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Love Lives
Two men. Two women. And every emotion you've ever felt... In 1871 Appleforth House was burned to the ground. Now, over a hundred years later, the house is being rebuilt - and so the lives of four very different people converge. Ned, a successful architect, is obsessed with restoring the house to its former glory. Focussed and determined - and bruised by a past relationship - he's not looking for distractions. But then Ellen, a documentary-maker, arrives to make a film about one of the local landmarks, leaving her boyfriend and some tough decisions temporarily behind her. But as pieces of the past start to fall into place, the restoration also brings together Jimmy and Verity, two local teenagers: one falling in love for the first time, the other an incurable romantic, determined to find her fairy-tale hero. And as their hopes and fears come together they all learn some surprising lessons about finding love in the most unlikely places-
416 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2003
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews
April 13, 2020
Inherited and off the book shelves
September 21, 2020
This book just didn't really grab me, to be honest. The characters were good and the plot was exciting but somehow it just didn't draw me in.
February 11, 2017
To be honest, I did not expect that I would like this book. I'm not the biggest fan of these kind of romance-books and at times I can get frustrated with switches between characters but with this one it wasn't so bad!
You follow the story of Ned, Ellen, Jimmy and Verity and how their lives intertwine against the background of a burned down, but currently being restored, cottage and the mystery it brings.
I found the story of Ned and Ellen very predictable and wasn't my taste, but I really liked Jimmy and Verity. The girl pissed me off at times, but overall their story was very sweet. I liked how every character got enough space in the book to be properly introduced so that connecting with them wasn't that hard to do.
You follow the story of Ned, Ellen, Jimmy and Verity and how their lives intertwine against the background of a burned down, but currently being restored, cottage and the mystery it brings.
I found the story of Ned and Ellen very predictable and wasn't my taste, but I really liked Jimmy and Verity. The girl pissed me off at times, but overall their story was very sweet. I liked how every character got enough space in the book to be properly introduced so that connecting with them wasn't that hard to do.
July 19, 2012
This book was a great summer read! I couldn't put it down!
June 22, 2020
This book is a typical teenage love fantasy where your love life gets it right in the end as you wished for. It is rare for me to read this genre. The characters are well-defined and build with each side of the story.
This book was somewhat predictable. The love story in the end involved clashes with the relationships as well as misunderstandings with a lack of trust. She has portrayed with a clarity to understand the meaning of life where each step counts for us which is sooner or later. I liked the twist of a young friendship between Jimmy and Scott, Jimmy unfolds the truth by the act of courteousness with a good nerve. He showcases different phases of teenage life those mixed with confusion, mixed feelings, and experimental time. He is a set example of how the teenage years go under stress to become an "adult". The time of life where each moment is to a life free and enjoy.
A modern teenage story between Jimmy and Verity. Failing to understand each other without giving it proper time and attention while moving to next, leaving the other behind. In his eyes, she is the shine of the star who fails to acknowledge his feelings over time.
We usually perceive the teenage love life in a confusion. Here, Adults are not sure about themselves given their priorities. Some tragedies do leave scars on humans which do not heal for a long period which indirectly reflects the choices and decisions in the current situations.
My favorite character is Ned. The reason why I choose Ned is that i enjoy his character in the story. He is goofy and caring at the same time. Ned seemed to have planned everything for himself and his daughter. He was a lonely man who kept dwelling on certain things in a particular way that would no longer disrupt his decisions and lead himself ahead. It caught my eye suddenly as he was really strong and dominant towards his own life. One fine day, His life felt different suddenly that built confusion and monochromatic behavior. He finds the answers that make him happy as well as his daughter too. His life begins to find something that was missing, that a person would love to have. A partner.
Ellen's character shows us how empowered we women are to archive our goals and be able to stand on her grounds. She challenges working in an unpopular and dense area which was unknown to her. A picture-perfect character-building sketch in the story. A role that leads and guides towards perfection to meet the goals. She is smart and a sweetheart who in the end finds herself a good home.
Josie Lloyd has bought different lives into one story that plays an important role. Each person in this book tells us a different story that helps us to understand clearly.
