Book Review - The Other Life of Charlotte Evans

Today I’m going to share my review on a new book called ‘The Other Life of Charlotte Evans’ written by author Louisa George. Stay tuned after my review for an exclusive author guest post on Inspirations and Ideas. Oh, and there’s a giveaway too (sorry UK only)!

The Other Life of Charlotte Evans by Louisa George

My Review:

The Other Life of Charlotte Evans was not your typical girly chick-lit type novel but overall it was an interesting story. It was filled with lots of drama and real-life issues that people can experience in their lives. It felt raw and real and [although not to me personally] relatable. I’ll be honest that there were parts of the story that almost gave me anxiety over the lack of trust and communication between the two the two main characters.

The main character clearly had a major lack of communication with the most important people in her life, and she had a lot to learn with a lot of room to grow. How can you consider marrying someone if you can’t trust them and share your secrets with? How can you expect them to trust you if you’re constantly sneaking around behind their back? Learning to let the people in your life into your heart and know the real you, all of you, is so important and is vital to a healthy lasting relationship.

The last bit of the book was wonderful and it made up for some of my doubts from my earlier reading. It made me cry, sad tears for some of the things that might happen in the future, and yet happy tears that Charlotte was able to work things out.

My Rating: 4/5 Stars

I received this book through Jenny’s Neverland Blog Tours, I have volunteered to share my review and all the opinions are 100% my own. ❤

About the Book

Title: The Other Life of Charlotte Evans

Author: Louisa George

Published: September 9, 2017

Book Blurb:

Would you sacrifice your future to understand your past?

Life is rosy for dance studio owner Charlotte Evans, who is about to marry beloved fiancé, Ben. But when Ben finds a lump in Charlotte’s breast, it sends her on a journey of self-discovery which she knows she must do alone. Because Charlotte is adopted, and she suddenly, desperately, needs to know who she is and where she comes from.

Finding and reconnecting with her birth family, the life Charlotte could have had unfolds before her. As her wedding day draws closer, and her past merges ever more into her present, Charlotte must decide on the future she really wants…

A heartrendingly beautiful novel about love, family and finding your own path to happiness.

Book Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK | Goodreads | WHSmith (UK)

Inspiration and Ideas

Author Guest Post written by Louisa George

I’m just about to start writing my 24^th book. Well, in theory I should be starting it but I haven’t got a clue what it’s going to be about yet! But one thing I do know is that my subconscious is on the lookout for hints and ideas and I’m fairly confident I’ll come up with something. Soon. (please…)

One of the most frequent questions I get asked is where do my ideas come from? I have to admit that by book 24 I do sometimes wonder if there’s anything left to write about. But in reality, ideas are all around us…women’s magazines are a great source of inspiration with interviews with women conquering insurmountable odds to achieve pregnancy/business success/ recovering health after accident etc…

When I read these stories I’m not thinking about copying what happened, but often something will spark an idea that I can then run with. For example; what if you were working in an IVF clinic and couldn’t get pregnant? Or, what would it be like if all your family was famous and you were the one shunning the limelight (sprang from Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne who have a daughter who doesn’t want to be famous). Would you be untrusting of people who wanted to get to know you? Or, for my new release, The Other Life Of Charlotte Evans I took the real life story of Angelina Jolie’s breast/ovary removal and crafted a story from there about a young woman of 25 who didn’t know what genes she was carrying and was determined to find out.

Sometimes my jumping off point is a theme rather than a concrete idea eg I have a medical romance coming out in December about surrogacy. I’ve also written books about alcohol abuse, physical scarring, feelings of sexual inadequacy and miscarriage. (And they all have happy, satisfying and believable endings, so not mired in depression and sadness!)

Many authors say they don’t put anything of their own lives or friends’/families lives into their books, but I’d say there is something of me in all my books. The Secret Art Of Forgiveness is about a woman who has to go back to her old home to look after her step-father who has dementia. For this I drew a lot on my experiences with my mum who is a dementia sufferer. In The Other Life Of Charlotte Evans, Charlotte goes to visit her birth mother (she’s adopted) and part of the emotions I elicited there were from my own experiences of meeting my father for the first time after 20 years. And dare I admit it, but each heroine I craft is probably a stronger, taller, more clever version of me. All those things I ever wanted to say, those little clever quips and retorts…yes, there in my books!

Inspiration for story ideas is everywhere. My books are about people, relationships, connection, growth and love. Talk to anyone—everyone has a story.

Talk. Listen. Craft. Write.

Hmmm…now I have to really start thinking about book 24.

About the Author – Louisa George

Author Links: Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

Author Bio:

Award-winning author Louisa George has been an avid reader her whole life. In between chapters she managed to fit in a BA degree in Communication Studies, trained as a nurse, married her doctor hero and had two sons. Now, she spends her days writing chapters of her own in the medical romance, contemporary romance and women’s fiction genres. To date, she has 19 books available in ebook/print.

Louisa’s books have variously been nominated for the coveted RITA® Award and the NZ Koru Award (which she won in 2014 and 2016 for the Short Sexy Category) and she won the prestigious HOLT Medallion Award in 2017. Her books have been translated into twelve languages. She lives in Auckland, New Zealand and, when not writing or reading, likes to travel, drink mojitos and do Zumba®- preferably all at the same time.