Book Review: The Seven Secrets of Happiness by Sharon Owens

The lovely people at Penguin sent me Sharon Owen's book, The Seven Secrets of Happiness, it is published today in paperback and well worth a read:

Ruby O'Neill leads a charmed life in a perfect house on an elegant street, married to gorgeous Jonathan who adores her. It is a snowy Christmas Eve and life has even more glitter and sparkle than usual. Ruby blissfully decorates their Christmas tree, dreaming of a romantic holiday season when she and Johnathan will enjoy lovely lie-ins and start the baby she longs for. Then a telephone call shatters her fairytale existence forever. In the New Year Ruby picks herself up and finds comfort in sewing seven exquisite little velvet bags which seem touched by magic. Through them her life is touched by the lives of others and she learns six secrets which begin to thaw her frozen heart. And little does she know she has a guardian angel watching over her. Though wounded himself, he holds in his hands the seventh secret and Ruby's chance of having love blossom again in her life.

The Seven Secrets of Happiness was a really lovely start to my reading year. The story starts off on Christmas Eve and goes through to new year and it really encompasses that feeling of new chances and opportunities that we get when he say goodbye to the year gone by and welcome a new one.
Sharon Owens has created a very believable set of characters. Ruby O'Neill is cautious and sensible and this is mirrored by her best friend Jasmine who pushes her to take some risks and have some fun. I loved how we meet the character of Tom Lavery right at the beginning of the book and get to know him even before Ruby does. Ruby's dysfunctional parents offer both humorous and poignant moments and they bring another element to the story so that we are not solely focused on the events of Ruby's everyday life.
This book deals with love and loss and the ways in which we have to move forward and look to the future. It is the first book by Sharon Owens that I have read but I shall definitely be looking up her other books in the future.