Book Review: The Heart Whisperer by Ella Griffin

On her thirty-third birthday, Claire Dillon decides that it's finally time to grow up. She will give herself twelve months to try to sort her life out. Her mother was thirty-three when she drowned. The accident happened on Claire's seventh birthday and deep down, Claire feels it was her fault. Her mum had everything to live for but Claire's life is a mess...
All her relationships have just fizzled out over the years. Her acting career is going nowhere and thirty-three in acting years, is somewhere between forty-five and extinct. Nothing in her life works. Her locks stick, her pipes howl, her computer has no letter 'p'. Her beloved car, Mossy, which used to belong to her mother, has one wiper and no reverse gear. If it weren't for the kindness of her oldest and her best friend, the gorgeous, charming and once-very-famous Ray Devine, she wouldn't even have a place to live. So she gives herself a year to turn her life around...

I very much enjoyed Ella Griffin's first book Postcards From the Heart so I was really pleased to receive her latest book, The Heart Whisperer.
The book follows Claire who has just turned thirty-three. She doesn't feel like she has much to celebrate, an out-of-work actress, no relationship, a clapped out car and living on the charity of her best friend. So Claire decides to turn her life around in the next 12 months. Her birthday is particularly poignant as Claire's mother drowned in a tragic accident on Claire's seventh birthday. Claire idolised her mother; a successful doctor with a marriage and two children, she had everything to live for.
Claire's brother Nick practically raised her when their mother died but now they barley speak plus Nick is having problems in his own marriage which is a little inconvenient as he has just landed a TV spot as a relationship counsellor.
Throughout all of this Claire relies on her best friend Ray Devine who used to be in a very famous band. Ray is living off the royalties nowadays and looking after Claire but maybe he is doing too much for her; he needs her to stand on her own too feet and this may require him pushing her away.
I really enjoyed The Heart Whisperer and Claire's character in particular. She brings a lot of humour to the book but also a lot of humility and poignant moments. Her relationship with Ray is really interesting and was one of my favourite parts of the book.
I really tried but I couldn't take to the character of Nick. You appreciate

by the end of the book just how much he did for Claire and the things he protected her from but there was something about him that didn't click for me.
 Marian Keyes has been quoted as saying that 'Ella Griffin can make you laugh and then cry in the turn of a page' and I think that is the perfect quote to describe this author. The Heart Whisperer is an entertaining read with many comical moments but it really pulls at the heartstrings too.
Ella Griffin is definitely an author to keep an eye on and I hope she has many more books to offer in the future.

Dot Scribbles Rating: 4/5

Pages: 368

Publisher: Orion

Many thanks to the publishers who sent me a copy of this book to review, The Heart Whisperer is available now.

Review: A Romantic Getaway by Sarah Monk

I loved this book, I think it has only taken me just over a day to read it as I enjoyed it so much!
We meet sisters Marilyn and Liesel at the beginning of the book, they are struggling to make ends meet in their tiny London flat, plus they have Marilyn's five year old son Alex to provide for. This all changes when they discover that Alex has inherited a hotel in Cornwall from his great aunt Nancy. The only catch is that they have to run it for a season first, otherwise it is passed on to Godrich, Aunt Nancy's hypochondriac dog who they have also inherited!
So Marilyn, Liesel and Alex set off for their new life in Cornwall and it doesn't take them long to realise how huge the task they have undertaken is. However, they soon have a new group of friends and a love interest for both sisters in the form of the gorgeous local vet and the hotel's live-in handy man. But as with all good stories, things do not always go smoothly; the girls new life in idyllic Cornwall comes under attack and they have to fight for what they have come to love.
The characters in this book are brilliant, I am extremely close to my sister so I could totally identify with the relationship between Liesel and Marilyn. The setting was perfect too, I love the idea of a big old hotel in Cornwall, complete with a tower and eccentric employees.
If you want a good, light book that keeps you entertained from the very beginning then give A Romantic Getaway a go!