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It Started with a Kiss

Lisa Heidke

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Dec 08, 2014 Shelleyrae at Book'd Out rated it really liked it

Shelves: aussie-author, provided-by-publisher, arc-are

Friday Jones is stunned when her husband of twenty years announces he needs a break and moves out of the family home. Though Friday readily admits their marriage has been strained for a while, exacerbated by the recent deaths of Liam's parents and the family dog, Friday never imagined Liam would simply walk away. Heartbroken, Friday struggles through each day while caring for their teenage daughters and continuing to work part time as a naturopath. Liam has been gone for four months when Friday'
Friday Jones is stunned when her husband of twenty years announces he needs a break and moves out of the family home. Though Friday readily admits their marriage has been strained for a while, exacerbated by the recent deaths of Liam's parents and the family dog, Friday never imagined Liam would simply walk away. Heartbroken, Friday struggles through each day while caring for their teenage daughters and continuing to work part time as a naturopath. Liam has been gone for four months when Friday's boss insists she takes a week R&R at a health spa, where Friday meets a charismatic married man and falls into a wildly passionate but sort lived affair. While Liam pursues his dream to become a stand-up comedian, and tries to keep up with his brother's bachelor lifestyle, Friday's best friend, Rosie, encourages her to spread her wings, setting her up with a much younger man and signing her up to KissmeCupid.com, while persuading her to help out with Rosie's latest business venture hosting divorce parties. Friday is just beginning to pull her self together when everything starts to spiral out of control, her ex lovers won't take no for an answer, the anonymous gifts on her doorstep suggest someone is stalking her, her daughter ends up in hospital, and then Liam wants to come home...

It Started With a Kiss, Lisa Heidke's fifth novel, unfolds from the first person perspective of Friday and the third person narrative of Liam, exploring the themes of personal happiness, marriage breakdown, domestic drama and modern relationships. The story is told with plenty of humor and wit but doesn't dismiss the seriousness of heartbreak and loss. I especially liked the realistic ending, which isn't as neat as you might expect.

Heidke's characterisation is always strong, Friday is an emotional mess but that is hardly a surprise given the situation, I imagine I would be too if my husband walked out. I thought Friday was a little too self obsessed at times, even a bit flaky, as evidenced by her failure to do anything about growing her business, but I could understand that Blake's flattery would be irresistible given the recent blows to her self esteem.
Friday and Liam's daughters are well portrayed, fifteen year old Olivia is a maelstrom of teenage contempt and self absorption, thirteen year old Evie is sweet and desperate for her parents to reunite.
I wasn't really expecting to be privy to Liam's side of things and I didn't really want to sympathise with him but I did, a little, though I never really liked him much. His behaviour is pretty selfish, especially as he expects Friday to wait in limbo while he indulges in his mid life crisis.

I enjoyed It Started with a Kiss, it's a quick, engaging read about love and relationships told in a way that is both entertaining and thought provoking. I'm still a fan :) ...more

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Oct 26, 2015 Ken rated it really liked it

I enjoyed my first foray into this genre. Ms Heidke writes about lives in the northern beaches area of Sydney, contemporary, complicated, at times amusing and at times sad.

1 like · Like · see review

Dec 09, 2014 Cathy rated it it was amazing

Nov 10, 2022 Aisyah Roslan marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Shelves: 01, books-released-in-2022

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