Thursday, 14 April 2016

The Second Chance Shoe Shop by Marcie Steele

The Second Chance Shoe Shop

The Second Chance Shoe Sop by Marcie Steele
Published: 8th March 2016
Publisher: Bookouture
Pages:232
Available in Paperback and on Kindle

Blurb
All Riley Flynn wants is to meet someone who makes her happy. But attracting the right kind of man is not easy, and with her heart still hurting from her last break-up, Riley believes she’ll never find love again.

A year ago, Sadie Stewart’s whole world was shattered when her husband, Ross, died. She has struggled to keep herself together for the sake of their young daughter, but with the anniversary of his death approaching, Sadie finds herself overwhelmed by grief.

Sadie and Riley work at Chandlers shoe shop, in the charming town of Hedworth. But when Chandlers is threatened with closure, the friends are confronted with the loss of not only their jobs, but also their support network - the glue that holds them together when they are close to breaking.

As they put together a plan to save their beloved shop, Sadie realises that she might just be learning to live again. Could it be that new beginnings are just round the corner? The campaign also finds Riley unexpectedly crossing paths with charming photographer, Ethan. Maybe her second chance at love is right under her feet …

Review
The Second Chance Shoe Sop is the third book by Mel Sherratt writing as Marcie Steele and I think it’s her best yet. She’s developed a lovely writing style which is easy to immerse yourself in with characters which you genuinely begin to care about.
Riley has been the manager of Chandler’s shoe shop for the past eight years and she loves her job.  She loves working with friends Sadie and Dan and loves finding exactly the right shoe for people, more recently she has been longing to bring the shop more up to date and stock more fashionable and affordable shoes instead of the expensive sensible shoes Chandler’s is known for. Despite giving owner Suzanne many news ideas for stock and marketing Riley is unable to convince her boss to change and sales remain stagnant.
When Suzanne pits Riley against her two work colleagues in a competition to drum up sales Riley knows it’s time to take things into her own hands before the shop is gone forever.  So Riley sets out to use her social media knowledge to drum up some slightly unconventional publicity for the shop, but will it be enough to save Chandlers?
Riley is a character who I instantly adored. She’s so loyal to the shop and to her friends that she will do anything to help them, even if this sometimes lands her in trouble. She’s wary of starting a new relationship after she had her heartbroken by horrible Nigel, but can’t seem to resist the charms of news photographer Ethan. Is he the one to mend Riley’s broken heart?
Sadie and Dan were also great characters, each dealing with their own heartbreak. Together with Riley they make an excellent team and this stands out throughout the book as they are tested by Suzanne. The other characters Ash, Cooper and Ester all add to this group of friends and provide comfort and support for each other throughout the book.
I loved that Marcie has once again based her novel in the fictional town of Hedwoth where her previous novel That’s What Friends Are For was set, this time focusing on the high street rather than the indoor market.  A couple of characters from that book pop up here and it was good to check back in with them. I’m hoping we may see Hedworth again in another novel…please.
Despite this being a novel about shoes don’t fear you will love it, I’m a girl who lives in either slippers or wellies and this book has made me want to go out and buy a new pair of shoes, so read it and bring on the shoe love!
This is a novel about friendship, love, loss and loyalty, about knowing who to trust, and knowing that when things are bad they will always work out in the end. I really enjoyed The Second Chance Shoe Shop and am hoping Marcie writes another one soon as she’s becoming one of my favourite writers.
Thank you so much to Bookouture and Netgalley for the review copy, I’d like to rate The second Chance Shoe Shop five out of five, I loved It!

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