#BlogTour #BookReview One Thousand Stars and You by @Isabelle_Broom

‘One spark will light up both their lives’

One Thousand Stars and You is the latest novel from Isabelle Broom and I am thrilled to be joining the blog tour today with my review.

Isabelle Broom will always take the reader on an adventure and this time we are taken on a journey through the sights and sounds of Sri Lanka.

Just published with Michael Joseph (Penguin), One Thousand Stars and You is a book I was more than ready to lose myself in as those sun-filled days of summer were coming to an end.

Please do read on for my thoughts….

About the Book:

Alice is settling down. It might not be the adventurous life she once imagined, but more than anything she wants to make everyone happy – her steady boyfriend, her over-protective mother – even if it means a little part of her will always feel stifled.

Max is shaking things up. After a devastating injury, he is determined to prove himself. To find the man beyond the disability, to escape his smothering family and go on an adventure.

A trip to Sri Lanka is Alice’s last hurrah – her chance to throw herself into the heat, chaos and colour of a place thousands of miles from home.

It’s also the moment she meets Max.

Alice doesn’t know it yet, but her whole life is about to change.

Max doesn’t know it yet, but he’s the one who’s going to change it.

My Review:

Alice is twenty-nine years of age. Working in a job she considers dull and in a relationship that has gotten a little dusty, Alice is ready for a little excitement in her life. With her two best buddies also approaching the BIG 30, the suggestion of an adventure in Sri Lanka fills Alice with joy and excitement. Alice has lived quite a sheltered life with an over-protective mother, who means well but has been a constant shadow in her life. Due to an unfortunate accident as a child, Alice has been smothered by her mother’s good intentions but it all gets a little bit much for Alice.

Alice met her boyfriend, Richard, while in college and their relationship followed  a very uncomplicated path, with marriage in their future an inevitability. But Alice is hiding away the part of herself that wants a challenge, that wants excitement, that wants adventure. Sri Lanka may just be solution she is looking for to let off a little steam before she settles down. With her friends Maureen and Steph, all three would celebrate turning thirty together in an exotic location and to Alice this just sounds like an opportunity not to be missed.

As soon as they land in the heat and hub-bub of Sri Lanka, Alice soaks up the electric atmosphere. The noises, the colour, the traffic all combine to ignite a suppressed passion that Alice is almost afraid to reveal.

Max is also on his own very different adventure. With his friend Jamal, Max is on a voyage of self-discovery. Carrying the scars, both physically and mentally, of a very traumatic and life-changing experience, Max is searching for peace. Feeling suffocated with his life at home, Max’s journey to Sri Lanka is his way of proving that he can manage his life independently and that he is now a stronger person.

A chance meeting, at the beginning of the trip, of all five (Alice, Steph, Maureen, Max & Jamal) proves to be a very positive experience as an immediate friendship unfolds. The gang set out to discover Sri Lanka but along the way they also discover more about each other and about themselves.

Reading a book by Isabelle Broom is like going on a holiday with no bags attached. This is the third book I have read and is by far my favourite. I loved all the characters in this book. The portrayal of each individual feels very authentic, which is a credit to the writing. I may even have shed a tear! On finishing the book I thought of my own two daughters and said to myself ‘Go have your adventures my darling girls.‘ Life has a way of trapping people and preventing them from living the life they were meant to lead, from experiencing the adventures the world has to offer. Isabelle Broom brings these adventures to life on paper, allowing readers of her novels to just imagine. Imagine the intensity of colour, the sense of a smell, the view from a mountain top, the personality of a local, the sweltering heat of the sun on your skin, all this is possible through Isabelle Broom’s writing.

One Thousand Stars and You is a story about finding yourself. Life is complicated and with it, there is a gamut of emotions to be experienced as we brace ourselves for the road ahead. Isabelle Broom deals with relationships, love and, ultimately, hope as the reader is taken on a heart-warming adventure. Packed with positivity and encouragement, Isabelle Broom explores the notion of becoming who you really want to be and not who you think others want you to be.

Inspiring. Heart-warming. Romantic.

Purchase Link ~ One Thousand Stars and You

Bio:

Isabelle Broom is an author and the Book Reviews Editor at Heat magazine.

She has travelled all over the world and lived on the Greek island of Zakynthos for an unforgettable and life-shaping six months.

Her novels are set in beautiful far-flung locations and are perfect for anyone who likes an escapist and evocative read.

Website  ~ https://isabellebroom.com/

Twitter ~ @Isabelle_Broom