Dear Emmie Blue

Guys, This is my favorite book so far this year!

Oh, the feels! So many feels. It was everything I wanted it to be.

There were tears, sad moments, happy moments, don’t-leave types of moments, and ecstatic moments.

As a lover of romance, Dear Emmie Blue melted my heart. My kindle is full of highlights. So many favorite one-liners <3.

So what’s the book about?

I almost don’t want to tell you. I want you to experience it yourself.

But in case you’re wondering……

Emmie Blue is turning thirty. Her life is not where she envisioned it. Far from it. She is living in Louise’s house. An older lady, who rents a room and is as quiet as Emmie. She’s working at a hotel instead of working at a high school. She never met her father and her mother is as warm as a cactus (please forgive me cactuses for the comparison). Emmie’s mother has been in and out of Emmie’s life as far as she can remember.

Emmie’s best friend is Lucas. The boy who found her balloon all those years back. The boy who knows her secret. The boy who is now a man and whom Emmie has fallen in love with without telling him. The man who shares her own birthday. The man she’s waiting for him to notice he loves her back.

When Lucas asks Emmie to meet him in France (he lives there, she lives in the UK) for a special dinner, Emmie thinks this is it. He’s finally going to pop the question. Yet, this is not what happens. Instead, her heart is broken. With the news he gives her, she knows things will change between them.

Dear Emmie Blue was a charming, endearing story with lovable characters. Ballon Boy stole my heart. At the 53% mark, I hit my forehead when I finally realized what my heart was telling me to be true.

The secondary characters were so well done. Rosie was the best girlfriend someone could have. Her sincerity, no-nonsense personality and her humor made her stellar. Fox’s company complimented the trio well. Louise also found a place in my heart. She was a quiet presence until she wasn’t anymore.

“I support you and accept you, even though you’re a wreck.”

Dear Emmie Blue is a road to self-discovery for our main character, Emmie… A time to grow and do some needed soul-searching. To stand up and become stronger. To learn that despite adversity and a lousy past, you can be better. You can be happy
Cliffhanger: No

5/5 Fangs

This is hands down the best book I have read so far this year, and I am confident it will be one of the top books of my whole year. Thank you to Atria Books and Netgalley for this advanced e-book – I picked it up to read right away, and then spent months stewing on how I could possibly do justice to writing a review of this book, but here goes!

At 16, Emmie Blue releases a balloon with a piece of paper that has a secret and her email address written on it – the balloon travels from England to the coast of France, where it is found by Lucas, who sends her an email. This starts an intense friendship, and it’s not long before Emmie is head over heels for Lucas. Flash forward to when the two are 30, where Emmie has spent the past 14 years pining for Lucas to the point of neglecting all other aspects of her life. So, of course, when Lucas asks her to be the best woman at his upcoming wedding, we can all imagine Emmie’s complete shock and heartache. This sets the book into motion, and as we move forward, we see glimpses of Emmie and Lucas’s past and how it has led them to where they are today. I don’t want to give any more plot details away, but I will say that nothing is as it seems.

This book is a love story, yes. But it’s an unexpected love story in so many ways. And even more than that, it’s a story of coming into your own, learning to live and enjoy life – even if it is not with who you want – and coming to love yourself. If you loved Evvie Drake Starts Over, you will certainly be a fan of this one as well.

I have to be honest here for a moment – when I first started this book, I really, really did not like Emmie. After reading some more and pondering on why, I realized I didn’t like Emmie because she reminded me of parts of myself. She reminded me of parts that I don’t like about myself and times that I hope I’ve grown from and left in the past. From this moment on, I latched onto Emmie and her story and joined her for the ride – it can be jarring when we see ourselves in a character, especially aspects we don’t like, but when we can see the growth that character goes through, and hopefully see that for ourselves as well, then it just makes the reading experience so much more than just a fun read. It brings it to life!

This book is hilarious and heart-warming. I laughed out loud and I cried real tears. I devoured this book in 2 days, reading way past my bedtime, during breaks at work, even while walking to and from the car! I couldn’t put it down, and I have shouted from the rooftops that this book should be in everyone’s hands this summer. I hope you give Emmie a chance and read this novel that I can’t wait to pick up again myself.

Even though I received a free e-ARC of this book, I also purchased a hard copy when it was released – I just know that I will read it again and again.

A long time ago, Emmie Blue released a red balloon with a secret message hidden inside – and against all odds, across hundreds of miles of ocean, it was found on a beach in France by a boy called Lucas.

Fourteen years later, on the eve of her thirtieth birthday, Emmie hopes that Lucas is finally about to kiss her. She never expected him to announce that he was marrying someone else!

Suddenly Emmie’s dreams are shattered and the one person in her life she can rely on is slipping through her fingers. But what if Lucas isn’t her forever? What if her love story is only just beginning…

Firstly thanks to Orion for the arc of this book to review. People who know me know I raved for a long time about Somewhere Close to Happy (Lia’s debut last year) so I was super excited when I got the notification that I had been approved to read her new offering.

What can I say? I stayed up until silly o’clock to read this in one reading. Yet again she has made characters that you feel are friends of your own and when there’s a sad event in the book I even found myself shedding a tear as though it were a friend of my own. With lines that made me laugh out loud and others that made me want to cry this is a perfect book for any reader.

Her writing just makes me smile and this book is another triumph. I was rooting for Emmie Blue all the way through.

I will eagerly look forward to what Lia produces next, she has set her own bar very high!

I took a while to get into this book which is on the theme of ‘My Best friends Wedding’.
Emmie has had a bit of a sad and lonely life, when at sweet 16, and in need of a friend she lets a balloon off at school as a competition to see how far it goes, and it’s found in France by Lucas. They start messaging and then eventually meet and become best friends, and Emmie is treated like family by his parents. At their 30th birthday meal Lucas announces he is getting married and wants Emmie to be Best Woman when she was expecting to be the bride!
I thought this was billed as a funny book but I found it quite sad and poignant in places, although very well written and excellent characters. However I felt that the build up was so very long I could have done with more of an ending for the happy couple, or a good epilogue which is definitely my favourite part.

At first I wasnt sure about this, where Emmie Blues story was taking me. And having listened to the audiobook version, I dont think that helped me be to be as engrossed with her story as if Id had the physical book to read. But Emmies story pulled me in hook, line and sinker. As she navigates her lonely life; lonely in childhood in a single parent family whose mother was never quite enough for her, and following the fallout after that traumatic event at school leading to her ostracism, well into adulthood with her ongoing friendship with Lucas and how his family have semi-adopted her.

She does have some friends, but is alone. And its the events that unfold that really pull at your heart. I love Emmie Blue and the relationship she has with Lucas, Rosie, Fox, Louise and Elliot. As her story progresses and you learn more and more, and you really feel for her. Particularly with the strained relationship she has with her mum. You see how her love for Lucas is all consuming, but shes willing to do the right thing and let him be happy with his bride to be. Yet still loving him from afar. But then things change and people change. Emmie changes. She learns she is enough. And she learns what happiness is, for her. She learns that she is loved and shes not lonely. This one had me tearing up – I loved it! Its heartbreaking, funny and so romantic. Ill be checking out more books from Lia Louis.

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