After the Honeymoon

Two couples, one honeymoon destination, and enough secrets to end both marriages. Perfect for fans of Jill Mansell

How can one honeymoon cause so much trouble?

Much as Emma loves Tom, she would never have got married if he hadn’t insisted. But with Tom sick for the whole week, shouldn’t she at least take advantage of the entertainment?

Winston married Melissa after a three-month whirlwind romance. As a breakfast TV fitness star, he’s anxious to keep things private. But the arrival of Melissa’s two children soon puts paid to that.

Rosie arrived at the Villa Rosa homeless and pregnant when she was just seventeen. Now, sixteen years later, she runs the place. However, the appearance of Winston throws her into confusion. He might not remember her, but she has never forgotten him.

By the end of the week, none of their lives will be the same. But how will they cope after the honeymoon is over?

My opinion:When I was contacted by Janey about After the Honeymoon I jumped at the chanceto read and review it as it sounded great. I got stuck into it straight away and was immediately hooked into the worlds of the characters.

Emma is a young mum of two who gets married to her childhood sweetheart Tom. She loves Tom and their little family, but had never been too fussed about getting married. They married at Tom’s insistence and one of their wedding presents was a honeymoon at a small villa on a Greek island. Just the two of them, without the children. With her mum looking after the children, and Tom getting sick as soon as they arrive, one week becomes a testing situation for the newly weds and gives Emma some chance to be herself for the first time in a few years.

Winston is a TV star fitness trainer (I was imagining a modern Mr Motivator!) and has married mother of two Melissa. They met on set when she was his make up artist, and three months later they are on honeymoon at the same small villa in Greece, in an attempt to get some privacy away from the press on their own. That is until his step children get shipped over by their father who should be looking after them, and the past comes back to haunt him.

Rosie is part owner of the Villa Rosa and runs it with the help of her son Jack, friend Greco and island lothario Yannis. Rosie is trying her best to keep the business going and has been helped by friends back in the UK to spread the word about the villa. When Winston turns up, she has some decisions to make on whether to drag up the pastor just to let sleeping dogs lie.

As soon as I started reading this book, I just knew I was going to love it. The lives of the characters are wonderfully intertwined and everyone of them has real depth and well thought through back stories. My favourite character was Rosie. She just seemed so genuine and grounded, a real salt of the earth type person. As I got to the end of each chapter, I just wanted to read more. The book also made me look forward to my own Greek holiday this year!

The book is quite hefty at nearly 500 pages, but doesn’t drag in any way, is well paced and I could have kept reading it for even longer! It was a very welcome companion on a couple of long train journeys and I felt like I could lose myself in the story completely. Janey’s writing style is very easy to read and friendly. I was really impressed by how detailed each of the storylines were, how they intertwined in such a perfect way and how no stone was left unturned!

This book would make a fantastic holiday read and I urge everyone to go out and buy it to share my enthusiasm! You may have guessed that I really loved this book and really want to read some more of Janey’s previous books.

My rating: A wonderful five stars

I was sent an advance copy of this book by the author in exchange for an honest review.