Romy Kilkenny loves her job as an archaeologist - she gets to travel the world, and best of all she gets to stay away from her family. She doesn’t get on with her mother Veronica who is obsessed with staying young and looking good, her brother Darragh who manages the family company and thinks he knows it all, and sister Kathryn, who lives in New York and is just perfect. But when Veronica becomes ill and needs help, she’s called back home to Ireland to tend to her, despite not wanting to. As Romy starts to look after her ailing mother, her family has its own issues to tackle, and some serious secrets are about to be unravelled as well. Is Romy going to give up her life to look after her mother, or will she take a chance and find love, and also that someone special??

This is the second Sheila O’Flanagan novel I have read. My mum persuaded me to try her books when I last went to visit, and I came away with 4. She recommended “Anyone But Him” to me and so I started that, and I really loved it. It was so well-written and had a great cast of characters. I knew then I had to find more of O’Flanagan’s work to read and I decided to start with her more modern books. Someone Special was her 2008 release, and was published in paperback this year. Her books have had a redesign on their covers to make them a bit more fresh and up to date, and I think they’ve done a great job with this one. It looks feminine and modern, and should appeal to readers of all ages.

At 599 pages, this is quite a big old book to read, but I enjoy a longer book as it gives you more time to get into the story of it. The book begins introducing us to Romy in Australia the night before she has to fly home to look after her mother. We’re told she doesn’t want to go, but not why and I think this was well done by the author here. Your attention is immediately grabbed by the book because you want to find out what awful thing happened at home that makes Romy not want to return. The mystery is slowly unravelled throughout the book, but it was a real shock when it was finally revealed as I didn’t expect it at all! Things are mentioned along the way but nothing to 100% confirm the big shocker! I really liked this aspect, and that O’Flanagan kept it hidden so long, it was fun trying to guess what had happened.

The relationships in the book are unusual to me, because they are about hatred really. Romy doesn’t at all get on with her mother or her half brother and sister, and therefore the scenes with all of them were somewhat uncomfortable, but in the right way if you know what I mean. You could really sense the tension between these characters, it’s been really well written, and the way the relationships developed throughout the book was believable and very enjoyable to read. I really disliked Darragh, the typical cocky MD of the family company, I wasn’t sure about Kathryn for the most part as we don’t get to meet her until later on in the book, and I felt Veronica was a terrible mother but misunderstood person, and the journey her character takes is very interesting. Romy was definitely my favourite, she is a very likeable heroine despite her treatment of her mother (which is totally justifiable of course!) and I was desperate for everything to be okay for Romy in the end. She doesn’t try to be a martyr with her mother, she’s just a nice character and I enjoyed seeing the story from her perspective.

O’Flanagan writes this book in the third person which allows the story to occasionally flit off to the other on-going stories between Darragh and his posy wife Giselle, and Kathryn and her husband Alan in New York. This allows us a glimpse into their lives that Romy doesn’t see, and so we form a different opinion of them to her but this makes it all the more fun for the reader. I loved this book. I was worried at its length that I might lose interest but that definitely was not the case with this book. The storyline was realistic and very well done, with some good twists and turns to keep you engaged, and a shocking sequence at the end really gives the book a shocking and satisfying end. Even though it was 600 pages long, it only took me 2.5 days to read because I couldn’t put it down and found myself eager to read more to find out what was happening with Romy next. I would highly recommend it, for Sheila O’Flanagan fans old and new.

For those of us that loved the book, there is a bonus chapter available on Sheila’s website which tells us a little more of the life of Romy after the ending of the book! Click here to visit Sheila’s website.

Rating: 5/5

Tags: book review, sheila o'flanagan

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