This book was somewhat predictable. The love story in the end involved clashes with the relationships as well as misunderstandings with a lack of trust. She has portrayed with a clarity to understand the meaning of life where each step counts for us which is sooner or later. I liked the twist of a young friendship between Jimmy and Scott, Jimmy unfolds the truth by the act of courteousness with a good nerve. He showcases different phases of teenage life those mixed with confusion, mixed feelings, and experimental time. He is a set example of how the teenage years go under stress to become an "adult". The time of life where each moment is to a life free and enjoy.
A modern teenage story between Jimmy and Verity. Failing to understand each other without giving it proper time and attention while moving to next, leaving the other behind. In his eyes, she is the shine of the star who fails to acknowledge his feelings over time.
We usually perceive the teenage love life in a confusion. Here, Adults are not sure about themselves given their priorities. Some tragedies do leave scars on humans which do not heal for a long period which indirectly reflects the choices and decisions in the current situations.
My favorite character is Ned. The reason why I choose Ned is that i enjoy his character in the story. He is goofy and caring at the same time. Ned seemed to have planned everything for himself and his daughter. He was a lonely man who kept dwelling on certain things in a particular way that would no longer disrupt his decisions and lead himself ahead. It caught my eye suddenly as he was really strong and dominant towards his own life. One fine day, His life felt different suddenly that built confusion and monochromatic behavior. He finds the answers that make him happy as well as his daughter too. His life begins to find something that was missing, that a person would love to have. A partner.
Ellen's character shows us how empowered we women are to archive our goals and be able to stand on her grounds. She challenges working in an unpopular and dense area which was unknown to her. A picture-perfect character-building sketch in the story. A role that leads and guides towards perfection to meet the goals. She is smart and a sweetheart who in the end finds herself a good home.
Josie Lloyd has bought different lives into one story that plays an important role. Each person in this book tells us a different story that helps us to understand clearly.
January 16, 2015
Men are from Mars, women are from Venus. Or is it the other way around? I can never remember. The point is that we’ve been told so many times of late that men and women can’t ever hope to understand one another because we’re so different.
That’s long seemed the case in literature as well. The images of men presented in chick lit have never seemed quite rounded enough to me. Bridget Jones’ men were either perfect or complete bastards. Or your father. Serena Mackesy’s men were all fantasy men. That’s as in “objects of fantasy”, rather than men from a fantasy novel, although if you want both, Viggo Mortensen’s Aragorn did quite well. But it’s not just one-way traffic. Neither Nick Hornby nor Tony Parsons have shown that they completely understand women, either.
So it was a breath of fresh air when Josie Lloyd and Emlyn Rees, a real life couple, worked together on “Come Together”. The leading male character’s thoughts were written by a man, and the leading lady’s by a woman. It seemed to work pretty well, as far as I could tell; only knowing the one viewpoint. Certainly, everyone seemed to be perfectly rounded, with their differing perspectives and their full participation in events as a whole.
Unfortunately, they then got a little overambitious with their next effort, “Come Again”, which smacked slightly of cashing in and fell some way short of the originality and genius of “Come Together”. “The Boy Next Door”, their third collaboration was a little better, but seemed a little weak compared to “Come Again”. Undeterred, they have tried once more, with “Love Lives” being their fourth effort.
Ellen has moved to Shoresby, somewhere on the South Coast of England, temporarily to film a documentary on one of the local landmarks, Lost Soul’s Point, where a number of suicides have been known to take place over the years, dating back to 1871. In doing so, she is parted from her boyfriend who is off filming in a far more exotic location in South America, and that parting is nothing new. She’s convinced she loves him, until she gets to Shoresby and runs into Ned, who is a builder working on restoring the old house which forms the backdrop to the area’s history that Ellen is keen to film. Their first meetings are not cordial, after Ned’s dog rips Ellen’s fur coat. They’re drawn to each other, but each is trying not to be for reasons of their own; Ellen because of her present, Ned because of his past.
But it’s not just the out of towners that are having trouble in their love lives either. Jimmy, a friend of the last person to commit suicide from Lost Soul’s point only a year before, is madly in love with Verity. Or, at least, he thinks he is. Not having been in love before, he’s not entirely sure if he is this time either. For her part, Verity is desperate to find someone – anyone – to be in love with, seeing as her best friend seems to have found her ideal man. Leaving Jimmy’s feelings unrequited, though, she goes for an older man, Denny.
