Hand Me Down by Michelle Holman

I was introduced to writer Michelle Holman towards the end of 2010 when a colleague said I should read at book called Bonkers.  She then gave me the book.  It was a funny, kick arse piece of chick lit written by a Kiwi author and I loved it.

I've since bought several of Michelle Holman's books and loved and laughed with them all.  Michelle Holman is a trained nurse and lives in Cambridge in the Waikato with her husband and family writing wonderful romantic comedic novels.  You can read more about Michelle here.

This is the cover and blurb for Hand Me Down:

This book had me hooked from the first page (which is good, because I did pay for it!).  The main female character, April Ritchie, is feisty and difficult, with a secret that is slowly eeked out through the book.  Tarn Elliot, the main male character, also has a bit of mystery about him, and he balances the feistiness of April with his calm manner and decisive actions.  There are plenty of interesting support characters that bring more drama, humour, subversion and secrets to the plot.  There are plenty of cringe moments, laugh out loud moments, mushy moments... and I even learned the odd new fact about running a cherry orchard.  I was thoroughly satisfied with the ending... and it left me wanting to read more from this author.

If you are looking for a book with some escapism, romance, laughter and a feel good ending, this is a good book for a summer's day on the beach, a read on an international flight or curled up on the couch on a raining day too.