Review: Ten Things My Husband Hated

I've been reading Pauline Wiles' Saffron Sweeting series since just after she published the first in 2013. They've always been sweet, entertaining, heart warming, and placed in just the cutest little English village that I always enjoy revisiting. I haven't loved any quite as much as the first, Saving Saffron Sweeting (review here), but each one, including the latest, Ten Things My Husband Hated, have been a joy to read.

Here's the synopsis:

Maggie Moone is happily divorced.

And with her talent for fixing things, she’s perfectly content with her mundane life in the sleepy English village of Saffron Sweeting. That is, until one humiliating March evening when she learns everyone else assumes she’d love to mend her broken marriage.

Determined to prove them wrong, Maggie and her friends concoct a list of ten ways to assert her independence and live large. But her mission to move on leads to unexpected encounters, and Maggie soon finds herself mixing business with pleasure. Is the attractive young Irishman just another item on her list, or is he something more?

Before long, unresolved issues from her past begin to clash, and Maggie is forced to wonder if antagonising her ex-husband was such a stellar idea.

No sooner does she begin to understand what’s important to her, than she stands to lose everything that truly matters.

Maggie has a good life even if it hasn't turned out exactly the way she planned. But when we meet her, a few things are happening that make her doubt her happiness and wonder if she should be doing more. Plus, some idiot townspeople are convinced that they know everything and that she's actually still in love with her ex-husband, Colin. This infuriated me right off the bat and it was really hard to rein in my annoyance at the busybody folks in town as well as Maggie who is far too kind and couldn't figure out how to get her point across to anyone. 

Maggie's friends were definitely well-meaning as they worked with her to create a list of ten things her ex hated. Things like, pink houses, tattoos on women (ugh, makes me want to smack the man), and dogs. The idea was it was a sort of bucket list of things Maggie could do to show that she was totally over Colin. Her friends were completely in her corner, although I think a few of them may have thought like the rest of the town - that Maggie was still in love with her ex and that she had been far to kind and accommodating towards him since the split. But really, when there's no real animosity and someone is as kind as Maggie, can you not realize that of course she's going to continue to be nice towards someone, even if that someone is her ex-husband?

Amelia, one of Maggie's friends, is the first to spot how talented Maggie is with home repairs (how they're just realizing this, I know not). Colin was a builder but never had time to fix up their own house so Maggie learned how to make basic repairs and then some not-so-basic repairs. Amelia, who runs a real estate office, needs someone to fix up some of her places so pushes Maggie to do the work - things she likes and is good at. I think that went a long way in helping Maggie realize she had skills and talent and gained some control with her life. Plus, she made some super cool treehouses. I also liked that you don't normally see handywomen in books (though I recently read another that also featured a woman who ran her own company) and it's super refreshing.

The romance in the novel goes about as you'd expect. Maggie meets Finn and she figures it'll just be a laugh and she won't get too attached and she'll have some fun with a good guy. But that turns into more and then everything blows up. The reader, like Maggie, realizes that Finn was way more important than she realized and you can't help but cross your fingers and hope for a romantic, Happily Ever After. 

While this book is part of the Saffron Sweeting series, you can read it as a standalone quite easily. You'll probably find you enjoy the town and you'll want to read the rest of the series just so you can hang out with the endearing (though meddling) townsfolk some more.

Ten Things My Husband Hated was a lovely read that is perfect for a weekend afternoon. Pauline Wiles has created characters who are so kind and fun to read about, plus a village you'll enjoy too - even if you're not much of a tiny town person.

*A copy of this novel was provided by the author in exchange for review consideration. All opinions are honest and my own.*