These four prove to be the main characters and it is their “Love Lives” who we are mostly following throughout the novel. There is a supporting cast, some who get more involved in the story and others who are merely bit part characters. It’s not all about romantic love, however, as running throughout the whole novel, almost as a counterpoint to love is death; that of Jimmy’s friend Ryan, of the family who originally owned the house at Lost Soul’s Point and relatives of both Jimmy and Ned, whose deaths have a huge impact on both their lives in different ways.
The problem I have with this novel is really one I have with most stories of this genre – it’s a little too perfect to feel real. Of course, in a lot of fiction you need to be able to put your disbelief to one side and just enjoy the story. But whilst that’s easy with horror and thriller novels, where the situations are unlikely to occur, so you feel less for the characters as they don’t seem real either, here it isn’t as easy. Rees and Lloyd’s great talent is also their downfall – they create characters that seem so real they could almost be someone you know, or someone you used to be. But in tying up the situations a little too perfectly and a little too neatly, they make the whole thing seem a lot less real.
There is something not quite right about the way some of the characters behave as well. It’s as if, in much the same way that authors are unsure how to write about the opposite sex, that Lloyd and Rees have forgotten how it felt to be a teenager. Or maybe it’s me that’s forgotten. But for a teenager to be in love, rather than in lust, just doesn’t quite ring true for me, even for someone as sensitive as Jimmy seems to be. Verity’s confusion seems a little more real for a teenage girl but it is her boyfriend, Denny, who seems to be the most accurately drawn character. Whilst the adults are better drawn out characters, it is the minor characters whose actions in “love” seem more natural, rather than the major characters.
On the good side, Lloyd and Rees’ collaborations have come on a long way since their original novel. This is the first time they’ve written the whole thing as a novel, rather than splitting the different characters view into separate chapters or sections. It means the whole novel flows a little better and you get the story in a more chronological order, rather than having the same events described twice, just from different points of view. It has also allowed for more scene setting with outside characters being described more as real people, rather than just being “my friend” and/or “his/her friend”. The whole town is nicely described and whilst you don’t really get much of a map in your head, you can almost build a picture of the features – in my head it looks like a town I visited on the North Cornwall coast a couple of years ago, but everyone will have their own visualisation.
It’s a decent story, all told. The situation that brings all the characters together doesn’t seem too implausible and their reactions to things seem fairly real for most of the time. It’s only when the characters are becoming emotionally tangled that things start seeming a little too perfect and maybe a little too saccharine for real life. In their earlier novels, there was a touch of reality to the relationships in that not everything went perfectly, and that seems to be missing here. Maybe I’m just an old cynic and I’ve forgotten how it feels to be young and in love, but I just can’t quite believe in the whole thing. I can enjoy this kind of novel most of the time, but there’s something that just doesn’t sit right here, which takes the edge off this time around.
If you’re a fan of the “chick-lit” style genre in particular, this isn’t a bad example of the work by any means. Maybe a little sappy, and definitely a little predictable and unrealistic, but that’s fairly standard really. If you’re already a fan of Rees and Lloyd in particular, this is a good buy to see how their work together is evolving. If you’re new to their work, “Come Again” might be a better place to start as it’s the better story, although “Love Lives” is easier to read.
This review may also appear under my name at any or all of www.ciao.co.uk, www.thebookbag.co.uk, www.goodreads.com, www.amazon.co.uk and www.dooyoo.co.uk
That’s long seemed the case in literature as well. The images of men presented in chick lit have never seemed quite rounded enough to me. Bridget Jones’ men were either perfect or complete bastards. Or your father. Serena Mackesy’s men were all fantasy men. That’s as in “objects of fantasy”, rather than men from a fantasy novel, although if you want both, Viggo Mortensen’s Aragorn did quite well. But it’s not just one-way traffic. Neither Nick Hornby nor Tony Parsons have shown that they completely understand women, either.
