Book Review: Better in the Morning by Fern Ronay.

Release Date: 11th April 2016

Publisher: Red Adept Publishing.

Twitter: @FernRonay

I received this book from Red Adept publishing in exchange for a review, of which I am super excited to write. Let me tell you a bit about the story before I leap into everything I have to say about it.

'Better in the Morning' by Fern Ronay is a book about Veronica Buccino, an Italian American lawyer. She hates her job, thanks to a horrible boss and a miserable co-worker, loves to drink wine with her best friend Jada and her favourite thing is reading human interest stories, which she dreams of covering herself one day, like her idol Rosanna Zoto. Veronica thinks that her life is soon going to change for the better, when her boyfriend John proposes, then she can quit her job and do nothing all day besides read the stories she loves. However, when John does no such thing, Veronica is left stuck in this rut that she can't seem to get herself out of. Maybe with a little push in the right direction from her dead Italian Grandparents, Veronica can actually start doing the things she wants with her life and also start standing up for herself along the way!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book to the point where I would actually spend my hours at work thinking about it and wanting to get home to dive into it again. I have to be honest though, at first I didn't take to Veronica quite so quickly. In the first few chapters, I worried that she was just complaining lots without actually doing anything, but looking back this had more to do with me wanting her to hurry up and stand up for herself and not just settle and 'think' she had to stay where she was in life. As I kept reading, I grew to love her and to understand that her story was getting somewhere, as she learnt new lessons each night thanks to her Grandparents, but it all had to go at her own pace and in her own time. This in itself made me think about life in general and the real world. It's so easy to jump into a book and see your heroine kick butt, tell people what for and figure out in a day that they can be a girl boss and then go and do it, but what about us real people? Those who know what they want but have a little anxiety about jumping in with both feet? Those that have bills to pay so can't just up and quit their horrible job straight away? Those that have big dreams but just need that little extra guidance? To me this book is for those people. Veronica is one of them. By the end of the story, I appreciated her journey and what she had to do to get there. It wasn't straight forward, it wasn't easy, it was real. She was real. I know myself that while I have big dreams and aspirations, there's the odd day my husband will have to sit and listen to me complain, and vice versa, about things we want to do, and while we both just want to shout at each other  "Well go on then, do it!" we know these things take time and a little bit of courage. I loved that Veronica's courage came from her Grandparents. Every night in her dreams, they told her stories and showed her the way, giving Veronica a little extra pep in her step in the morning and a renewed attitude towards life as she set out for the day. It made me smile that she was Italian and that she was so proud of it. The connection she felt to that side of her is something I can most definitely relate to, my own Grandparents being from Italy!

As well as colourful characters and an extremely unique and interesting story, "Better in the Morning" is full of wonderful messages. So much so that I had to take pictures on my phone so I could remember them. I love books like this, where you just feel so enriched by the lessons you learn, as well as grateful for the little reminders. Here are a couple of my favourites lines, that I just have to share:

"I like that. There are no labels, only souls. Judge a person based on their soul, not the body they're in."

"You can't change people, you can only change yourself."

The second quote, I have been learning a lot this year, to the point where negative comments or other people's negative behavior doesn't affect me like it used to. The way they act or what they say isn't a reflection on you, it's all on them. As long as you go about your day with a smile on your face, spreading love and positivity, that's all that matters. To find a book that speaks like this, is wonderful to me. They aren't just words on paper to tell a lovely story, they are words that you need to hear, that people should hear. Words that make you feel extra connected to the story you are reading, to ensure that long after you've read the last line, you know you will carry them with you. Thank you Fern Ronay and Red Adept Publishing for sending me a copy of "Better in the Morning," I'm so very happy and thankful that you did!

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