The Valentines Card by Juliet Ashton

The Valentine's card was meant to be Orla's fairy tale ending, but really, it was only the beginning ...Orla adores her actor boyfriend, Sim, who's away filming a sumptuous costume drama. Although the long-distance relationship means that she can eat toast for dinner and watch as much reality TV as she likes, she misses him like crazy. But Valentine's Day changes everything ...The same morning Orla learns that Sim has died, she receives a card from him. As Orla travels from Ireland to London, to live and breathe Sim's final moments, can she bring herself to open the Valentine's card and read his final message?

As soon as I saw the synopsis for this book I was knew that it was a book I would be looking forward to reading. When I received the book I was not disappointed. It is a cleverly written book, swapping between the present day and excerpts from Sim's previous years diary leading up to the fateful day.

The 'intrigue' begins from the very start of the book. As Orla receives the devastating news that her partner, Sim, had died on a London street and the pink envelope is dropped through her letterbox, I really wanted to know what was written in that last valentine - was it the marriage proposal that Orla believed it to be or was it something else? I won't give the storyline away but when she finally read the  valentine, after carrying it around with her for months, the story didn't end there. I had guessed part of the plot, but there was another twist around the corner which made the story even more poignant.

I really enjoyed the style of the book, swapping between the present day and Sim's life in London via his diary entries. There was also a look behind the scenes of a film production in Sim's work life and the glitz and glam within the cast, although this storyline is a very minor part.

I would recommend this book as a great one to read while in the valentine spirit - it is not the traditional boy meets girl, boy marries girl - but is well worth a read.

Thank you to the publishers, Sphere, for sending me the book to review.