So it was a breath of fresh air when Josie Lloyd and Emlyn Rees, a real life couple, worked together on “Come Together”. The leading male character’s thoughts were written by a man, and the leading lady’s by a woman. It seemed to work pretty well, as far as I could tell; only knowing the one viewpoint. Certainly, everyone seemed to be perfectly rounded, with their differing perspectives and their full participation in events as a whole.
Unfortunately, they then got a little overambitious with their next effort, “Come Again”, which smacked slightly of cashing in and fell some way short of the originality and genius of “Come Together”. “The Boy Next Door”, their third collaboration was a little better, but seemed a little weak compared to “Come Again”. Undeterred, they have tried once more, with “Love Lives” being their fourth effort.
Ellen has moved to Shoresby, somewhere on the South Coast of England, temporarily to film a documentary on one of the local landmarks, Lost Soul’s Point, where a number of suicides have been known to take place over the years, dating back to 1871. In doing so, she is parted from her boyfriend who is off filming in a far more exotic location in South America, and that parting is nothing new. She’s convinced she loves him, until she gets to Shoresby and runs into Ned, who is a builder working on restoring the old house which forms the backdrop to the area’s history that Ellen is keen to film. Their first meetings are not cordial, after Ned’s dog rips Ellen’s fur coat. They’re drawn to each other, but each is trying not to be for reasons of their own; Ellen because of her present, Ned because of his past.
But it’s not just the out of towners that are having trouble in their love lives either. Jimmy, a friend of the last person to commit suicide from Lost Soul’s point only a year before, is madly in love with Verity. Or, at least, he thinks he is. Not having been in love before, he’s not entirely sure if he is this time either. For her part, Verity is desperate to find someone – anyone – to be in love with, seeing as her best friend seems to have found her ideal man. Leaving Jimmy’s feelings unrequited, though, she goes for an older man, Denny.
These four prove to be the main characters and it is their “Love Lives” who we are mostly following throughout the novel. There is a supporting cast, some who get more involved in the story and others who are merely bit part characters. It’s not all about romantic love, however, as running throughout the whole novel, almost as a counterpoint to love is death; that of Jimmy’s friend Ryan, of the family who originally owned the house at Lost Soul’s Point and relatives of both Jimmy and Ned, whose deaths have a huge impact on both their lives in different ways.
The problem I have with this novel is really one I have with most stories of this genre – it’s a little too perfect to feel real. Of course, in a lot of fiction you need to be able to put your disbelief to one side and just enjoy the story. But whilst that’s easy with horror and thriller novels, where the situations are unlikely to occur, so you feel less for the characters as they don’t seem real either, here it isn’t as easy. Rees and Lloyd’s great talent is also their downfall – they create characters that seem so real they could almost be someone you know, or someone you used to be. But in tying up the situations a little too perfectly and a little too neatly, they make the whole thing seem a lot less real.
There is something not quite right about the way some of the characters behave as well. It’s as if, in much the same way that authors are unsure how to write about the opposite sex, that Lloyd and Rees have forgotten how it felt to be a teenager. Or maybe it’s me that’s forgotten. But for a teenager to be in love, rather than in lust, just doesn’t quite ring true for me, even for someone as sensitive as Jimmy seems to be. Verity’s confusion seems a little more real for a teenage girl but it is her boyfriend, Denny, who seems to be the most accurately drawn character. Whilst the adults are better drawn out characters, it is the minor characters whose actions in “love” seem more natural, rather than the major characters.
On the good side, Lloyd and Rees’ collaborations have come on a long way since their original novel. This is the first time they’ve written the whole thing as a novel, rather than splitting the different characters view into separate chapters or sections. It means the whole novel flows a little better and you get the story in a more chronological order, rather than having the same events described twice, just from different points of view. It has also allowed for more scene setting with outside characters being described more as real people, rather than just being “my friend” and/or “his/her friend”. The whole town is nicely described and whilst you don’t really get much of a map in your head, you can almost build a picture of the features – in my head it looks like a town I visited on the North Cornwall coast a couple of years ago, but everyone will have their own visualisation.
