Always on my Mind by Colette Caddle

Old flames, new temptations ...With only a few weeks to go until her Dublin wedding, Molly Jackson is happily anticipating married life with Declan, her boyfriend of four years. Her sister Laura has all the arrangements firmly in hand, from the designer dresses to the prestigious venue; and if Molly would have been happier with something a little more low-key, she can hardly complain. She's got everything she ever wanted: her perfect job, as an agony aunt for online magazine Teenage Kix; Declan, the love of her life; and, in Belle, Oliver, Rory and Laura, a loving and warm, if slightly eccentric family. Then Declan drops his bombshell: he has to go abroad, on business. The wedding must be postponed. Hurt, and reeling from the shock, Molly is seeing Declan off at the airport when she bumps into Luke Fortune. Luke, her childhood sweetheart, left the country when they were both eighteen. It's been almost twelve years, and Molly thought she had moved on. But, seeing Luke again, she realises that she has a window of opportunity, while Declan is away, to put a few of the ghosts in her past to rest.


This is the first book I have read by Colette Caddle, an Irish author and as I love other Irish chicklit author I was pleased to have been asked to review this book to see if she followed the trend of excellent irish chick lit authors like: Marian Keyes, Cecelia Aherne and Sinead Moriaty, and I am pleased to say she follows the trend!


The main character in the book is Molly,  who is getting ready to marry her fiance, Declan in a few weeks. However, Declan is offered a new job and has to go on a training course in Japan for ten weeks - during which they are supposed to be getting married. The wedding is postponed, however when Molly takes Declan to the airport she spots Luke, her first boyfriend whose parents moved him to France following the death of his twin sister, Ruth, before they could talk about their relationship and come to terms with Ruths death. Although Molly and Declan don't talk at the airport, it reminds Molly of her feelings for Luke and after some detective work finds that Luke will be back in Ireland later in the month, where Molly decides to 'bump' into him and see if the feelings are still there.


Molly's family, mother, father, brother Rory and sister Laura, all play a big part in the book. They are a close family, meeting each Sunday for brunch, however they all have their own issues to cope with too. Laura, her sister, is a mother of twins, and is facing difficulties in her marriage and when temptation is given when she accompanies Molly to try and find Luke, what will she decide to do.


Molly's best friend, Ellen is also heavily pregnant and as her due date grows nearer she considers contacting the baby's father, a drug addict who has promised to get clean but doesn't know she is pregnant.


The story also looks at the relationships of Laura's twins, Ash and Adam, with their friends and family.


We do not learn about the whole story between Luke and Molly until the end of the but it is beautifully written and shows the full effect it had on both families, as well as the long term effects for all.


The book was well written and although there were many characters, the author remained focused on the story line of Molly and Declan, their postponed wedding and how it affects everyone. 


There were regularly new problems introduced into the story, which keeps the book interesting and I really enjoyed exploring each of the family members and their own lives, as well as their part within the family.


I enjoyed the book and it would make a great summer read, lazing in the garden or on a beach somewhere. 


Thank you to the publishers, Simon and Schuster, for sending me the book to review.