The Sun in Her Eyes Paperback – 21 May 2015

As Paige has a new book releasing shortly I thought it was time I caught up on the only book of hers I hadn't read. I love Paige's books and her writing style so I was excited to read this one.The main character in this book is Amber. If I'm totally honest I didn't like Amber. She does some pretty horrible things to the people that she loves. I don't know if this a symptom of her past and what happens to her but I found her very difficult to like.I wanted so badly to adore this book like I have Paige's previous books but I just couldn't get over my dislike for Amber.Paige's writing as ever was excellent and if this had been written by someone else I most probably would have given up. Those of you that are fans of Paige will know that all of her books are linked in some way. This book actually had links to two of her previous books. If you want to figure this out for yourself then look away now.............Zara (Alex's wife) from Thirteen WeddingsLeo and Jorge from The Longest HolidayAll in all this was a good story but probably not my favourite of Paige's. I've heard a snippet of Paige's new book recently so I'm keeping positive that I will love that one.

I'm going to start with saying that despite this book reducing me to tears, I absolutely loved it!I'm aware that Paige Toon has a few novels out there, I first became aware of her when I read Thirteen Weddings last year.I love Paige Toons writing style, The Sun In Her Eyes is set between rainy London and sunny Oz... having done some research on the author I discovered that most, if not all, of her books are based in these two countries and that stems from her personal up bringing.I've also discovered that within Paige Toons books some of her characters cross reference. .. for example, in this book, Neds colleague, Zara, also features in Thirteen Weddings -based on this alone I've vowed to revisit all of her books to see how other characters make cameos! Very clever and something I've not known other authors to achieve.The first half of The Sun In Her Eyes was an easy read...Amber is married to Ned, she left her job as a teacher for something with higher pay but is soon made redundant. Their marriage is rocky, Amber is convinced that Zara is after her hubby and if you've read the previous book with this character you can understand why!No sooner as she loses her job, her father has a stroke... perfect timing but thats the beauty of the book world eh?!Amber flies to Australia to help care for her dad and help with his recovery, despite the lack of bond she has with his partner.To escape Liz's ways, Amber relies on her fiends and drunken nights out... its almost as if she is reliving her youth now she's home. Then Ethan arrives.Amber last saw him at her wedding and even though she committed to Ned, Ethan always has a piece of her heart and when she accidentally let's slip she loves him they become close... too close!Neither Amber's relationship with her husband or her lover are easy ones and each have their problems but then Amber gets another distraction when a letter comes from the lady who was there when her mother died in a car accident. Doris claims to have a message from Amber's mum and they arrange to meet up... that's not all that Amber has on her mind though.The second half of the book for me was much harder to read.This has nothing to do with the way it's written but more with the fact that Amber reveals her and Ned had a miscarriage the year before and Amber partly blames herself for this as she had a fall shortly before her loss - Paige Toon wrote this storyline tastefully however, personally I related to Amber on another level as I've been in this situation.For a couple of chapters I picked the book up and put it's down again numerous times and eventually got past that section and continued with the story... which I have to say had a fab ending.Amber received her mother's dying message via Doris and got her marriage back on track. .. she even started to make amends with Liz who was about to become a permanent fixture in her fathers life.Many reviews on The Sun In Her Eyes I've seen state how Amber came across as someone proud of her affair and relished in her childish ways with her step mum, in my view I just saw a woman that had something missing in her life. She never really knew what it was, never really knew what path to take. But that letter changed everything and although a simple message, one that you'd expect from a dying parent, was given, I felt it made Amber the character she was.Despite my personal difficulties with this story, I wouldn't hesitate to pass the boon on to my friends as I'd thoroughly recommend it.I'm off to find my next Paige Toon book ;)

Reading some reviews on here I found quite a lot of negativity towards Amber's character. Personally, I liked her and feel her character was so real with human flaws.Tearful at times but was nice to see her confront her issues and emotions and get a happy ending. Life is hard and We all make mistakes, but what we do after that is what counts.

I've been looking forward to reading 'The Sun In Her Eyes' for a while now, and read it in 3 evenings. It wasn't a let down and I found myself not being able to put it down. Which in honestly is the same with all her books.At first I warmed to all the characters, Amber with her auburn hair and Ned with his hazel eyes. Then Ethan turns up, and wam - I'm gunning for him. But as the story unfolds I was left disappointed in both Amber and Ethan, Which surprised me, I think there was much more to Ethan than perhaps we saw, although the story worked well, and I was addicted to know what was going to happen. Without giving too much away, this story is realistic and heartbreakingly true, it touched on areas of love, lost and complications that can arise in any family/relationship.Looking forward to Paige's next work, thank god for her YA collection and The Hidden Paige, as one book a year never feels enough!

Finished The sun in her eyes ...Paige ToonI enjoy reading Paige Toon books and this was no exception...The storyline was good and drew me in from the beginning ... I liked that it was mainly set in Australia.On the whole the characters were believable and l enjoyed reading how they developed throughout the book ...but must say the main character Amber slightly annoyed me at times...and during the book found l had a love hate relationship going on...but it did not stop me from enjoying it ...in fact l do think it added to the experience..

I started reading this book for my book club, and decided that it was not very well written, the stortline was incinsequential and it was not for me. I ploughed ny way through it and my opinion did not change. Do not read thid book if you want a well written story with interseting outcome.

I love every other Paige Toon book I have read and I've read a lot of them. This one, really not a fan as I couldn't sympathise with Amber at all, it never connected full circle, her past is awful but it never makes up for her present. 7 years of marriage and sure I can understand childhood love and the temptation but the fact Amber never felt sorry till it's not a perfect story for her made the character intolerable.