‘Eloise Elliot is one of the youngest newspaper editors in the country. Respected and revered by her peers, she's at the top of her game. But, on the eve of her thirtieth birthday, finding herself surrounded by some pathetic looking balloons and mangy sandwiches in The Daily Post's conference room, Eloise is hit but a long sharp pang of loneliness. Suddenly, and with dazzling clarity, she realises what she wants to make her life more complete. A baby. One successful trip to the sperm bank and almost three years later and she is the adoring mother of a gorgeous little girl, Lily. Juggling a high-powered job with motherhood is not easy and when she finds herself without childcare she sends an SOS to her sister Helen. Yet it's when Lily starts asking about her 'daddy' that Eloise really starts to panic. What will she tell her? So Eloise decides there's nothing for it - she's going to find Lily's father. After all, she chose the perfect donor so surely there won't be any surprises. Except that there are plenty, and Eloise gets a lot more than she bargained for.’
Newspaper editor Eloise Elliot is run ragged trying to combine her extremely demanding career with being a single mum to her two-year-old daughter, Lily. When Lily demands to meet her father, Eloise begins a mission to find Jake, the sperm donor she used through a clinic three years before. However, what Eloise doesn’t expect is to find Jake in prison. Desperate to provide her daughter with the sort of dad she deserves, Eloise sets about trying to help Jake to improve himself. But is it really Jake who needs a helping hand, or could Eloise benefit from some assistance from the ex-con?
Eloise was a good heroine: I liked how together and organised she appeared to her colleagues, when in reality she isn’t coping very well at all. She clearly loves her daughter, but is torn, if she doesn’t put in the hours that are expected of her in work, she’ll lose her job. I also enjoyed seeing Eloise’ friendship with Jake slowly emerge, and loved how he eventually began to influence her for the better.
It was a very brave decision by Carroll to have a hero who’d been in prison – regardless of what he was there for, there is still an obvious stigmatism attached. I think Jake just about worked for me, although I was wary of him in the beginning. He was good-looking, but his past means he’s definitely not a typical romantic lead. When I finally discovered why Jake had been in prison, I was relieved at what was revealed, but till judged him a little for being weak and allowing himself to be pushed into doing something he clearly knew was wrong.
I’m afraid I did find Lily’s lisping voice pretty annoying, especially as I kept imagining Francesca’s Simon’s Lisping Lily from her ‘Horrid Henry’ stories whenever this story’s Lily spoke! I also felt that some of the things she did weren’t realistic for a child her age.
I love Carroll’s writing style – it’s very entertaining and easy to read, whilst maintaining great storylines and characters. I really enjoyed how Eloise’s character developed during the tale, and her heartbreak over being torn between her daughter and her job will ring true with many mothers. I wasn’t quite so sure about Jake, the story’s hero, but he did grow on me and, as a protagonist, he ended up working much more successfully than I originally thought. Romantic, entertaining and original, I liked Claudia Carroll’s latest offering.
4 stars
Newspaper editor Eloise Elliot is run ragged trying to combine her extremely demanding career with being a single mum to her two-year-old daughter, Lily. When Lily demands to meet her father, Eloise begins a mission to find Jake, the sperm donor she used through a clinic three years before. However, what Eloise doesn’t expect is to find Jake in prison. Desperate to provide her daughter with the sort of dad she deserves, Eloise sets about trying to help Jake to improve himself. But is it really Jake who needs a helping hand, or could Eloise benefit from some assistance from the ex-con?
Eloise was a good heroine: I liked how together and organised she appeared to her colleagues, when in reality she isn’t coping very well at all. She clearly loves her daughter, but is torn, if she doesn’t put in the hours that are expected of her in work, she’ll lose her job. I also enjoyed seeing Eloise’ friendship with Jake slowly emerge, and loved how he eventually began to influence her for the better.
It was a very brave decision by Carroll to have a hero who’d been in prison – regardless of what he was there for, there is still an obvious stigmatism attached. I think Jake just about worked for me, although I was wary of him in the beginning. He was good-looking, but his past means he’s definitely not a typical romantic lead. When I finally discovered why Jake had been in prison, I was relieved at what was revealed, but till judged him a little for being weak and allowing himself to be pushed into doing something he clearly knew was wrong.
I’m afraid I did find Lily’s lisping voice pretty annoying, especially as I kept imagining Francesca’s Simon’s Lisping Lily from her ‘Horrid Henry’ stories whenever this story’s Lily spoke! I also felt that some of the things she did weren’t realistic for a child her age.
I love Carroll’s writing style – it’s very entertaining and easy to read, whilst maintaining great storylines and characters. I really enjoyed how Eloise’s character developed during the tale, and her heartbreak over being torn between her daughter and her job will ring true with many mothers. I wasn’t quite so sure about Jake, the story’s hero, but he did grow on me and, as a protagonist, he ended up working much more successfully than I originally thought. Romantic, entertaining and original, I liked Claudia Carroll’s latest offering.
4 stars
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