Just The Way You Are by Lynsey James

Dear Ava,
How do you start writing a letter to someone, six years after breaking their heart?

Format: Ebook (Kindle)
Publisher:  Carina UK
Published: 8th May 2015
Pages: 200+ Pages

The Blurb
Ava is unlucky in love as well as in life. The new office bitch has landed the dating column Ava wanted, and she can’t remember the last time she had a second date. It’s a good thing she has best friends Max and Gwen to pick up the pieces.

Deep down, Ava knows the reason why one date never turns into two – she’s in love with someone else. Someone she’s never even met.

It all started six years ago, with a letter from a secret admirer, Mr Writer…but then they suddenly stopped and Ava was heartbroken.

Now the letters have started again and Ava knows it could mean winning back the dating column at work. This time she’s determined to unmask Mr Writer…and find out once and for all if he’s Mr Right or Mr Very Definitely Wrong!

Rating: 4/5

The Review
Thank you to the author Lynsey and Carina UK for letting me read this gem!

Ava starts receiving secret love letters from an unknown source, to anyone else it would be flattering, but to Ava it’s opened up a host of emotions – she hasn’t received these letters for the past 6 years. This second time around she is determined to find out who the secret letter writer is, enlisting her friends, Max and Gwen, to help.

To me, the letters seemed a little creepy, yet I’m sure there was no malicious intent with them. The secret admirer was determined to tell Ava they loved her because it was evident they were a little scared to tell her to her face. I wouldn’t be sure if finding out who the writer was would make me feel happier, just awfully nervous.

Ava was a loveable character and there’s elements of her in us all. I wanted to shake her on several occasions because she often felt that she was worthless and she was for from that. She felt that she had been let down by men throughout her life and from experience it made me irritated. I have never met my Dad and he seemingly refuses to see me, but that doesn’t make me feel worthless. Ava needs to think logically about things and to sit in front of a mirror and say “she’s amazing”.

I would have given Just the way you are 5 out of 5, but I figured out who wrote the letters quite early on. I don’t think it made the story any less enjoyable, just maybe a little disappointing because I knew who it was.

For a first novel, Lynsey has done a brilliant job and she should be very proud of what she’s achieved.

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