#BookReview | The Likely Resolutions of Oliver Clock by @JaneRileyAuthor | #OliverClock | @AmazonPub |@ed_pr | #BlogTour

‘His life is perfectly regimented.
Is there really any room for something as unpredictable as love?‘
– The Likely Resolutions of Oliver Clock

[ About the Book ]

Oliver Clock has everything arranged just so. A steady job running the family funeral parlour. A fridge stocked with ready meals. A drawer full of colour-coded socks. A plan (of sorts) to stay trim enough for a standard-sized coffin. And in florist Marie, he’s even found the love of his life—not that she’s aware of it.

When a terrible tragedy takes Marie out of his life but leaves him with her private journal, he discovers too late that she secretly loved him back. Faced now with an empty love life, a family funeral business in trouble, a fast-approaching fortieth birthday and a notebook of resolutions he’s never achieved, Oliver resolves to open himself up to love—and all the mess that comes along with it.

But, with a habit of burying his feelings, can he learn to embrace his lovability and find the woman who will make him feel whole?

[ My Review ]

Today I am delighted to be joining the blog tour with Jane Riley for her debut novel, The Likely Resolutions of Oliver Clock.

Described as ‘uplifting and heartfelt‘ The Likely Resolutions of Oliver Clock is out now and is published by Lake Union in paperback original. The perfect read for all who enjoy Gail Honeyman, Jonas Jonasson and Fredrik Backman.

‘I must eat less cake.
I must stop watching infomercials.
I must take up a hobby – making model aeroplanes perhaps?
I must go to the movies once a month even it means going on my own.
I must find love.
Can I find love?’

Oliver Clock makes lists, lots of lists. He has had very little real love in his life. As a funeral director he is surrounded by death and grief on a daily basis. He comes home to his flat, alone. He drinks a glass of wine, eats a microwave dinner and goes to bed alone. Yet Oliver does not want to be like this but he is fearful of change. He is a man of routine so he dreams of another life and writes all these ideas down in a notebook. The lists of intended resolutions keep growing but Oliver’s days remain the same.

He works in the family business and, since his father passed away, Oliver is the sole heir. His mother, a woman in her seventies, works beside him, leaving Oliver very little independence. All business decisions are run through his mother first and Oliver has accepted this, leaving his dreams on paper never to be fulfilled.

For many years Oliver has loved Marie from afar. Marie was the florist who supplied their business. Oliver was enamored by Marie. She was everything and more than Oliver could have wished for. But Marie was married and out of his reach. When Marie gave Oliver some bad health news, Oliver knew he lad left it too late. Oliver’s world crumbled.

But from his pain, Oliver began to rise like a phoenix, he started to notice minor changes in his life, unexplained feeling of euphoria, of feeling wanted, of feeling reborn. Battling against the environment that he had grown up in, fighting against his norm, Oliver decided to make some life changing decisions. Oliver began to discover who Oliver Clock really was.

Reading The Likely Resolutions of Oliver Clock is like watching a flower slowly bloom, battling through a harsh Spring and surviving with it’s head held high as the Summer sun shines down. Oliver looks back over his youth and begins to make sense of his past. He begins to realise that, at thirty-nine, he has plenty more to offer, more to give. With the help of others he can make changes, if he can just let himself open up to new possibilities and new adventures. Oliver wants a life beyond his sofa, beyond his lists and resolutions but has he the fortitude to take those first necessary steps?

The Likely Resolutions of Oliver Clock is a charming read, a gentle tale about a charming and gentle man. It is a story of learning self-belief and self-understanding, a story about learning to be comfortable in your own skin and taking chances and adventure in the everyday. Oliver Clock experiences all the emotions, from elation to depression and back again. He is at times so cripplingly sad, yet he keeps hoping for a light, something to guide him through those darker moments, which up to now has been his notebook of resolutions. Oliver wants to live. Oliver wants passion and hope in his life, Oliver wants love.

The Likely Resolutions of Oliver Clock is packed with some very wonderfully descriptive characters, all easily pictured as you turn the pages but it is Oliver that wins the day. He is a lovable person, someone you are rooting for at all times in the hope that change will come.

The Likely Resolutions of Oliver Clock is a delightful and enjoyable read with the sweetest man right there just waiting to be loved. Will Oliver Clock find himself? Will Oliver Clock find the one? Well you will just just have to pick up a copy yourself to find out…..

[ Bio ]

Jane Riley began her career in public relations before moving into publishing and later launching an online e-commerce business. She has freelanced as a writer and editor and wrote a design blog interviewing makers and creators.

She volunteers as an English language tutor for the Adult Migrant English Program in Sydney.

The Likely Resolutions of Oliver Clock is her first novel.

Twitter @JaneRileyAuthor.