When helping out a friend becomes something more important

Synopsis

Interior designer Nicky always used to know how to make the best of things. Ever since she lost her husband though, things haven’t been easy. She’s had to raise her two daughters alone and she’s so proud to see them all grown up, and she knows that’s down to her. But she can’t help but feel like she doesn’t know what to do with her life now…

But then her best friend begs her to help out. Jenny is a TV exec and her new renovation show is in peril. Only Nicky can help.

The catch – Nicky needs to fly to Provence… tomorrow. To renovate a tumbledown B&B. Jenny doesn’t mention the fact that the grumpy B&B owner Robert seems to need a makeover too. Or that the budget is next to nothing…

Will Nicky be able to turn the B&B’s fortunes around, save her friend’s job, and maybe even find some happiness for herself, under the blazing hot French sun this summer…?

My review

Nicky is an interior designer who stored her own dreams away after losing her husband. Even if things haven’t always been easy, she raised her two daughters on her own, and is proud of the women they have become.
But with always looking after her girls, and them having their own lives, also means that Nicky doesn’t know what to do with her life now.
And then her best friend Jenny needs her help… As Jenny’s renovation show is in danger for being cancelled, she needs an interior designer to renovate a B&B.
Nicky takes off to Provence, but quickly realizes that there is nearly no budget, there is a lot of work to do in the B&B, and then there is Robert, the owner, who for sure could benefit from a makeover too.
But perhaps the changes Nicky is making in the B&B will not be the only changes taking place, as maybe, just maybe, Nicky may find some happiness herself? 

Sometimes you pick up a book, knowing you will enjoy it, but not realizing yet how wonderful it is despite its apparent simplicity.
And this book was exactly that. 

Nicky is the kind of character you both admire and feel sorry for. Obviously she did a great job at raising her two daughters on her own, especially if you see where they are in their lives now. But on the other hand, you feel sorry for her, because she ‘sacrificed’ everything, her own dreams, for it. And now that her daughters are standing on their own feet, Nicky is at loss… 

So even if it came out of the blue and with a certain urgency, I was happy to see how Nicky had to take a step in the world again, and has given the chance to do what she loved the most as her being an interior designer.
And is there a better place to ‘get out there’ again than the Provence? 

I have to admit, I had several laughs while reading. And yes, it isn’t a nice thing to say, but the misunderstandings between Nicky and Robert were just too funny! Pigeon – gate even had me in full giggles! 

Yet it was both characters’ vulnerability that did for me… Because they have the same pain and the same struggles. They both find it hard to let go of the past and move on.
So as I saw it, the renovations in the B&B were also some kind of metaphor of renovating their own lives. Slowly both Nicky and Robert are making changes in their lives, by adding new colours in it, but never forgetting the structural work that shaped them. 

And the really sweet thing was that both characters understood each other, even without speaking. They felt when things were going too fast, or were just too hard to talk about. And they understood that ‘getting over their loss’ is not that easy and grief needs to take its time, even if that means years. 

Even if Nicky and Robert are like chalk and cheese, they are exactly what they both need. Their friendship is a slowly growing one. But it was wonderful to see how easy things are getting between them, how comfortable they are getting in each other’s presence. 

I liked it also how ‘innocent’ the story is. Because it’s not about falling in love again, but it’s about finding peace inside yourself again, and finding your true potential again. And understanding not only your own strength, but also the strength of your loved ones.  

This author wrote a wonderful but also powerful story, by showing us that it’s never too late to start chasing your dreams again. And that no matter what hardships you had in life, you can find happiness and peace again, if you dare to open up yourself for it.