When you want to help your younger sister and it becomes a quid pro quo…

Synopsis

Robyn Allen is finally getting closer to her dream of West End stardom. And along with her role dancing in the latest hot musical, she’s being wined and dined by an equally hot man – the wildly successful and well-connected Fabian Carrington. But one slip up and her dreams are shattered, and Robyn has to hobble back to the Yorkshire village of Beddingfield, and the life she hoped she’d escaped.

Moving back into her mum’s house with her recalcitrant teenage sister Sorrel, next door to her older sister Jess who’s fed up with picking up the slack, is not how Robyn pictured her year. But there’s more to come. Sorrel needs a new school, and the school needs a new drama teacher. Despite having vowed never to teach again, Robyn knows she has to support her sister.

So together Sorrel and Robyn vow to take on St Mede’s – home to jokers, tearaways and trouble-makers, but with a hidden heartbeat ready to be inspired. And who knows, the kids might have something to teach Robyn about life too…

Welcome to the village of Beddingfield and the first book in bestseller Julie Houston’s new series set in Yorkshire. Funny, fabulous, heart-warming and hilarious, you’ll never forget the Allen sisters and their one-of-a-kind community. Perfect for fans of Jo Bartlett, Cathy Bramley and Philippa Ashley.

My review

Robyn Allen thought that things were finally falling into place, after securing a place in a musical in the West End, and has found love in the form of handsome and successful Fabian Carrington. But just when things to go the best way, everything comes crashing down. Literally, as after a fall she gets herself injured and cannot perform for a while. And then she learns that Fabian is going to defend the Soho Slasher, a murderer. And then there is also the fact that not everyone of Fabian’s family is welcoming Robyn with open arms, resulting in heartbreak for Robyn.

So when her mother has been hospitalized and her younger sister Sorrel is in her terrible teen, Robyn moves back home to Beddingfield.

But peace is the last thing Robyn will find, because as Sorrel needs to be accepted in St. Mede School. Yet Sorrel has a reputation that doesn’t make headteacher Mason Donoghue exciting to accept her. Until he learns about the women’s father and Robyn’s musical career. So in order to make Sorrel attend St. Mede, Robyn has to accept the job as a drama teacher.

And for the sake of your sister, you would anything, right?

It’s the evil side in me, but I like it when in a book, the main character has her dreams falling into pieces, and then has to return home, to mend her broken heart, think about her future etc.

But most of the time, the drama has just happened in a book, or takes place in the first few chapters.

So I was a bit surprised to read how Robyn is on the verge of having her dreams coming true. If you want to be a star in the West End, it must be amazing to finally see that ‘impossible’ dream coming to fruition!

And to have your career finally to take off, AND to find the perfect man, Robyn for sure must feel that she is on top of the world!

I have to admit, I don’t know if I immediately liked Fabian from the moment he appears in the book. He has the looks, he has the brains, he has the heritage. It all just seemed too good to be true?

But on the other hand, I liked it how he didn’t care about Robyn’s waitressing. He truly seemed to like Robyn for who she is, and he finds her refreshing.

Nevertheless, it’s obvious Robyn and Fabian come from different worlds, and no matter what they may feel for each other, their worlds is what tears them apart. What I didn’t comprehend at moments was that even if you have a different opinion, was how strong those opinions were, and how both characters weren’t always able to understand the other point of view…

Of course, this break – up  was also needed for the story to evolve. So with Robyn’s injury and her heartbreak, that brings her back to Beddingfield.

Yet instead of finding a welcoming return, she comes home in utter chaos! Het mother is not well, her father is absent (as he always has been), her sister Jess is facing also a break – up and her sister Sorrel is being an over the top teenager, being expelled from school.

As every responsibility falls upon Roby, she must now make sure that Sorrel is accepted at St. Mede, in order to prevent worse for Sorrel.

I was a bit shocked reading how the headteacher wasn’t afraid to use a tiny bit of blackmail, as that for sure isn’t the way a headteacher should!

But quickly I had to reassess my opinion of Mason, because it’s clear that he has the children’s best interest at heart. And being a headteacher at St. Mede’s cannot be easy, as many pupils are struggling on so many different levels.

Being a (head)teacher isn’t easy, and I know it as I actually once thought that was the career for me, so I admired Robyn ready for the challenge. And a challenge it for sure is, as there is a wide range of difficulties to overcome. All the while trying to help out her own family too…

Robyn has to go through a lot in this book, struggling with her injury, coping with her heartbreak, trying to be there for her family, and at the same time trying to do her best at school. There are also a few demons of her past resurfacing, and that brings her protectiveness even more forward. But we also see that protectiveness towards the pupils at school. She sees beyond the surface, and even when she doesn’t, she tries to understand them.

I have to say, that the romantic bits in this book didn’t actually go as I thought it would. In a way, I was even a bit disappointed because I saw so much potential in a relationship, to only see it go totally somewhere else. But even if that storyline didn’t go as I expected, it doesn’t mean I didn’t like it 😊.

As this is only the start of a whole new series, I cannot wait to read what this author has next in store for us readers. Even if the focus will be on other main characters, I am sure that the same kindness, warmth and love will be still as palpable at it was in this book!