Book Review: Make Do and Mend a Broken Heart by Katey Lovell

When you know how, you can make anything from scratch, including a new life after love…

When Leanne and Richard bought a dilapidated old seaside cottage to renovate together as their forever home, their future was full of hope and promise.

But heartbreak was just around the corner: fast forward a few months and Richard is gone. With his death, Leanne finds herself stony broke, faced with an uninhabitable home and lacking even the basic skills to do it up herself.

With the help of the friendly woman who runs the library and the reluctant assistance of the man who works in the local hardware shop, the cottage is lovingly restored. But broken hearts aren’t so easy to fix… are they?

I was so excited to be part of the blog blast for Make Do and Mend a Broken Heart by Katey Lovell.

When Leanne and Richard buy Sea Glass Cottage, they can’t wait to begin the new chapter of their lives and start renovating their new house by the seaside. When Richard dies before they have a chance to realise their dream, Leanne decides to go it alone.

She soon finds that the residents of Rockgate Bay pull together for her, especially the handsome, Harry. Can they help mend her broken heart?

First of all, can I move to Rockgate Bay please? Having grown up near the sea, this book really made me miss it so much.

The town sounds so wonderful (the setting is described so well,) as does most of the residents. There are a couple of them I didn’t care for. If you read it, you’ll see what I mean.

I loved Mary and Harry. Oh Harry Also, can I steal Milo?

Leanne was very easy to love. She’s been through a lot. I wanted to reach into the page and give her a hug.

She shows such strength as a character. She is well-developed and to me, she jumped off the page.

Katey Lovell’s style of writing made this novel hard to put down for me.

It deals with the subject of grief with empathy and compassion. There were moments where I laughed and parts where I wanted to cry. I felt so emotionally invested in this place and the characters.

Make Do and Mend a Broken Heart is full of warmth, love and friendship. It’s about how a community can come together through thick and thin. All you have to do is let them.

This book is great for curling up with along with a cup of tea or hot chocolate and with the phone turned off.

I loved every moment of this novel and I hope it’s not the last we see of the residents of Rockgate Bay. Katey, you have a new fan.

About Katey:

Katey Lovell’s feel-good novels are about people overcoming everyday challenges with the support of their friends, family and local community. She has also penned a series of coffee-break romances and a hot romance novella for Tirgearr’s City Nights series.

Originally from South Wales, Katey now lives in Sheffield with her husband, son and friendly moggie Clarence. When she’s not writing she’ll most likely be found watching musicals, enjoying live music or reading anything and everything she can lay her hands on.

Say hi to Katey on Twitter.

Make Do and Mend a Broken Heart was released on eBook by Quercus Books on 9th January 2020. Click to view on Amazon UK.

by

Laura

I'm Laura. I started Novel Kicks back in 2009 as I wanted a place to discuss books and writing - two loves of my life. As someone who has anxiety, these two things give me, and I am sure countless others, a much needed escape.
There is a monthly book club, writing exercises, prompts, reviews, author interviews, competitions and guest posts. I cover many genres and I hope there is something for everyone.
I grew up by the sea in Dorset and currently live in Poole with my husband, Chris and three cats. I love writing and have a BA (Hons) in Creative Writing from Falmouth University. I am writing my first book. If only I could stop pressing delete. Chris has threatened to stop it from working. Haha.
I have always loved creative writing since I was in first school and would very much like to meet my teacher, Miss Sayers, to say thank you for all the encouragement she gave me then.
When not writing, I love reading, cats, Disney, singing (I can't sing but this doesn't stop me,) and falling into a good TV show or film. If I could step into any fictional world, it would be amongst the characters in ABC's Once Upon a Time.
I love reading many genres and discovering new authors.