It’s a decent story, all told. The situation that brings all the characters together doesn’t seem too implausible and their reactions to things seem fairly real for most of the time. It’s only when the characters are becoming emotionally tangled that things start seeming a little too perfect and maybe a little too saccharine for real life. In their earlier novels, there was a touch of reality to the relationships in that not everything went perfectly, and that seems to be missing here. Maybe I’m just an old cynic and I’ve forgotten how it feels to be young and in love, but I just can’t quite believe in the whole thing. I can enjoy this kind of novel most of the time, but there’s something that just doesn’t sit right here, which takes the edge off this time around.
If you’re a fan of the “chick-lit” style genre in particular, this isn’t a bad example of the work by any means. Maybe a little sappy, and definitely a little predictable and unrealistic, but that’s fairly standard really. If you’re already a fan of Rees and Lloyd in particular, this is a good buy to see how their work together is evolving. If you’re new to their work, “Come Again” might be a better place to start as it’s the better story, although “Love Lives” is easier to read.
This review may also appear under my name at any or all of www.ciao.co.uk, www.thebookbag.co.uk, www.goodreads.com, www.amazon.co.uk and www.dooyoo.co.uk
April 16, 2020
Oh, this started off so well!
This isn't really my genre, but the blurb on the back made me think the restoration of the old house and the suicides might have given it an extra twist. But neither factored hugely in the book, other than to give a couple of twists at the end.
However, I did enjoy the start of the book - the four characters and their problematic lives are set up nicely and, while some of teh supporting cast are more than a little stereotypical and one-dimensional, our four mains read ok.
But about halfway through it was almost as if the authors had realised they were running out of time ... Ned's feelings for Ellen seem to come out of nowhere, and I did have to go back a few pages to make sure I hadn't skipped a chapter or two! It was sort of OK, in that you know everyone is going to live happily ever after, but I wasn't completely convinced by their story.
The 'twists' at the end also made me roll my eyes. Without giving much away, Jimmy's secret just made me uncomfortable. It seems that the police in this place aren't that good if they couldn't work out what actually happened, and the authors seem to imply that this outcome was better than what they thought had happened. And Jimmy seems to completely revert to a 'normal', happy boy after his confession, when in reality he'd have a lot more to deal with afterwards.
And the whole Caroline thing ... it would have been of more interest if the hole house restoration had actually been a feature of the story, but as it happens, it was a bit of a 'Meh' moment.
So, overall, vaguely entertaining by leaving brain disengaged, but not a genre or author I would rush out to read again.
This isn't really my genre, but the blurb on the back made me think the restoration of the old house and the suicides might have given it an extra twist. But neither factored hugely in the book, other than to give a couple of twists at the end.
However, I did enjoy the start of the book - the four characters and their problematic lives are set up nicely and, while some of teh supporting cast are more than a little stereotypical and one-dimensional, our four mains read ok.
But about halfway through it was almost as if the authors had realised they were running out of time ... Ned's feelings for Ellen seem to come out of nowhere, and I did have to go back a few pages to make sure I hadn't skipped a chapter or two! It was sort of OK, in that you know everyone is going to live happily ever after, but I wasn't completely convinced by their story.
The 'twists' at the end also made me roll my eyes. Without giving much away, Jimmy's secret just made me uncomfortable. It seems that the police in this place aren't that good if they couldn't work out what actually happened, and the authors seem to imply that this outcome was better than what they thought had happened. And Jimmy seems to completely revert to a 'normal', happy boy after his confession, when in reality he'd have a lot more to deal with afterwards.
And the whole Caroline thing ... it would have been of more interest if the hole house restoration had actually been a feature of the story, but as it happens, it was a bit of a 'Meh' moment.
So, overall, vaguely entertaining by leaving brain disengaged, but not a genre or author I would rush out to read again.
March 2, 2022
2 mannen met een verleden proberen hun geschiedenis te verwerken en worden daarin bijgestaan door hun liefde voor 2 vrouwen, die zelf hun plaats in de wereld zoeken. Het einde is vrij voorspelbaar en het verhaal soms nogal traag geschreven. Ook komt *spoiler* de relatie tussen Jimmy en Verity een beetje uit de lucht gevallen. Maar als je niet naar die kleine details kijkt is dit gewoon een enorm mooi en meeslepend boek. De personages zijn enorm goed opgebouwd en je wilt gewoon dat het goed komt met elk van hen. Maar vooral Ned en Ryan steken er boven uit, ook al weet je dat het met Ryan slecht is afloopt. En dit alles word vertelt langs de perspectieven van deze 4 mensen. Wil het zo graag een 5* geven. Maar kan het vanwege de kleine foutjes toch niet doen.
