Are you ‘living’ your life or just living your life?
Elsa Clairmont was widowed barely five years after marrying her childhood sweetheart. She has struggled to come to terms with the loss and, six years later, has almost ceased to live herself. She does just enough to get by.
Danny Delaney is the ultimate ‘Mr Nice Guy’. He’s kind, caring and sweet. A talented artist in his teens, his abusive mother ruined his career in art and he turned his back on his exceptional gift. Now, he does just enough to get by.
On New Year’s Eve, both Danny and Elsa die in unrelated accidents.
Thanks to some poker playing shenanigans, Elsa’s husband Harry, and Danny’s old Art teacher, William, manage to orchestrate a deal with Death that allows Danny and Elsa to live for one more year on the condition they both agree to complete three tasks.
They have until the last chime of Big Ben on the 31st December to fulfil their quests.
If they succeed, they stay in the world of the living.
If they should fail however…
‘An Artisan Lovestyle’ is a story of personal growth and self-discovery as two people find themselves forced to make overdue changes in their lives, changes in other people’s lives, and all with the added challenge of finding true love before their time runs out.
Will they do it?
Can they do it?
After all, it’s a matter of Life or Death…
I'm delighted to be sharing my review of An Artisan Lovestyle by Kiltie Jackson today. Many thanks to the author and Rachel Gilbey of Random Things Tours for inviting me to take part in the blog tour and for the ecopy of the book.
Although I read a fairly eclectic range of books, I tend to be drawn to darker fiction so when I'm given the opportunity to read something a bit more lighthearted I always feel it's a bit of a risk as to whether I'll enjoy it. I was intrigued by the sound of An Artisan Lovestyle, however and couldn't resist giving it a chance.
I'm very glad I did because I so enjoyed this heartwarming novel. We first meet Danny and Elsa before they die and I was immediately drawn to them both. Danny is the archetypal nice guy and at the start of the novel it would seem that the old adage that they finish last holds true. Having given up on his dreams to become an artist in order to take care of his alcoholic and abusive mother and equally wasted brother, he lives an unfulfilled life and has the girlfriend from hell. Meanwhile Elsa's life has stagnated too. Widowed five years previously she remains stuck in the grief cycle and has been unable to move on. It's clear she deserves much more though, she is a kind and caring woman, who looks after her elderly neighbour and dotes on her Labrador, Puddle - the last link to her husband. When both Danny and Elsa die on New Year's Eve it would seem that they were both destined to end their lives without ever achieving what they were capable of. Luckily for them Death loses a game of poker and so has to agree to a deal with Elsa's husband, Harry and Danny's art teacher, William to let them have one more year alive - provided they complete three tasks each during those twelve months.
Though most of the chapters follow either Elsa or Danny's progress through the year, some are concerned with Death, Harry and William as they observe the events - and occasionally interfere with proceedings. It's a bit of a risk to include this supernatural element to the story but it works so well. I loved the relationship between the three. They scheme, bicker and roll their eyes at Death who it must be said is a bit of a party animal...
As the book progresses we see both Danny and Elsa begin to make the most of their chance to live again. An Artisan Lovestyle might be a romance story but it's also a touching look at living well, seizing opportunities and sometimes learning to let go - whether that's accepting a loss or realising that certain relationships are too toxic to fight for. This is the second Lovestyle book; I haven't read the first, A Rock 'n Roll Lovestyle but although there are some returning characters and a few references to events in that book, I didn't feel I missed out as this is a new story rather that can be read as a standalone.
I finished An Artisan Lovestyle in a day and it left me with a big smile on my face. It's such an uplifting read and reminded me in some ways of one of my favourite films, It's a Wonderful Life. It was a sheer pleasure to read from start to finish, the characters are so beautifully brought to life with some truly emotive scenes and plenty of laughs too. This is a warm, wise and often witty story and one that I thoroughly recommend.
An Artisan Lovestyle can be purchased here. Don't forget to follow the rest of the blog tour, details are below.
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About the Author
When she was old enough to do so, she moved to London and then,after several years of obtaining interesting experiences -which are finding their way into her writing - she moved up to the Midlands.
Kiltie currently lives in Staffordshire with five cats and one grumpy husband. Her little home is known as Moggy Towers, even though despite having plenty of moggies, there are no towers! The cats kindly allow her and Mr Mogs to share their house on the condition they keep paying the mortgage!
She loves reading, watching movies, and visiting old castles. She really dislikes going to the gym!
Her biggest desire is that one day she can give up the day job and write her stories for a living. Kiltie's debut novel, 'A Rock 'n' Roll Lovestyle', was released in September 2017 and won a "Chill With A Book - Reader Award" in December 2017. She first began writing her debut novel eleven years before it was released but shelved it as she didn't think it was very good.In November 2016 when, having read more on a best-selling author who had begun her own career as a self-published author, she was inspired to revisit the unfinished
manuscript and finally finish what she had started. Since beginning to write again, the ideas have not stopped flowing.
An Artisan Lovestyle' is the second book in the Lovestyle Series. Work is due to begin on book three (not yet titled but also part of the Lovestyle Series) in the Summer of 2018.
She currently has a further ten plots and ideas stored in her file (it's costing a fortune in USB drives as each story has its own memory stick!) and the ideas still keep on coming.
Kiltie now lives her life around the following three quotes:
"I love having weird dreams, they're great fodder for book plots!"
"Why wait for your ship to come in when you can swim out to meet it?"
"Old enough to know better, young enough not to care!"
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