“Always together but…never TOGETHER”Sometimes you open a book (or flick on your kindle) and just by reading the first few lines you know you are going to love a book and that is exactly how I felt when I started The Girl Before Eve. I love a best friend to lover’s book, I love a weepy, I love humour and this book had it all, in spades…it is official, I was in book love and author love.
This book is set in the UK and is written by a British author, the setting, the friendship, the banter, the emotion, the plot, it was all perfect. I have fallen in love with Lisa J Hobman’s voice and I have actually started the first book that she wrote called Bridge Over the Atlantic. There is something addicting about how this author writes and I am so glad that Amazon sent an email recommending this book and I cannot believe that I hadn’t found Lisa J Hobman sooner.
Lily and Adam have been friends since primary school; Adam was her knight in shining armour when he rescued her from a playground bully at the ripe old age of six. That day a friendship was born that would stand the test of time, these two grew together, became best friends, each other’s confidantes, protectors, they were inseparable. Everybody thought that these two would end up together but alas the only two that couldn’t see it were Lily and Adam. They went to secondary school together and University together where their connection just grew and grew but it never crossed the friend zone much to Lily’s dismay.
“This is it. This is goodbye. This is forever.”
Lily had had her eureka moment, finally, during a tennis match in their twenties, she could see that she didn’t love Adam as a best friend, but that in fact she was in love with Adam, however, for fear on destroying their friendship she kept her thoughts and feelings to herself, unrequited love was a bitch!
“Unrequited love is a complete, fucking shit-head of a bastard, isn’t it?”
I cannot express how much I cried reading this book, this book gripped my heart in a vice like grip and never ever let go. My emotions were shot to shreds as I painfully read through how Lily really felt, how heart breaking it was when Adam got girlfriends and how it was smashed to smithereens when he finally found love. Lisa J Hobman manages through beautiful, poignant yet soul destroying words to paint every single crack, every single splinter, every fissure and I couldn’t help the sobs that wracked my body.
“…you already know that I HAVE been in love. But I got my heart broken…no…smashed to smithereens. So excuse me if I’m not willing to give my fragile heart out to the first man who says he loves me.”
As this book flashes from past to present you are treated to how their friendship developed, how close they became, how dependant they were on each other and it was beautiful to read. Lily is a truly beautiful character both inside and out. But she was sassy and gobby at the same time; she didn’t have a filter, told it how it is and this only made me love her all the more. She was hilarious and the banter between Adam and Lily had me crying with laughter. This is what I loved about this book, one minute I had tears of sadness and in the next tears of laughter. This book was perfectly balanced and was such a fantastic enjoyable read.
“You have what they call the complete package, Adders.”
“What do you know about my package?”
“Not THAT package, you idiot! You ARE the complete package! I wasn't talking about what's in your trousers!”
I loved Adam too, the connection that he had with Lily was truly amazing and he always put their friendship first, he was selfless when it came to Lily. He was the best, best friend you could ever wish for and had a heart of gold. These two were soul mates, they bounced off each other, they knew each other inside out and they had each other’s backs, always.
I am not going to go into the plot at all, you need to experience this one for yourself, you need to feel the emotion for yourself and take yourself on Lily and Adam’s journey. It is a beautiful, emotional and poignant read, you will laugh and you will cry but at the end you will just appreciate the fact that you have read a truly fantastic book. The course of true love never runs smooth and there are a lot of highs and lows but most of all it is a journey that most of us can empathise and sympathise with. Maybe you will be like me and fall in author lust too. I loved the way that each chapter had a song that fitted the scene perfectly and I found myself listening and reading at the same time. In summary, all I can say is read this book! I totally loved it and don’t forget the tissues.
“…And so you go off to married life
Here I stand and say goodbye
I wish you both happiness, love and joy
And now I’ll stop before I cry”
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