Pictures of Lily by Paige Toon - Review

Published: 2010

Publisher: Pocket Books

Length: 413 pages

Rating: 4/5 stars

Summary from Goodreads:

‘Will you marry me?’

I think of you, then. I think of you every day. But usually in the quietest part of the morning, or the darkest part of the night. Not when my boyfriend of two years has just proposed. I look up at Richard with his hopeful eyes. ‘Lily?’ he prompts. It’s been ten years, but it feels like only yesterday that you left. How can I say yes to Richard with all my heart when most of it has always belonged to you? I take a deep breath and will myself to speak…

Ten years ago when Lily was just sixteen, she fell in love with someone she really shouldn’t have fallen in love with. Now, living in Sydney and engaged to another man, she can’t forget the one that got away. Then her past comes back to haunt her, and she has to make a decision that will break her heart – and the heart of at least one of the men who love her.

Review:

I didn’t expect to enjoy this book as much as I anticipated. I don’t read adult chick-lit that often, my main reads are dystopians and YA fantasy books. However, from time to time I do like to read chick-lit, both YA and adult because I like the escapism you get with most of them. And Pictures of Lily was no exception.

At the start, Lily isn’t happy to move from England to Australia, since her mum has a habit of getting with a new man pretty much all the time and Lily is pretty fed up of it. However, she ends up meeting Ben at a wildlife park who is twelve-years older than her, but despite that, she finds herself falling for him as they spend more time together.

I began falling for Ben pretty much as soon as Lily did; I thought he was a really sweet guy, and thought it was adorable when they took in an injured koala pup and nursed it back to health. All the way through the book I was just dying for Lily to get back with Ben, although she had a pretty decent boyfriend of her own as the book went on. However, despite their age gap I loved them as a couple and my heart warmed whenever I read their scenes together. I will definitely be checking out more of Paige Toon’s books now.