The Beautiful Little Things: one family's journey through loss and grief

The Beautiful Little Things by Melissa Hill is a story of sisters, torn by grief, finding a way to rediscover joy. The family home in the foothills of the Dublin Mountains has always a welcome escape. Romy Moore cherishes the warm embrace her family gives as she starts her career at the bottom of the London publishing ladder. Her mother, Cathy, has always been her biggest supporter as she chased her dreams. When her mother dies after a sudden illness, Romy feels adrift. Joanna has always been ambitious, coolheaded with her act together. But after the birth of her twin daughters and the death of her mother, she finds herself questioning what she wants anymore. When Romy discovers her mother’s journals, she realizes that her mother left behind precious words of wisdom to spark life back into the family and face a future without her. 

The Beautiful Little Things is a story of grief and finding a way to move forward. The synopsis spoke to me as a moving story and I was eager to read it. Unfortunately, the story dragged on. It switched first person narrators between Romy and Joanna with very little indication of the switch. It was confusing and often headache inducing. Other than stating Dublin Mountains, which I had to google where they are located, there was no indication where this story took place in Ireland. A story of grief can happen anywhere; however, this story didn’t feel like Ireland. Overall, the story fell flat for me and it wasn’t the story I thought it was going to be. I was bored half the time. The parts I did enjoy were the mother’s journal entries. However, if you are intrigued by the story, I recommend checking out The Beautiful Little Things. 

The Beautiful Little Things is available in paperback, eBook, and audiobook

Please Forgive Me: a chick lit style romance story

Please Forgive Me by Melissa Hill is the story of Leonie Hayes, a woman running from her life in Dublin, Ireland. She arrives in San Francisco, California looking for a fresh start. She begins by finding a new apartment which looks out over the Golden Gate Bridge and finds a job at a local florist shop. While settling into her new apartment, she discovers a box of old, unopened letters. They are addressed to a Helena Abbott at that address. When a letter arrives on Valentine’s Day, Leonie unwittingly opens it and reads the heartfelt message from a Nathan to Helena, It ends with “Please forgive me.” Leonie then meets her neighbor, Alex Fletcher, who has trouble of her own, as she has been searching for her estranged husband in order to serve him divorce papers. As the two become intrigued by the mystery of the letters, they set out on a mission to find Helena and Nathan. Will they be able to find Helena and Nathan? What is Leonie running from? Will Alex be able to settle the situation with her ex-husband?

I was intrigued by the premise of Please Forgive Me. It reminded me of Nicholas Sparks’ The Notebook. Unfortunately, it did not live up to the comparison. As I read through the story, I realized that I didn’t care for any of the characters or wished to see them work through their problems. The ending was happy and not what I was expecting. Plus, the whole situation with the divorce doesn’t ring true with actual California law. According to my research, Alex could have received a divorce decree without her husband’s response if she could prove she did everything she could to find him which she does for a year. It shows a lack of research on the author’s part or that she ignored it in order to have the ending she wanted to play out. The mystery of the letters was a letdown too. By the time Leonie and Alex discover the truth behind the letters and why Nathan was seeking Helena’s forgiveness was anticlimactic. Please Forgive Me is a basic chick-lit, Hallmark movie type story with a happy ending that feels forced. If you enjoy chick-lit, you may enjoy Please Forgive Me.

Please Forgive Me

is available in paperback and eBook