Two for Joy by Helen Chandler

Two for Joy by Helen Chandler
Buy Two for Joy by Helen Chandler at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
Category: Women's Fiction
Reviewer: Jo Heffer
Summary: Julia and Toby have been friends for years in a purely platonic way. What they have both failed to realise, even though it’s perfectly obvious to all their family and friends, is that they really are in love with each other. It takes Toby’s rejected proposal of marriage to his girlfriend, Ruby, to bring their feelings out into the open. However, before they can really start enjoying life as a couple, events suddenly turn incredibly complicated.
Buy? Yes	Borrow? Yes
Pages: 310	Date: June 2013
Publisher: Hodder Paperbacks
ISBN: 9781444769296
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Two for Joy is Helen Chandler’s first novel and is immensely enjoyable from the very first pages where the reader meets Julia and her best friend Toby who is telling her about how he intends to go down on one knee and propose to his girlfriend, Ruby. Although outwardly delighted, internally Julia experiences some uncomfortable feelings that she doesn’t really recognise and does not want to acknowledge. Come the big night, she is desperately miserable at the thought of Toby’s and Ruby’s romantic evening and can’t bring herself to do anything other than mope around in her pyjamas.

However, at the posh restaurant across town, things aren’t going according to Toby’s plan. Ruby is horrified at the thought of being tied down by marriage; she is not ready to marry anyone and certainly not Toby. He turns to Julia and, well to cut a long story short, one thing leads to another and the pair realise that they have been attracted to each other all along. It all looks set for a 'happy ever after' scenario but that wouldn’t be much of a story at all. So, as Julia lovingly prepares a meal while Toby collects a few things from his house, Ruby is about to reveal something to him that will change everything. And if that doesn’t complicate things enough, Julia is soon to be hit by an unexpected surprise of her own.

It all sounds like a tangled web and indeed it is. Helen Chandler has created a riveting tale based on a very modern dilemma with Toby, the hapless hero, at the midst of it all. It’s a fascinating story with lots of unexpected twists and turns. The main characters are extremely likeable and the reader cannot help but care about them. There are also various family members and friends who appear at times that all contribute to the main story as well as having their own tales to tell. It is all woven together very well in such a way that the reader hardly wants to put it down. In fact, this was so much the case, that I read the entire book in less than forty eight hours.

I thought this was a brilliant debut novel and I will definitely look out for more from Helen Chandler.

Why not also take a look at Lessons in Laughing Out Loud by Rowan Coleman

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