Author: Karly Lane
ISBN: 978-1-76029-689-6
RRP: $29.99
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
Copy: Courtesy of the Publisher
Someone Like You is the latest release by Karly Lane, an author I have been following for a few years now. I haven’t read all of her books but I have tried to keep up with the ones which have been released since I discovered her.
I have always found Karly Lane novels to be a little quirky, contain more than a hint of humour and often draw inspiration from Australia’s history. In these respects, Someone Like You fits perfectly in the Karly Lane catalogue, but this one has something extra, something deeper and I was completely enthralled.
Hayley Stevens is a Sydney author who is recovering from the breakdown of her marriage and suffering writer’s block with her agent calling to chase the opening chapters of the new book. She decided that a fresh start was in order and ended up buying a house in a small country town basically on impulse. She had stayed in the town as part of a Writer’s Festival and fallen in love with it.
I really liked Hayley as a character but I think one of the things that really drew me to her was she’s an author who has just moved from the city to a small country town. She gave us an insight into the publishing industry and the writing process, and I couldn’t help but draw comparisons in the early chapters. I couldn’t help but wonder how much of Karly Lane found her way into Hayley Stevens, how much they had in common and how much of what frustrates or drives Stevens are issues Lane has. It certainly kept me thinking as I was sinking deeper and deeper into the narrative.
Karly Lane writes beautiful small towns and she loves a small town with history which can be woven into her contemporary storyline. Lochway is a tiny town with a huge history that is explored thoroughly. It is a town in close proximity to St Albans, which Lane discovered and was enchanted by, that was settled around the time of the first settlers.
What we know of history is only what has been recorded and what’s been passed down through the generations. There are no eyewitnesses left to attest to the truth so how do we truly know that recorded history is correct?
There was so much to love about Someone Like You and I really did. The characters are lovable and diverse, there’s some definite quirkiness happening here, and not all of her characters are people.
Hayley is a city girl through and through but she moves to the small town and starts collecting animals, even before she checks out whether she has anywhere secure to keep them. Quirky personalities aren’t limited to the human characters either, the menagerie that Hayley collects is filled with personality and she talks to them all.
The romantic storyline also contained its fair share of humour, and tragic near misses. The chemistry sizzled off the page but Lane reminds us that sometimes chemistry isn’t enough to ensure a happy ever after. Lane writes great steam without gratuitous details and a minimum of questionable language; which is something I wouldn’t usually even notice unless it was excessive but it was brought up as a discussion this week on Facebook.
I am struggling with this review because there is a whole element I don’t want to touch on so I am not quite sure what to say. An element that is a little out there but I really enjoyed and one that has always fascinated me. It was interesting to come across it and I really enjoyed the way that Karly Lane explored it.
Someone Like You has past and present colliding, an exploration of history, a tree change and an amusing and insightful look at the life of a work-at-home-full-time-author. Lane shines a light on small town gossip, PTSD in returned servicemen and reserving judgement to make up your own mind rather than being turned off by gossip.
I love this story, I love these characters and though we have an epilogue I would love to see this town and these people revisited so I could learn about the fallout and all the things that came about after the events of Someone Like You. I would recommend this one to anyone who loves some humour with their romance and doesn’t need a HEA Guarantee.
Someone Like You is book #20 for the Australian Women Writer’s Challenge 2018.
Karly Lane loves to hear from her readers, you can find her on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and her Website.
Someone Like You is published by Allen & Unwin and available now from Angus & Robertson Bookworld, Booktopia and where all good books are sold.
Thanks to Allen & Unwin 50 of our Beauty and Lace Club members are reading Someone Like You so please be aware there may be spoilers in the comments below.
I devour books, vampires and supernatural creatures are my genre of choice but over the past couple of years, I have broadened my horizons considerably. In a nutshell – I love to write! I love interacting with a diverse range of artists to bring you interviews. Perhaps we were perfect before – I LOVE WORDS!
Someone Like You by Karly Lane has something for everyone – romance, history and humour. After best-selling author, Hayley Stevens found her husband Paul having an affair with her best friend she knows her life will never be the same again.
Twelve months later, Hayley packs her bags and heads to Lochway, a small colonial village. Wanting peace and quiet to continue her writing, Hayley impulsively buys a cosy, sandstone cottage that she has previously stayed at. Upon moving into her new home Hayley becomes the new owner of a very noisy donkey called Errol – Errol leads Hayley into some extremely humorous moments. When Errol escapes from his new home and finds himself embedded in the neighbour’s dam, Hayley meets her new and handsome neighbour Luke.
