Hi! So this is my first blog post in almost year. University basically took over my life this year, it’s been pretty hectic, but i’m all done now!
For my first blog post I decided to review a book that I recently read on holiday: The Last Piece of my Heart by Paige Toon. I’ll start off my saying that I adore Paige Toon. She’s my favourite author and i’ve loved every single book that she’s wrote. (I am in no way being sponsored to review this book and all views and opinions are completely honest and my own – just showing the love!!). I got this book upon it’s release in May, but decided to wait until my holiday to Portugal in August to read it. I have a rule where I cannot go on holiday without a Paige Toon book! It was a long wait to read it, but so worth it.
This book took us to meet Bridget – who we’ve been introduced to before in The Longest Holiday and Thirteen Weddings. (Paige often links characters from her books together and we get to catch up with them occasionally for their own story – it’s like meeting up with an old friend!)
From the word go, Travel Writer Bridget is a very likeable character. She is offered a job as a Ghost Writer to finish a sequel to a Bestselling Book who’s author Nicole (Nicki) has tragically passed away. Upon her arrival into Cornwall, Bridget meets the author’s late husband Charlie and baby daughter April. Although there is understandably a lot of tension between Bridget and Charlie, I loved seeing them become more comfortable together and my heart melted as Bridget started to bond with baby April!
Bridget researches for the book sequel, uncovering Nicole’s old diaries and realising that the book may be more closer to home and real events than originally thought. Bridget and Charlie visit various places across Cornwall and the surrounding areas, something which Paige does a lot for her own books. I’ve never been to Cornwall, but after reading Paige’s views, told through Bridget, I feel like I can picture it perfectly! Paige always takes us to the settings of her book so you feel like you’re right there with the characters and can really be involved in the story!
At the same time as her Ghost Writer job, Bridget is also writing her travel blog: this is based on the title of the book “The Last Piece of my Heart” and sees Bridget tracking down her ex boyfriends and demanding that they give her back the pieces of her heart that they had taken as the relationship ended. This was such a creative idea and I enjoyed hearing Bridget’s stories about the different men who had stolen a piece of her heart, including her current boyfriend Elliot who started it all off! I will admit though I was glad that Bridget decided not to continue with her blog post and leave the past in the past, including Elliot!
The book also saw Bridget journey to Thailand to continue the research for the book, another well detailed destination. Bridget managed to finish off her research, including meeting the famous Isak who was based on the character Timo from the book. After her visit to Thailand and upon finishing the sequel Bridget also realises just who her whole heart belongs to (I won’t spoil it!!) and I am so glad that things worked out as they did!
My thoughts upon finishing this book was just how much I adored every page of it. Obviously I have read and loved every single one of Paige’s books but this one was something special. The storylines were so creative and clearly well thought out, and the journey we went on with Bridget was so heartwarming – I wanted more! I was so glad the book finished how it did though – I’m not ashamed to admit that I may have shed a little tear from behind my sunglasses. I devoured the book in just over 24 hours – it definitely stole my heart and I couldn’t put it down. I rated this book 5*.
I’m planning to re-read my Paige Toon collection before her next novel comes out next year. I would definitely recommend The Last Piece of my Heart, and Paige’s other books. You don’t have to read them in order, but it definitely makes them more special as they sometimes link together in a discreet but special way.
Thankyou for reading this blog post – comments would be appreciated and i’d love to hear what you thought of this book as well.
Lou x
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