June 6, 2019
This isn’t normally the genre of book I go for but as I’m currently trying to make my way through my bookcase full of books to make space for new ones (I believe I got it free with a Cosmo mag years ago) I thought I’d give it a go and was pleasantly surprised.
It took me a little while to get into it but the further I got through it the more I couldn’t put it down. I went through so many emotions with the characters from feeling empathy for some of them to getting annoyed with them and wanting to shake them and telling them to open their eyes and see what’s in front of them.
A great read.
It took me a little while to get into it but the further I got through it the more I couldn’t put it down. I went through so many emotions with the characters from feeling empathy for some of them to getting annoyed with them and wanting to shake them and telling them to open their eyes and see what’s in front of them.
A great read.
January 13, 2026
A group of very different characters are united in their involvement in a story from the past. Together, they come to learn about themselves and one another.
Shoresby is a fairly typical seaside town. There’s not much there, but the story from the past impacts the present lives of those there.
Quite a large group of characters and, inevitably, some are more interesting than others. At its heart it’s a love story, exploring how we can sometimes be our own worst enemy.
Nothing particularly off-putting about this, but it won’t be one I’ll necessarily remember in years to come.
Shoresby is a fairly typical seaside town. There’s not much there, but the story from the past impacts the present lives of those there.
Quite a large group of characters and, inevitably, some are more interesting than others. At its heart it’s a love story, exploring how we can sometimes be our own worst enemy.
Nothing particularly off-putting about this, but it won’t be one I’ll necessarily remember in years to come.
April 13, 2023
I really enjoyed this book much more than I thought I would. Talk about not judging a book by it's cover! It was really well written and felt like a story that could happen in real life as all the characters were three dimensional and I am glad it had a happy ending even though I kind of knew it would!
September 22, 2024
Ik vond het een heerlijk romantisch boek en snap zeker weer waarom dit in mijn twintiger jaren een van mijn favorieten was.
Het leest makkelijk, er zitten verschillende boeiende verhaallijnen in die weer met elkaar verweven zijn. Verteld vanuit verschillende perspectieven. Een echte feelgood ya-roman.
Het leest makkelijk, er zitten verschillende boeiende verhaallijnen in die weer met elkaar verweven zijn. Verteld vanuit verschillende perspectieven. Een echte feelgood ya-roman.
April 10, 2023
I don't know if this book worked having two authors? It felt somehow disjointed. The first chapter was the least captivating chapter I've read in a while, and I considered not reading more. But once I settled into the writing style, I quite enjoyed the storyline. Very hygge.
February 24, 2019
Took a bit to start, was quite predictable but I enjoyed the story line 🤗 and was a nice read. 📖
July 6, 2023
Loveeeed this book
July 4, 2024
De hoofdpersonen wisten mij niet heel erg te boeien.
March 9, 2025
Eerder een tussendoortje, leest vlot maar blijft niet plakken
April 7, 2008
La vie, l’amour est le quatrième roman du couple Josie Lloyd et Emlyn Rees, unit dans la vie et dans l’écriture. Typique de la littérature, dite féminine, ce roman écrit à quatre mains raconte la vie et les amours de Jimmy et Vérity, deux adolescents à l’aube de leur vie adulte. Le péril, l’aventure de l’amour non déclaré, le “thrill” de l’amour que l’on pense “parfait”. Jimmy aime Vérity de loin, décide finalement de faire le premier pas, jour même où Denny, plus âgé, déjà un succès dans cette petite ville balnéaire fait aussi le premier pas dans sa “conquête” de Vérity.
Les amours adolescents ont leur miroir avec Ned et Ellen. Ellen, venue tourner un documentaire sur Lost Point, un des attraits touristiques de Shoresby avec sa légende de jeune fille désespérée s’étant lancée de la falaise au XIXe siècle et depuis les suicides et “accidents” se succèdent. Ned, architecte, rénove la demeure historique de Lost Point. Chacun des personnages possède ses rêves, ses blessures et deviendront peu à peu, après la “classique” rencontre où les étincelles sont visibles amoureux.
