Live Well, Live Full, Live Happy

It Started With A Note by Victoria Cooke is the most delightful contemporary romance about two loves a century apart.

The love just oozes from the novel. They are loves that will last. They are loves that are wrenched apart. There are loves of parents for their children. The whole novel is a tribute to love – not wild, searing passion but a deep love that reaches beyond the novel to envelope the reader and make us feel loved too.

With amusing dialogue and everyday situations, the reader can empathise with the lead character. She could be any one of us as she goes about her daily life. Her problems of fly away hair and crumpled tee-shirts give a universal appeal.

Set in England and France, the two locations could not be more different. The rain in Britain contrasts with the bright atmosphere in France.

The novel is about connecting the past with the present as century old letters from The Front are discovered by a great granddaughter. In memory of him, she decides to tour the WWI battlefields where he fought. The reader feels the sadness and complete waste of young lives, used as cannon fodder and snuffed out. “Killed like he was nothing.” So many families devastated on all sides.

If war teaches us one thing, it is to cherish our loved ones. People matter. “Happiness comes from within and from the people you are connected to, not from a place.” Places and stuff mean nothing without loved ones. We need to practice carpe diem and seize the day. Grab life with both hands and live it. The novel shows that life can be an adventure if we would just grab the opportunities that come our way.

It Started With A Note is such a wonderful read. It left me smiling and with a warm heart. Victoria Cooke is a new author to me but I want to read more, more, more.

I received this book for free. A favourable review was not required and all views expressed are my own.

JULIA WILSON