What’s it all about?:
Lucy Arigho’s first encounter with Greg Millar is far from promising, but she soon realises he possesses a charm that is impossible to resist. Just eight whirlwind weeks after their first meeting, level-headed career girl Lucy is seriously considering his pleas to marry him and asking herself if she could really be stepmother material.
But before Lucy can make a final decision about becoming part of Greg’s world, events plunge her right into it. On holiday in the South of France, things start to unravel. Her future stepchildren won’t accept her, the interfering nanny resents her, and they’re stuck in a heat wave that won’t let up. And then there’s Greg. His behavior becomes increasingly bizarre and Lucy begins to wonder whether his larger-than-life personality hides something darker—and whether she knows him at all.
What did I think?:
Aimee Alexander is the pen name of Irish author, Denise Deegan who writes contemporary young adult fiction under her own name but uses the pseudonym of Aimee Alexander to dabble in contemporary fiction for adults. Thank you so much to her for providing me with a copy of this novel in return for an honest review. I’m not taking on many author review requests at the moment as I’ve found myself with a huge backlog to deal with but when I read this synopsis I couldn’t resist. I simply had to know what this book was all about. I haven’t read anything by the author before and I know my sister, Chrissi Reads is a big fan of her young adult fiction so I was intrigued to find out what her writing was like. Well, it wasn’t long before I was hooked in a thrilling and captivating story that I found difficult to put down.
The story follows our protagonist Lucy Arigho who works as a graphic designer and becomes embroiled in a whirlwind romance when she meets mysterious crime author Greg Millar who completely sweeps her off her feet. Both Lucy and Greg have been through tragedies in their lives, Greg is widowed with two young children but has such a boundless energy and zest for life that Lucy is taken along for the ride, surprising herself as she is not naturally so impulsive. Set across two countries, the South of France and Ireland, we see Lucy’s struggles to integrate herself into a family where in some aspects, she is not necessarily welcomed with open arms. Then things get progressively darker as she realises that the man she has fallen so suddenly for might not be the man that she thought he was.
To say any more would be major spoilers so I’m moving away from that area right now! I just want to say one thing though. I was HUGELY surprised by the twists and turns this novel took. When I started it, I have to admit, I didn’t think it was going to enjoy it as much as I did. I’m not the biggest fan of contemporary romance novels, it has to be done in the right way (with as little cheese as possible, if you please) and I often find them lacking in substance. This was considerably not the case with The Accidental Life Of Greg Millar – it got a whole lot darker fairly quickly and the insight into both Greg and Lucy’s characters and how they deal with the impending situation was nothing short of fascinating. I have had some personal experience with the issues raised in this novel, perhaps that’s why it spoke to me in such an exclusive way but I think the author wrote about it sensitively and intelligently which was appreciated. If you’re in the mood for a romance story with a bit of a dark twist, you should definitely try this novel. I certainly wasn’t expecting what it brought to the table.
Would I recommend it?:
But of course!
Star rating (out of 5):
