Do you want a ready-made family? (The Accidental Family - Rowan Coleman)

Member Name: KLockwood75

Product:	The Accidental Family - Rowan Coleman
Date:	24/04/09 (144 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Fast-flowing story, believable characters, lots of twists

Disadvantages: Only if you don't like chick-lit!

'The Accidental Family' is the sequel to Rowan Coleman's book 'The Accidental Mother'. I read 'The Accidental Mother' a couple of years ago and really enjoyed it, so I was happy to find the follow-up in Borders as if I've enjoyed a book, I love finding out what happens next in the lives of the characters.

'The Accidental Mother' is the story of a London career girl called Sophie who has to take custody of her best friend's two little girls after their mother is killed in a car accident and nobody knows where their father is. Looking after two little children is a completely alien concept to Sophie and the book tells the story of her struggle to adapt to the situation she finds herself in. There are many trials and tribulations along the way, but ultimately Sophie falls in love with the two girls and becomes almost like a mother to them. However, in a final twist, their father Louis returns from overseas to claim his daughters and Sophie ends up falling in love with him.

'The Accidental Family' is set six months after the end of the first book. Sophie has given up her glamorous life in London to move to Cornwall to be near Louis and his daughters. She is living in a B&B in St Ives as she is not ready to make the final commitment to move in with them, but acting as a mother to the girls at the same time doing the school runs and caring for the children. She is a completely different person to the career girl at the start of the first book - she is adjusting to a different way of life, making new friends and eating endless cream teas. However, she is struggling to work out whether this is really the life that she wants - she knows that she loves the girls and thinks that she is in love with Louis, but does she really have what it takes to make it all work. After a while, she realises what it is that she wants - only for new twists and challenges to emerge.

The characters in this book are very well developed. I found Sophie a very likeable character with lots of depth to her personality. Sometimes she seems like she is completely in control and sometimes the emotional upheavals in her life get the better of her. I feel that this makes her a very realistic character who I could really relate to. I don't think the character of Louis is as strongly developed, but that only serves to emphasise Sophie's doubts about whether she really knows that much about him apart from him being good in bed. My favourite characters in the story are the two girls, Bella and Izzy. Through these children, the author captures perfectly what it is like to be little girls - mostly they are funny, happy children living in a bubble of pink glitter and fairy wings, but they are also fragile, insecure and deeply affected by the sad events of their past.

Like the first novel, this book is an emotional rollercoaster as the events unfold. It could have been a fluffy story of wedding planning and happy ever afters, but it is much more complex than that. Every time you think that the characters are getting their lives sorted out and things are starting to settle down for them, there is another twist which keeps you turning the pages to find out what happens next.

I really enjoyed this book and would definitely recommend it. I think that Rowan Coleman is one of the better chick-lit authors as her characters are well developed and there is more depth to her writing. You don't have to have read 'The Accidental Mother' to enjoy this book, but I do think having read it added to my enjoyment of this novel. I found it was a book that I just wanted to keep reading as I had to know what happened next and really got myself caught up in the story. It is perfect summer time reading for everyone who likes chick-lit - whether that means lying on a beach or just relaxing in the garden!

Summary: A fab novel for those summer holidays - highly recommended