Review: 'Til St. Patrick's Day

’Til St. Patrick’s Day by Holly Gilliatt
Age Group: Adult
Genre: Chick Lit
Release Date: April 2, 2013
Buy Links:

Amazon

Book Description:

For three best friends, one winter will change everything.

Chronically optimistic Jayne is surprised she's still single at twenty-eight. But as always for Jayne, there's hope. This time his name is Gray--a successful, gorgeous marketing VP that she can't believe is going out with her. She's never given up on the belief that the right man for her is out there, somewhere. Maybe Gray could be the one...if she just works hard enough to make it happen.

Her cynical friend Karen is suspicious of Jayne's new guy with his model looks and over-inflated ego. She's concerned for Jayne, but has her own relationship to worry about. Not that anything's wrong with her boyfriend. He's actually perfect for her, which is why she's terrified. Not sure she can ever fully trust a man again, she considers bailing on yet another relationship.

Claudia is always there for her friends, no matter what they're going through. She mothers them like the children she craves to have, relieved she's no longer navigating the dating world. Happily married, Claudia can't wait until the day her husband finally agrees it's time to start a family.

'Til St. Patrick's Day is a novel exploring the depths of friendship and what happens when love doesn't go according to plan.

♥ ♥ ♥
In the interest of full disclosure, the author offered me a copy of this book for a fair and honest review.
And I am SO glad that she did. Wow did I love this book. From start to finish, I was engaged with the characters and the plot. I flew through this one in two and a half days and when I wasn’t reading it, I found myself thinking about the characters and wondering what was going to happen next.

A couple of the plot points were a tad predictable—I had a sneaking suspicion about what would happen with both Claudia and Jane, but honestly it didn’t bother me in the least when it turned out I was right, and that’s a huge credit to Gilliatt’s character-building ability.



I really enjoyed the dynamics among the three friends, and even the dynamics among their significant others, as well. All of the characters are well-layered with minds of their own, and they aren’t too similar to one another, which can be a tricky thing with so many characters. It was easy to keep all of them straight, though, and none of them felt like they were stereotypes.

Jane, Karen, and Claudia’s stories wove together very nicely, and made me wistful that other books don’t always successfully convince me that the main characters are such close friends. It was a heart-warming story with a satisfying ending even though parts of it made me tear up.

One thing I noticed was that unlike many writers, Gilliatt uses third person omniscient point of view. Normally this wouldn’t be something I like in a book, but she made it work and it wasn’t as jarring as it would have been in other novels. Obviously the main theme of this novel was friendship, but it’s followed very closely by love—and not just romantic love. To anyone who likes to read stories about these themes, you HAVE to read this book. It’s fantastic.

♥ ♥ ♥

Author Bio:

When she’s not busy daydreaming of someday spending her life writing from a cozy house in the woods, Holly Gilliatt has a hectic life in the suburbs as a wife and mom to three glorious—and crazy—kids. Working full-time selling packaging supplies and equipment in St. Louis, Missouri pays the bills (most months). A hopeless romantic and music addict, she finds time to pursue her passion for writing by avoiding housework. Her biggest ambition is to someday be caught up with the laundry.

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