No Turning Back - Susan Lewis

Eva Montgomery is at the peak of her career when she is viciously attacked by a stalker. While still traumatised by the event she makes the biggest mistake of her life - one she can never turn back from. Sixteen years later, Eva has managed to rebuild her life in a way that seemed impossible after the attack. Her home in Dorset, high on the cliffs overlooking the sea, is as elegant as Eva herself, but bears none of the scars. The love she shares with her husband, Don, has become the very mainstay of her existence. Her beloved sister, Patty, lives nearby. To an outsider, Eva's world seems perfect in every way. However, behind the facade there is more tragedy and deceit than even she is aware of. It is when the past starts to invade the present that the greatest betrayal of all shatters Eva's world, over and over. Hurt, frightened and confused, she struggles desperately to put right the terrible mistake she made sixteen years ago and finally break free from a past that nearly destroyed her ...

SPOILER ALERT*************

No Turning Back is a typical chick lit, easy to get into, easy enough to follow, grips you into the storyline but isn't special. Its the run of the mill literature thats great for taking on holiday or dipping into for escapism.  The story is a little hectic, added to the constant stream of different characters.  The story is a little predictable and a little frustrating. I did not get a sense of realism in this book and although Lewis tried to inject some drama, it all felt a little to convent and coincidental for my liking.

Spolier - The fact that her husband left her - we could see that coming, then her long lost son which she had been searching for for 16 years just happens to show on her doorstep and she instantly connects with him.  Conveniently he has no parents around to spoil the show and his aunt who is taking care of him happily leads him to this stranger. And even more conveniently the real father who Eva has not spoken to in 16 years also shows up, no hard feelings and slots back into her life.  This all makes it so frustrating to read that after all this time their is no hard feelings, no emotions and it all works out in the end.

Also the attack which is the key factor in starting a lot of the plot, and is featured on the blurb is not mentioned in the book at all. Its almost as if you have to read the back of the book as the opening chapter to the story and you want to know more about it, and her past.

Overall, it was a little bit frustrating, and too unrealistic for my liking. I know Susan Lewis can do better than this and has done before.  However it made for good entertainment and I enjoyed the chick lit reading of it.