Wednesday, 9 March 2016

The Bucket List to Mend a Broken Heart by Anna Bell

The Bucket List to Mend a Broken Heart

The Bucket List to Mend a Broken Heart by Anna Bell
Published: 10th March 2016
Publisher: Zaffre
Pages: 432
Available in Paperback and on Kindle

Blurb
Abi's barely left her bed since Joseph, the love of her life, dumped her, saying they were incompatible. When Joseph leaves a box of her possessions on her doorstep, she finds a bucket list of ten things she never knew he wanted to do. What better way to win him back than by completing the list, and proving they're a perfect match? But there's just one problem - or rather, ten. Abi's not exactly the outdoorsy type, and she's absolutely terrified of heights - not ideal for a list that includes climbing a mountain, cycling around the Isle of Wight and, last but not least, abseiling down the tallest building in town ...Completing the list is going to need all Abi's courage - and a lot of help from her friends. But as she heals her broken heart one task at a time, the newly confident Abi might just have a surprise in store ...

Review
Anna Bell has been an author on my must try list for a long time so when her publisher contacted me and asked if I would review her new book  The Bucket List to Mend a Broken Heart I jumped at the chance, so thank you Zaffre. The book itself is gorgeous, with metallic pink letters and confetti sprinkled all over the cover what is not to love, it’s definitely one which catches your eye.
Anyway onto the story, Abi’s just been dumped by the love of her life Joseph and is completely heartbroken. She’s hoping he’ll come back realising he’s made a terrible mistake but after two weeks when he conveniently leaves a box of her stuff on the doorstep while she’s out Abi realises she’s going to have to do something drastic to get Joseph back. While looking through the box Abi discovers something which might just help her get her man back….a copy of Joseph’s bucket list. Deciding to prove to Joseph their perfect Abi sets out to complete the list despite there only being a couple of things she might enjoy doing. What follows is three months of Abi attempting the list along with support from friends Sian and Giles and new friend Ben. But dos Abi manage to win back the man she loves?
At first I didn’t warm to Abi as she moped about over Joseph for a long time and I really wanted her to pull herself together and find someone new as Joseph didn’t sound the nicest of people anyway. As she begun the list I began to like her as her determination to succeed comes and out and she doesn’t give in, even if the more adventurous things on the list are a struggle for her. This leads to some quite comical moments which I really enjoyed. I was longing for her to see what was right under her nose and make the right decision.
I found the idea of completing someone else’s bucket list an original and very interesting. My favourite part of this novel was reading about how Abi changed as she went from a virtual couch potatoes to climbing up mountains. As someone who is complete couch potato herself I found Abi’s journey quite inspirational and just wonder if I would have as much courage as she did to complete the list
 Anna’s writing style flows easily and is full of humour making this a lovely read to fully immerse yourself in for an afternoon. I loved how real her characters felt each with their individual personalities shining through. My favourite I think was Giles, I loved how he becomes softer and more loved up whenever he was around wife Laura.
I have really enjoyed my first Anna Bell novel and know it won’t be my last. I’d rate The Bucket List to Mend a Broken Heart 5 out 5 as its chick lit at its best. Thank you to the publishers for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

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