Review: Pillow Talk

Pillow Talk by Freya North

Publication Date: July 2011
Publisher: Sourcebooks Inc.
Genre: Contemporary Fiction
Pages: Paperback, 464pp
ISBN-13: 9781402254468
ISBN: 1402254466

(Received for an honest review from Sourcebooks)

Purchase: Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, IndieBound

Freya North on the WEB: website, blog, facebook

Synopsis:

By day, Petra Flint is a talented jeweler working in a lively London studio. By night, she's a sleepwalker troubled by a past she can't put to bed and a present that leaves her clinging to an unsuitable boyfriend. Arlo Savidge was once a budding heartthrob musician. Then tragedy struck and he chose to forsake stardom and all future affairs of the heart for a quiet life in the countryside as a music teacher.

Petra and Arlo haven't seen each other since they were teenagers-when their feelings ran deep but the timing wasn't right. Now, seventeen years later, they run into each other once more. Might first love get a second chance-or will what keeps them up at night keep them apart forever?

Thoughts:

British author Freya North, brings readers a tale of long lost love and hidden secrets in her book, Pillow Talk. Pillow Talk is "chic-lit" at it's best. It's sassy and sexy and full of all the things women love to read about. This is a book that has drama, humor and romance! Readers will love North's ability to get inside the heads of her characters. She is able to bring them to life and into the hearts of readers with ease. Childhood sweethearts, Petra and Arlo will enchant readers and have them asking themselves... What keeps you up all night?

Petra Flin and Arlo Savidge were the best of friends when they were young, they spent a lot of time together, but neither of them was able to take that next step and tell each other how they really felt. Now many years later Petra has a career as a jeweler in London, while Arlo, once a budding musician has taken a job as a music teacher in an all boys school in North Yorkshire. Both Petra and Arlo are having trouble sleeping. There is something that Petra just can't seem to remember and something Arlo can't seem to forget. When they meet unexpectedly in an ice cream shop on a rainy day, they are stunned at their reaction to each other. If either of them is to have a second chance at love they are going to have to work through the issues of their past and the things that seem to be keeping them up all night.

Freya North is a talented British author that just seems to be my cup of tea. I read a lot of books written by British babes and North's books are some of my favorites. Her fresh and evocative voice in women's fiction is fun and full of surprises. She doesn't write like a proper English lady, she writes more like a woman who is on the verge of finding out what truly makes the world go around... love!

North's writing will appeal to readers from all walks of life. Her protagonist in Pillow Talk is a jeweler in London. Petra Flint is such a great name. Petra means rock and a flint is a type of rock. I thought that was clever to start with, but Petra's character becomes even more intriguing the more the reader learns about her. Readers start out, not quite sure what's going on until they realize that Petra is sleepwalking. She seems determined to get somewhere, she just doesn't seem to know where. When she's awake, Petra is full of life and ready to take on the world, but at night she's troubled and can't seem to rest well. The reasons behind her sleepwalking eventually become apparent. I think lots of readers can identify with Petra. Let's face it most readers are insomniac's and stay up all night reading so they can understand not being able to sleep...LOL! North does an excellent job of writing Petra's voice.

The romance between Arlo and Petra is very poignant and sweet and the reader will really start to pull for them. They will become invested in their stories and how their lives have played out. I love the way the author uses something so simple as a chance meeting in an ice cream parlor as a catalyst for the entire book. That's usually how it happens though, love begins in the most unlikely of places or understand the weirdest of circumstances and I think North was able to play on that in this book. I also loved the whole idea of secrets keeping both Arlo and Petra from resting more easily. It was fun contemplating what could be causing Petra's sleepwalking and the reasons behind Arlo's sudden career choice changes. North was able to make the story dramatic, but also to give it a light-hearted and humorous aspect as well. I thought she did a great job of showing a second chance at love in a very interesting way.

I would recommend this one to anyone who loves a good romance, or stories about second chances. It's definitely what I would consider chic-lit. It has all the makings of a great love story and some steamy moments as well. It has a great deal of passion not only for each other but for life in general and finding ones place in it. I think readers will appreciate North's knack for crafting stories that are easy to relate to and still full of surprises.

Pillow Talk is available NOW from your favorite bookseller.

I'm giving this one 4 out of 5 apples from my book bag.




Freya North's first novel, Sally, was published to great acclaim while she was still in her twenties. Her subsequent books, Chloe, Polly, Cat, Fen, Pip, Love Rules, Home Truths and Pillow Talk have all been bestsellers. In 2008 Freya North won the RNA Book of the Year award with Pillow Talk. Her most recent novel, Secrets, was a huge top five bestseller.