Author: Claudia Carroll
Publisher: Avon Books
Publication Year: 2012
Language: English
Format: ebook
Pages: 432
Eloise Elliot is one of the youngest newspaper editors in the country. Respected and revered by her peers, she’s at the top of her game.But, on the eve of her thirtieth birthday, finding herself surrounded by some pathetic looking balloons and mangy sandwiches in The Daily Post’s conference room, Eloise is hit but a long sharp pang of loneliness.Suddenly, and with dazzling clarity, she realises what she wants to make her life more complete. A baby.One successful trip to the sperm bank and almost three years later and she is the adoring mother of a gorgeous little girl, Lily. Juggling a high-powered job with motherhood is not easy and when she finds herself without childcare she sends an SOS to her sister Helen. Yet it’s when Lily starts asking about her ‘daddy’ that Eloise really starts to panic. What will she tell her?
A Very Accidental Love Story sets in modern Dublin. The main character, Eloise Elliot, is an ambitious woman who works as the editor of newspaper called Post. She’s a workaholic and hardly has the time to socialize. She has no friends besides her family, which led to her decision to have a baby by artificial insemination. These are the premise of this book. This book basically follows Eloise life raising her daughter while working almost 24/7. The conflict starts when her daughter, Lili, starts asking questions about her father. Since Lili was conceived through artificial insemination, using sperm retrieved from sperm bank, Eloise has no choice but to do a little investigation like she used to do.
Eloise is your alpha-female type of character. She’s genius, has photographic memory, and uptight to the point that make her socially awkward. Having known that she’s a genius, you’ll think that she would make right or at least reasonable decisions. But nooooo, there’s a time when she does things that made me want to scream at her. Such as when she’s at the weekend party thing hosted by Post, she doesn’t handle drunken woman very well which of course causing disaster. She’s not alone, why wouldn’t she ask for help?
Besides Eloise, another important character is Jake Keane. Jake is Lili’s father. He’s an ex-con who just served two years sentence in prison. Before going to jail he had many aliases and caught up in the wrong crowd. He sounds like someone you don’t want to be involved with. That’s what in Eloise thought too. But then she meets him in person and finds out that she’s actually a nice guy. Jake is a laid-back and intelligent man. Eloise realizes that Jake has potential. I adore Jake. He’s like the opposite of Eloise and I think they make a cute couple. The problem is, I see Jake before prison and after prison as two different people. The before Jake is only described through narration but based on the description, I find it hard to believe that he’s the same person as the easy-going and nice Jake after prison. If he went to jail because he had no choice but to get involved with a crime, then how about his many aliases? Why would he need them in the first place if not because he’s done shady things? I think it would be helpful if the author includes a few chapters about Jake’s life in prison or before prison. That would help the readers understand how his character grows from a con-man into an adorable man.
There are moments where I would smile or trying hard not to cry. Especially when Lili is ‘on the scene’. The extra bit at the end is a nice addition to the book. It’s an article about how three (if I’m not mistaken) women found love. These women were interviewed by Eloise for a Valentine’s day special article. In that article Eloise made several interesting points about love which make me smile. Though it’s not the best book out there, it serves its purpose. A Very Accidental Love Story is entertaining. I enjoyed reading this book. It’s an easy read. I would recommend this book for adult contemporary or chicklit readers who enjoy a heartwarming story.
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