The Longest Holiday by Paige Toon

'Don't wait for the storm to pass; learn to dance in the rain…' Laura has been married to the man of her dreams for seven months. But a week before the wedding, Matthew made a terrible mistake. Escaping the humiliation that is now her marriage, Laura is whisked off to Florida's Key West by her best friend Marty. A carefree holiday full of cocktails and fun, surrounded by gorgeous, tanned men, is exactly what the doctor ordered. Distraction comes in the form of sexy Cuban scuba diver Leo. Laura's instant attraction to him knocks her flying, and she falls hard. As the end of the holiday approaches, Laura doesn't want to go home. Is it time to face the music? Or is there more to Key West than a holiday romance?

I have always been a huge fan of Paige Toon, she is definitely one of my top ten authors and having read all of her books I can honestly say not a single one of them disappoint. When I was out shopping on Tuesday I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw a copy of The Longest Holiday sitting staring at me days before publication so I quickly snapped up my copy feeling like a criminal! ( I did pay!)

The synopsis sounded intriguing and exciting so I couldn’t wait to start reading. Laura is our protagonist and what a fabulous character she is. She is easy to warm to and she seemed so lifelike she is my favourite female character from Paige Toons books.  After a revelation about Laura’s husband Matthew comes to light she needs to get away to clear her head and have time to think about whether or not she can forgive her husband and save her marriage. Laura jets away to Florida’s Key West with her friend Marty and her friend Bridget.

It’s not long before her thoughts are distracted by the gorgeously hot Leo. But are her feelings for Leo just confusing matters more, I mean the holiday has to come to an end at some point surely?

The storyline was so captivating and fresh, I was hooked from the first chapter and so it soon became clear that this was going to be a book that you can’t put down.  I loved how unpredictable the book was there was no way of predicting what was going to happen next. The author also puts a pretty shocking twist towards the end which I never saw coming. The whole of the book was fantastically written the descriptive writing made you feel as though you were there holidaying with Laura and towards the end of the book the writing is very beautifully written and touching.

Leo is a perfect male role, when we first meet him he feels a little mysterious but as we get to know more about his character and his background you can’t help but get a little hot under the collar when he is around!

This is an amazing read and I would even go as far as to say I think it is my favourite Paige Toon book. I was a little shocked by the ending I was still engrossed in the storyline and then suddenly it was the Epilogue! But we are not left on a cliff hanger the author ties things up nicely, although I would be more than happy if Paige Toon decides to bring these characters back in a sequel. The only problem now is I feel rather deflated now I have finished I think the characters and storyline will be in my mind for a while yet! Easily one of the best books I have read in a long time, a perfect holiday read, this is why this gets my very rare Gem rating. My first Gem rating this year.

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