La vie, l’amour essaie de plaire à trop de public à la fois. Les intrigues secondaires sont intéressantes et tous les fils sont reliés pour la conclusion du roman. Mais on sent à la lecture qu’il manque quelque chose. Un gouvernail, une direction. Un des périls d’écrire à quatre mains.
Gentil, lisible mais pas un coup de coeur.
Les amours adolescents ont leur miroir avec Ned et Ellen. Ellen, venue tourner un documentaire sur Lost Point, un des attraits touristiques de Shoresby avec sa légende de jeune fille désespérée s’étant lancée de la falaise au XIXe siècle et depuis les suicides et “accidents” se succèdent. Ned, architecte, rénove la demeure historique de Lost Point. Chacun des personnages possède ses rêves, ses blessures et deviendront peu à peu, après la “classique” rencontre où les étincelles sont visibles amoureux.
La vie, l’amour essaie de plaire à trop de public à la fois. Les intrigues secondaires sont intéressantes et tous les fils sont reliés pour la conclusion du roman. Mais on sent à la lecture qu’il manque quelque chose. Un gouvernail, une direction. Un des périls d’écrire à quatre mains.
Gentil, lisible mais pas un coup de coeur.
December 3, 2014
This book was quite enjoyable and was really quick and easy but I had a lot of issues with it. The plot line had a lot of gaps and there was a lot of build up for a very anticlimactic end. The conclusion felt rushed and not put together all that well. I've only ever read two other books written by multiple people and Lloyd and Rees wrote perfectly together, the switch between each character was normal and not forced. The biggest annoyance with this book was the fact that they constantly referred to Scott as "the Australian".
January 2, 2016
i think it was good; hehe..funny when it occur to be going between Ellen and Ned; Real pain reading teenage longing for Danny and knowing there are such teenage girls everyday, like boys as Danny and there are situation games when as in story Verity and Danny.. Oh i really love the moment in the book after Jimmy gave Verity the CD, cos the way Verity's character response was absolutely clear for her he was "empty space"..hahaha..
June 15, 2012
I think this was one of my favourite books as a teenager. I read my tattered copy several times before I finally gave it away when it lost its appeal when I got older. I remember getting rather annoyed at the actions of the teenage girl, but there must have been something that made me keep coming back to this book. It spoke to my fourteen-year-old self, even if I can't recall what it had to say.
January 20, 2012
I'm an unashamed fan of the work of these authors, but I'm afraid that this one ran perilously close to Mills&Boon level schmaltz. Not their best work. Enjoyable enough, but the plot was as transparent as a thin sheet of plastic wrap and there were a couple of "because it's in the script" moments. 2/5
February 9, 2009
Not my favorite by Lloyd/Rees but still a good, entertaining read. The story seemed to move a bit slowly and it took some time before I connected with the characters. A satisfying ending, though, and a good read overall.
July 2, 2011
Ellen and Scott are doing a documentary on Lost Soul’s Point, part of a seaside cliff notorious for the number of suicides that have occurred there.
This book was quite good- there were no questions that were unanswered at the end of the book. There were quite a lot of twists in the story.
This book was quite good- there were no questions that were unanswered at the end of the book. There were quite a lot of twists in the story.
January 15, 2014
It took me a while to "enter" the book. I was finding it a bit boring, a lot of separate stories, and my head didn't want to make such a big effort :)
But then the story grabbed me, as usual the caracters were very real and I started caring for them.
Definitly an enjoyable read.
But then the story grabbed me, as usual the caracters were very real and I started caring for them.
Definitly an enjoyable read.
November 26, 2007
Don't remember much of this book, I think it was decent, because I don't have an immediate repulsion when I glance at the cover.
June 21, 2008
Pretty predictable. An ok summer read if you don't want to have to think while reading.
October 9, 2009
OK but not very excitin, too predictable who ends up getting together...
August 30, 2010
Not the best book by these two authors but it gets the job done when you just need an easy read.
March 23, 2012
I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/10529333
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/10529333
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