Book Review: The Last Charm by Ella Allbright

Today, I am excited to share my review for The Last Charm by Ella Allbright and the opportunity to enter a wonderful giveaway. Thank you Rachel’s Random Resources and One More Chapter for providing me with an advanced copy to read so I could give my honest, unbiased opinion.

 

Title: The Last Charm

Author: Ella Allbright

Publisher: One More Chapter, Harper Collins UK

Release date: 21st August 2020

Genre: Women’s fiction, general fiction

Blurb

A moving and heartwarming love story perfect for fans of Me Before You and One Day in December…

Leila’s charm bracelet tells a story of love, a story of loss, a story of hope.

This is the story of her … and the story of Jake.

When Leila Jones loses her precious charm bracelet and a stranger finds it, she has to tell the story of how she got the charms to prove she’s the owner. Each and every one is a precious memory of her life with Jake.

So Leila starts at the beginning, recounting the charms and experiences that have led her to the present. A present she never could have expected when she met Jake nearly twenty years ago…

Purchase Links

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Charm-Bracelet-Ella-Allbright-ebook/dp/B0843NJXJQ

https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Ella_Allbright_The_Charm_Bracelet?id=N3zLDwAAQBAJ

My Thoughts

I knew I had to read this novel as soon as the blurb in February. I love charm bracelets and would play with my mum’s with its moving charms such as top hats that would open to reveal a rabbit and a disk which revealed the words I love you when spun for hours. For every special occasion, my dad would treat her to a new charm, so this novel’s premise held a special meaning for me. I couldn’t wait to read it, and I was not disappointed.  The evolving story of Leila and Jake grabbed me from the beginning, and it wasn’t long before I was in floods of tears. An enormous box of tissues is required throughout – you have been warned.

Jake and Leila’s first meeting is when he moves into her old house and he discovers her talent for art. I have moved many times in my childhood and Leila’s emotions leaving her room and the entire experience resonated with me.

Their story is told in chapters and spans many years: each one telling the significance of the charm Leila is given and told in both their voices, which mature as the book progresses. Leila is a complex character as her childhood and abandonment by her mum has a big impact on behaviour. There are many times I struggled to like her with her angst and outbursts flying off the page but the first chapter deeply embedded the connection between reader and character, so I felt sorry for her too. I wanted to shake her and say if she just opened her eyes things would not be so bad.

Jake was easy to love and drove the novel forward with his successes and lows.

It’s an emotional, beautiful story of true love, growth and learning to trust.

 

Would I recommend?

Yes, it is a beautiful book to treasure like the charms it describes. Jake, Leila and the charms will be with me for a long time making it easy to slip into a reading slump.  It makes a lovely addition to my forever bookshelf and  I suspect like Jojo Moyes’ Me Before You  more details and emotions will be revealed when I reread it making me love it more.

Author Biography

Ella Allbright

A self-confessed reading addict, Ella Allbright writes commercial women’s fiction set in her beautiful home county of Dorset. Her first novel in this genre, The Charm Bracelet will be published in August 2020 by One More Chapter, an imprint of HarperCollins, and she’s currently hard at work on her next book. Ella is represented by agent Hattie Grünewald at The Blair Partnership, who represent J.K. Rowling.

 

Ella also writes as Nikki Moore, the author of the popular #LoveLondon romance series. A number of the novellas featured in the Top 100 short story charts on Kobo and the Top 20 in the Amazon UK bestsellers Holiday chart, and in 2018 the collection was released in Italy. Her first published work was the short story A Night to Remember in the best selling Mills & Boon / RNA anthology Truly, Madly, Deeply. Her debut romance Crazy, Undercover, Love was shortlisted for the RNA Joan Hessayon Award 2015.

When not writing or reading, she can be found working in her HR day job, walking the family’s cute beagle puppy or watching a Netflix series!

You can connect with Ella/Nikki on:

Twitter:

@NikkiMoore_Auth

Facebook:

facebook.com/NikkiMooreWrites

Amazon:

amazon.co.uk/Nikki-Moore

WordPress:

nikkimooreauthor.wordpress.com

She also vlogs about how to get published as ‘Author By The Sea’ on her YouTube channel.

 

Giveaway to Win Dorset and Reading themed goodies to celebrate The Last Charm by Ella Allbright (UK Only)*

 

 

First Prize

Books Make Me Happy/TLC Branded Mug

Keepsake Bracelet for Readers

Lulworth Chocolate Bar

Mermaid metal bookmark

TLC Postcards

PLUS mystery prize

 

Second Prize

Lulworth Chocolate Bar

I love Durdle Door chocolate lollipop

Sunshine metal bookmark

TLC Postcards

PLUS mystery prize

 

Third Prize

Lulworth Chocolate Bar

I love Lulworth chocolate lollipop

Starry Sky metal bookmark

TLC Postcards

PLUS mystery prize

To enter click  here

 

Happy reading and good luck!

Love

 

 

*Terms and Conditions –UK entries welcome.  Please enter using the Rafflecopter box below.  The winner will be selected at random via Rafflecopter from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then Rachel’s Random Resources reserves the right to select an alternative winner. Open to all entrants aged 18 or over.  Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time Rachel’s Random Resources will delete the data.  I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.