Book review: Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow? by Claudia Carroll

What happens when two people decide to give themselves the year off...from each other? 

Annie and Dan were the perfect couple. But now the not-so-newly-weds feel more like flatmates than soul mates and wonder where all the fun and fireworks went...

When Annie lands her big break in a smash-hit show that's heading for the bright lights of Broadway, she's over the moon. Goodbye remote Irish village, hello fabulous Big Apple! But with their relationship already on the rocks, how will Annie and Dan survive the distance? 

They're hitting the pause button on their marriage. One year off from each other- no strings attached- except a date to meet at the Rockefeller Centre to decide their fate. Will they  both turn up? Or is it too  late for love?

Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow? is the first book by Claudia Carroll that I have read. In the main I really enjoyed the book but I did have a few minor quibbles too.
Annie and Dan were childhood sweethearts, they met at 15 and married early. Now at 28, their relationship is already under strain. They left their life in Dublin and Annie's career as an actress to move back to the village of Stickens and Dan's family veterinary practice after Dan's father died. Annie is desperately unhappy, Dan is working ridiculous hours, she can't stand her mother-in-law and her acting career seems like a long-distance memory. So when Annie's agent calls and tells her she has an audition for the new Jack Gordon play, she jumps at the chance. The play is a dream and to be directed by Jack Gordon is a huge opportunity so when she is offered the part, she feels that she can't say no. The only problem is that the play is moving to New York for a whole year, on one hand how can Annie leave Dan for a year and on the other hand how can she turn down the chance to perform on Broadway?
Dan knows that this is Annie's dream and she has given up so much for him already. He knows that she is majorly unhappy in Stickens so her tells her to go to New York. They will put their marriage on hold for 1 year and arrange to meet at the Rockefeller centre in 12 months which is where they got engaged.
Annie loves New York and the play, she misses Dan but she also thinks he probably hasn't even really noticed her absence.
New York is full of temptations, Jack Gordon being the  biggest one; he has his sights firmly set on Annie and a small matter like a husband in the UK is not going to deter him. Annie can't even  contemplate Jack at first but when she hears that Dan has allowed his friend Lisa Ledbetter and her kids move in as she is having marital problems, she doesn't know what to think. Lisa has always had a thing for Dan and now that Annie is away she is obviously making her move.
Annie focuses on her and Dan's agreed date in December but will he even turn up and if he does, does she want to return to her old life?
Sorry for the lengthy description but quite a lot happens in this book. I identified with Annie as I met my husband when we were very young and we're already married with a baby on the way at 28. However, my reservation with the book was the idea of Annie going away for a year. This is something I would never contemplate. I understand that Claudia Carroll really plays on the fact that Dan works all hours as a vet and doesn't always put Annie first but I too have first-hand experience of this due to being married to a junior doctor but I wouldn't run off for a year! It's a shame as on  the whole I liked Annie and I'm all for people following their dreams but she was a little tinged for me as in my opinion she was being a little selfish.
I still enjoyed the book though, in particular the New York setting and all of the characters involved in the play. I shall try the author's other books, I just struggled with the idea in this one.

Many thanks to the lovely Charlotte at Avon for sending me a copy of the book to review, Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow? is out now.

Dot Scribbles rating 3.5/5