The Queen of New Beginnings [Paperback]

I admit that when I bought this book I was cautious about what to expect. It had no reviews on Amazon and I often find editorial reviews somewhat lacking and biased in their opinions. Added to this wariness was that I had never heard of this author (I have since discovered Ms James has a long list of books to offer).
The authors' writing style captured me instantly as I was drawn into this incredibly well crafted tale.

This book tells the story of its two main characters Alice Shoemaker and Clayton Miller. Clayton is a script writer whose career has hit rock bottom after his girlfriend leaves him for his ex-writing partner. In an attempt to lay low from some very bad publicity, Clayton's agent sends him to the moors of Derbyshire to hide out under an alias. This is where our two main characters meet as Alice, doing a favour for her neighbour, is hired as his cleaner. Alice is a voice-over artist who once held aspirations of becoming an actress. Shocked with Clayton's rough appearance and rude introduction she pretends to be Katya, a Latvian cleaner, who is equally rude in return.
Before long both have their real identities revealed and Alice reveals she grew up in the house that Clayton is hiding out in. This gets Clayton and Alice talking and they begin to share things about each other, things they haven't shared with anyone else before. And this is when the trouble starts...

The thing that keeps you enchanted with this book from beginning to end is the amazing characters the author has created. Alice and Clayton are well rounded with faults and flaws and you are given an amazing insight into their pasts, revealing how they came to be the people they are. Added to this is a strong cast of supporting characters, each of whom feels like a real person and not simply another background character in a book.

After beginning the book with wariness, I cannot believe just how much I loved this book! The author tells her story with a natural rhythm and her descriptions easily allow you to picture scenes. If I had to compare her style to another author, I would say she is similar to Katie Fforde with her lovable charismatic characters and quirkiness that only the English can pull off.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough. This one is definitely a keeper and I am now going to eagerly hunt down the other books this author has written.

Take a voice-over artist and a television writer who is in hiding, place them in a house together and watch them keep trying to hide things from each other. Alice and Clayton are this such pair and from the beginning of the story, the reader knows that something is going to happen between the two of them.

Alice's story is very intriguing and quite sad at times. She reveals her dysfunctional childhood and the relationships she shared with her father and step-family. She pours out her heart and soul to Clayton and it's quite dastardly of him to use her feelings and emotions to benefit him. Of course he doesn't come across as a monster because for the most part he really is a nice guy. He's just been jaded and down in the dumps and is trying to crawl back out of the whole again. The best part of the story for me is at the end when Clatyon finally gets back revenge on those who had wronged him. Normally revenge is not thee best way to settle things but what happens here is hilarious and I will say, they had it coming for them especially when we find out the whole truth.

The story takes this familiar scenario: one party goes behind person's back but then falls in love with them, they think that they can still do the deed without the other finding out but of course it backfires. The couple splits angrily but then reunites later in the story and all is well. While this plot has been told many times, James puts an entirely different spin on it and makes it into a compelling story. She makes the characters believable and puts heart and soul into them. The reader sees both their flaws as well as the good that is in them. Supporting characters help to flesh out the main characters as well as we see how past events have shaped them to who they are today.

Part of the story's charm is the fact that it takes place in England. I don't know what it is about British authors but I find British chick lit to be far superior to American chick lit in many cases. This is one of them. James has an extensive backlist and I look forward to discovering more of her works.

Almost infamous fortyish Clayton Miller flees London after causing a public humiliation involving his former girlfriend Stacey and his former writing partner Barry "Lucky Bazza" Osbourne. His heart is shattered and his career as a scriptwriter recently in the stratosphere has crashed to earth as he is out of work and out of ideas except for writing his obit

His agent Glen told Clayton to relocate temporarily in the countryside at the Cuckoo House. There he and Alice Shoemaker meet when she arrives as the housekeeper. The house is actually her family abode and though she suffered broken hearts here, she relishes being able to come home. The pair dislikes one another from the onset yet also feels a fascination. They forge a friendship as each tells the other why he and she rusticate in the country. As they start to trust and rely on one another for emotional relief, they begin to fall in love; but both fears that feeling will lead to a fresh heartbreak with no one around to help them weather the storm.

Although the story line is linear as the plot goes as expected, the cast (London and the villagers) is superb. The support characters enhance the look at the lead pair while Clayton and Alice are nice people who each fears love having recent heartbreaks. The strong characterizations make for a tender second chance at love tale if the lead duet can take that leap of faith and trust in their respective hearts.

Harriet Klausner