Review: Amazing Grace by Kim Nash

Thursday 9 April 2020
Title: Amazing Grace
Author: Kim Nash
Publisher: Hera Books
Publication Date: 10th April 2019
Pages: 257
Source: Purchased
Rating: 5/5
Purchase: Amazon
She’s taking her life back , one step at a time…

Grace thought she had it all. Living in the beautiful village of Little Ollington, along with head teacher husband Mark and gorgeous son, Archie, she devoted herself to being the perfect mum and the perfect wife, her little family giving her everything she ever wanted.

Until that fateful day when she walked in on Mark kissing his secretary - and her perfect life fell apart.

Now she's a single mum to Archie, trying to find her way in life and keep things together for his sake. Saturday nights consist of a Chinese takeaway eaten in front of the TV clad in greying pyjamas, and she can’t remember the last time she had a kiss from anyone aside from her dog, Becks

Grace’s life needs a shake up – fast. So when gorgeous gardener Vinnie turns up on her doorstep, his twinkling eyes suggesting that he might be interested in more than just her conifers, she might just have found the answer to her prayers. But as Grace falls deeper for Vinnie, ten-year-old Archie fears that his mum finding love means she’ll never reconcile with the dad he loves.

So when ex-husband Mark begs her for another chance, telling her he’s changed from the man that broke her heart, Grace finds herself with an impossible dilemma. Should she take back Mark and reunite the family that Archie loves? Or risk it all for a new chance of happiness?

I don’t know quite why it took me so long to read Amazing Grace, the debut novel of publicist, blogger extraordinaire, champion of books and bloggers and all-round fabulous woman Kim Nash, but I am so glad that I have now read it. Her brilliant book chat every Tuesday on her Facebook page has seen me filling my Kindle with her guest’s books, it was only fair I filled it with hers too. I can’t remember the last time I read a book in one sitting, but I very quickly got caught up in this story and just could not stop reading it. It was a pure joy from start to finish, if hugely emotional in places too.

Amazing Grace tells the story of single mum Grace, who goes on quite the journey of self-discovery during this wonderful story. Grace is a fantastic character, I was instantly rooting for her and quickly became endeared to her. The relationship she has with her son Archie was magical, it reminded me of how close I was with my mum growing up and I wanted to tell Grace that it is possible for that closeness to be there during the teenage years as mine was and as an adult still is, with my mum. I finished this book imagining that Grace would go on to have the best relationship with Archie such was the closeness of the bond they had. Kim wrote such a fantastic and believable mother and son relationship and I think anyone who knows her will know that would have been easy because of the relationship she has with her own son. Archie was such a great character and really had a huge part to play in Grace going on that journey of self-discovery and really finding that true happiness that she both needed and deserved.

I have to say there was a standout character for me and that was Vinnie. I might have drooled a little bit when he first arrives at Grace’s house and continued to do so as his character began to play a more crucial role in the story. The relationship that develops between these two characters was a delight to read, but as always in these books, the course of true love doesn’t run smooth and so there’s more than a few obstacles for them to overcome during the story. The biggest obstacle being Grace’s absolute twat of an ex-husband, Mark. I don’t want to say too much about him but what a truly horrendous character. The best love stories have you absolutely desperate for a couple to end up with one another and Kim does a good job of throwing these curveballs in the way of our characters all the way through the story.

I really enjoyed the family and friendship element that really shines through the story and I loved how the cast of characters in the story all had their part to play in the journey Grace and Vinnie go on during the story. One such character was Grace’s mum who died before Archie was born. I did think that my own beliefs about death and the afterlife would mean I didn’t relate to or enjoy (for want of a better word) this part of the story but I have to say that I truly did. I don’t want to say too much but this is certainly an emotional story in places. Friendship also plays a huge part too, whether it's Grace's best friend getting her into some horrendously hilarious situations as our story opens, to the wonderful friendship she develops with Vinnie's sister. This is one of those stories where it is all about characterisation and Kim does a brilliant job with each and every character that we meet.

Amazing Grace is one of the best debuts I have read within the Women’s Fiction genre and I am so annoyed with myself for not reading it sooner. It has everything you could want from a story and more. There’s delightful moments, sad moments, hilarious moments, frustrating moments and pure joyous heart-warming moments. Amazing Grace really is just a beautiful story of family, friendship and falling in love. I finished it with tears threatening to fall but with a huge smile on my face. Kim Nash is obviously a woman of many talents and she has now added author to that list. It really is amazing to see people achieve their dreams but none more so than when it’s someone you know, albeit only over the internet. So it’s fantastic to see Kim having this success and writing such an enjoyable book in Amazing Grace. I can’t wait to read her next book, Escape to Giddywell Grange, which is already on my Kindle. I highly recommend Amazing Grace to those who are yet to read it. It is the perfect read in this current climate, and at only 99p on Kindle (at the time of writing) you really have no excuse not to pick it up.

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