
There is nothing startling about her stories or her style. She writes simple, romances about real people that grab and pull at your consciousness. There is a quirkiness and a cadence to her writing that, for me anyway, simply draws me in and makes me totally identify with her characters. Her heroes and heroines are not always the most beautiful, the most hunky or the most sexy characters (although in this book they do appear to be) but what they are is; real, identifiable and invariably a little flawed or weighed down with baggage from previous relationships.
The Seasons of our Love is so typical of the quality work that Gascoigne turns out in every book she writes. At 158 pages on Kindle, it is not a long read, but it is an extremely satisfying one. We meet Rosie, who to escape an abusive relationship just jumps on a bus to "anywhere" but where she is - which turns out to be Shrove, where she meets and falls in love with Danny, the proprietor of the pub cum restaurant. Danny's aged and dementia suffering aunt Maggie is also an integral part of this relationship and Rosie finds herself quickly drawn into this family. The problems they face, as a couple, are exactly the problems many of us face in our own relationships and this is why it is so easy to identify and empathise with her characters.
It is clear from reading her past work that Gascoigne has a fascination with ghosts and spirits, so it was hardly surprising to see just a little of the supernatural creep into this story also. It added to and expanded the plot, which was all okay for me.
I really enjoyed this story and was so invested in the characters that I was thrilled to see Gascoigne plans more adventures with Danny and Rosie - Roll on the Sequel, I say.
A wonderful story and one I would highly recommend to any reader who likes a good, sweet, romance with real people and real problems. Gascoigne has a real niche here and I hope she continues to fill it, for the benefit of her readers and fans, of which I am proudly one. Fantastic job and worth every one of the five stars I'm awarding it.