Hayley starts having ‘visions’ – things that she appears to be aware of with total feeling. As Luke and Hayley’s relationship continues to grow, Luke too starts to have ‘visions’. What does this mean for the pair? As Hayley starts to suffer writers block and can only think of her visions she starts to write – not what she is contracted to write but from her visions – as Hayley looks deeper into the meaning of what she is seeing it all becomes clearer to her and Luke.
Fantastic book that was hard to put down. Thank you to Beauty and Lace and Allen & Unwin for allowing me to read this great novel.
I have devoured every book Karly has written since I received her book Morgan’s Law for a birthday gift a few years ago (my first of the kind).
I was excited to be selected to review Someone Like You and knew I would not be able to put it down! Lets just say the day I started reading it we had dinner at 10pm!
Like any of Karly’s books you are transported to wherever the story is set. Someone Like You had me feeling like I was part of the story, I felt like I was witnessing the visions Hayley and Luke had, feeling the love, the pain and the laughter (Errol and his dam adventure!) The amount of hard work research that goes into one of Karly Lane’s stories is amazing – each story makes you feel like you have taken a history class – and enjoyed it!
Someone Like You takes you on a journey through heartbreak, humor, fear and most of all romance – each page leaves you wanting more.
Another amazing read Karly, I cannot wait for the next!
I absolutely enjoyed reading Someone Like You by Karly Lane.
Having read her novels previously I was looking forward to starting this one and it did not disappoint .
For me it was one of those novels that once I started I just wanted to keep reading until the last page.
Set around Hayley, who finds her husband is having an affair with her best friend , she decides to up and move her life to the small village of Lochway where she can concentrate on her writing.
That all changes when she meets her new neighbour Luke ( through an unusual event with her new pet donkey).
Slightly unusual in the fact that Hayley starts having “visions” and uses them for her writing and her new beau Luke start having them too, but she begins to see things differently .
Some very funny moments usually involving Errol the donkey and an all round great read .
Thank you Beauty and Lace and Allen and Unwin for allowing me to read and review this great novel.
As someone who would love a tree change the idea of moving to the country is one I loved to read about. It really sounds just serene and divine with most of the company an eclectic mix of animals most notably Errol the donkey. Her relationship with Luke adds to the interest in the new move and provides a perfect fresh start in the country for Hayley. Loved the very real and relatable characters in the story was a lovely read!
Many thanks to Beauty and Lace and Allen and Unwin for the opportunity read and review Someone Like You by Karly Lane.
This is the first of Lane’s books that I have read and I loved it.
The main character, Hayley a best selling author, has her world turned upside down when she discovers her best friend in bed with her husband. As luck would have it a lovely convict built stone farmhouse in country Lochway that she had stayed in a few years back came onto the market just as she was looking for a place to get away and on an impulse she bought it.
After arriving in Lochway she attends the local convenience, one of only 2 shops in the town, to purchase some bread and milk, and on the way out sees an advertisement for “Donkey. Free to good home”. On a whim she calls the number and unexpectedly finds herself the owner of a very noisy donkey called Errol.
When Errol escapes his quarters Hayley finds herself in her neighbor’s dam, soaking wet and with a recalcitrant donkey who isn’t budging no matter how much she cajoles and threatens, and it is in this less than auspicious circumstances that she meets her gorgeous looking neighbor Luke Mason when he stops to rescue her and Errol from the icy water.
From the first time they meet Hayley feels a pull towards Luke as if he is somehow familiar to her, and it seems as though his grandmother Pearl has been expecting her.
Hayley settles into life in the countryside, working on being accepted by the small community, endeavoring to write the next book in her series about Chance, a lady detective, and slowly increasing her menagerie of animals on the farm.
Increasingly though she becomes plagued by strange visions that terrify her with their realism and mar her relationship with Luke as he refuses to discuss or even listen to her when she wants to talk about them. Has she made the right decision to move to Lochway, and what does it all mean?
Lane’s descriptions of the countryside and characters are so vivid that you can almost feel yourself there and a part of what she describes. The writing has a gentle humour to it and despite knowing where the story is going it still draws you in and makes you want to continue reading in case there is an unexpected twist.
A beautiful story of past meets present. Highly recommended.
Many thanks for the opportunity to read Someone Like You. I’m a long time Karly Lane fan and usually adore her books, however I didn’t love this one as much as some of her others. I found the characters likable, but the plot was pretty predictable and it was a little anti-climatic. I found the super natural elements and historical parts interesting and well written. It wasn’t a bad book by any stretch, just not my favourite. It would still make a great holiday or weekend read for someone who wants to escape in something that’s just easy and enjoyable to read.
A great read – very hard to put down – would totally recommend it
loved this novel! Have never read Kelly’s books before. I found it interesting and kept me intrigued. Characters Hayley and Luke are very likeable.
An easy read and like others said was kind of predictable. Still the storyline characters and events kept me reading. Thanks B & L !