe I have just read too much of her of late and need a break.

[Debra K · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another one of Josephine Cox books that I really enjoyed! I like the way that with each of the books I have read of hers so far the stories have the same feel to them, the way the characters go through something painful in the past and now they have to come to terms with that and move forward.

A great story and I have a feeling I might have to be reading a lot more of her books in the future....

[Tomi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely.... I love books like this... You cannot always get what you want.. coveting what cannot be yours or should not be yours.
Luke Hammond... lovely man... living as a shadow of himself.... it is a pity but life serves us dishes however it pleases and this was a very realistic painting.
Jospehine Cox... you did it for me. Thank you.

[Ria · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good book with some twist and turns. I like how cox can make me wonder about the way I handle my relationships. I liked the setting and perhaps how the story ended. I admired the character of Jack, even the friendship between him and Roy. (Watch out for them. :)) But there's one man in the story who deserves happiness too. In the end, it's like I could only wish him well.

[Debbie Southwell · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was slightly disappointed by this book as I usually find I cannot put down Josephine Cox's books but this one took me a while to read. This book is ultimately about betrayal and moving on but the end was disappointing and felt like it had run out of steam. I didn't particularly warm to the characters either. Still a reasonable read but not as enjoyable as others by the same author.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I felt that it was slow in getting to the jest of the story, so eventually got bored with it and just read the last two chapters to see what happened eventually. Would not recommend the book for anyone to read.

[Tracy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Didn't finish it. Disliked the way it was written "very English poor class slang" which was annoying and more so because it was an audio book. Got half way through and still nothing was happening. Boring

[Reemanii · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wasn't sure if I was going to pursue reading it but something kept attracting me... And I won't deny I enjoyed reading most of it though I was expecting something different at the end... But we can't get everything we want

[Juliana Es · Rating 3 out of 5]

An OK novel. Non-cliche ending. Worth reading if it's intended as a brain candy.

[Lissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a good novel. Good story. Has a very good message in it.

[Brenda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I felt the ending was a bit of a damp squib, I was disappointed