Wednesday 10 April 2013

Books Read: Dorothy Koomson - The Rose Petal Beach

Every love story has a dangerous twist. 

Tamia Challey is horrified when her husband, Scott, is accused of something terrible - but when she discovers who his accuser is, everything goes into freefall. Backed into a corner and unsure what to think, Tamia is forced to choose who she instinctively believes. But this choice has dire consequences for all concerned, especially when matters take a tragic turn. 

Then a stranger arrives in town to sprinkle rose petals in the sea in memory of her lost loved one. This stranger carries with her shocking truths that will change the lives of everyone she meets, and will once again force Tamia to make some devastating choices... 


The Rose Petal Beach is full of drama right from the off when police turn up at the door of Tamia, otherwise known as Tami to her friends, and Scott Challey's house to arrest Scott which completely floors Tami especially when she hears the crime he's been accused of committing.  What surprises Tami most though is that Scott doesn't seem surprised by their arrival, could the man she loves really have committed this terrible crime?

This forces Tami to take a hard look at her life and she starts to question everything and wonders whether her picture-perfect life was quite as perfect as it had seemed, or were her family right about Scott after all?  They'd never liked him because of who his family are but Tami was in love and convinced that Scott was not like the rest of his family so, against her families wishes, she moved to Brighton with him where they'd married and had been living a comfortable life until now.

But as she soon finds out everyone around her has their own deep dark secrets and it's going to take a lot of digging and soul searching to discover the whole truth. 

I really enjoyed reading Dorothy Koomson's latest book and have to confess she totally surprised me with this storyline, every time I thought I knew the answer another twist would crop up and lead me down a completely different path.   It's a real page turner which will keep you guessing till the end and as for the ending well all I can say is that I didn't see that coming!  Well done.

The only thing I would say though is that if you're not a fan of a story told from different perspectives as this one is from the points of view of Tami, her friend and neighbour Beatrix as well as a couple of other characters later in the book, then it might not be to your taste but I quite like this format as I think it brings a whole new spin on things so it didn't bother me. 

I can't wait to see what Dorothy Koomson has in store for us in her next book  I'm also looking forward to see how her book, The Ice Cream Girls, translates onto the small screen as it's been turned into a 3-part drama for ITV which will be broadcast shortly, I saw my first advert for it last night.

I'd like to thank ED PR for sending me a copy of this book to review.

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