The Accidental Life of Greg Millar – Aimee Alexander #BookReview

Published by Lake Union Publishing

Ebook & Paperback: 26 April 2016

Lucy Arigho’s first encounter with Greg Millar is far from promising, but she soon realises he possesses a charm that is impossible to resist. Just eight whirlwind weeks after their first meeting, level-headed career girl Lucy is seriously considering his pleas to marry him and asking herself if she could really be stepmother material.

But before Lucy can make a final decision about becoming part of Greg’s world, events plunge her right into it. On holiday in the South of France, things start to unravel. Her future stepchildren won’t accept her, the interfering nanny resents her, and they’re stuck in a heat wave that won’t let up. And then there’s Greg. His behaviour becomes increasingly bizarre and Lucy begins to wonder whether his larger-than-life personality hides something darker—and whether she knows him at all.

Earlier this year, I had the pleasure of hosting Aimee Alexander on the blog with a very interesting guest post, “Should readers contact authors?“,  and I now have a review of The Accidental Life of Greg Millar. 

Lucy Arigho’s first meeting with Greg Millar didn’t go that well however just a few weeks later she is considering his proposal and they appear to be madly in love. Little does she know just how much her life will change.

Set in Ireland and the South of France, and narrated in the present tense by Lucy, this is a multi faceted story of love, family, relationships, and much deeper complex issues. I don’t want to give away any spoilers but I really felt for Lucy when she was struggling to cope. Having been in a very similar situation to Lucy myself some years ago, so much of her experience was familiar ground and reading this story bought back some very unhappy memories.

Lucy wasn’t a character that I immediately engaged with, she seemed cold and distant, maybe not surprising as she’d had her own tragedy to deal with and had retreated from life and love when she met Greg Millar; a crime writer and widowed with two young children. Unlike Lucy who was a much more reserved character, Greg was full of life and had a reckless and impulsive nature. He very quickly managed to break down her self-protection barriers and even though there were times when I thought their relationship was too much, too fast, it was heart-warming to see her living a little.

Lucy’s integration into Greg’s life was not without its difficulties and she faced hostility from so many quarters that a lesser person would have been worn down and there were times when I thought that perhaps she should admit defeat and walk away. It’s Lucy’s strength of character that carries her through and there were certainly enough peaks and troughs of happiness and despair in this story for more than one lifetime.

The author writes the story very well and the characters are realistic and rounded; whether you love or hate them, they are unforgettable. There was an excellent sense of place, particularly with the part set in the South of France. This is much more than just a simple romance story. The drama and emotion continue to the very end to make this a very moving read and definitely one to be recommended.

My thanks to the author for the e-copy to review.

At the time of writing this post, The Accidental Life of Greg Millar is available to download from Amazon UK for just 99p

I should also mention that this book was previously published as Loves Comes Tumbling under the name of Denise Deegan. (When adding ‘Greg Millar’ to my Goodreads shelf, I realised that I already had the original book!)

About the author:

Aimee Alexander is the pen name of bestselling Irish author Denise Deegan. She writes modern family sagas about ordinary people who become extraordinary in a crisis. Aimee lives with her family in Dublin, where she regularly dreams of sunshine, a life without cooking, and her novels being made into movies. She has a master’s degree in public relations and has been a college lecturer, nurse, china restorer, pharmaceutical sales rep, public relations executive and entrepreneur.

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