Blog Tour - Dream Café by R J Gould

Blurb

"Why on earth am I here?” David wonders as he observes the juvenile antics of ex-classmates at the twenty-five year school reunion. Then he sees Bridget.

David draws up a list of all that he hopes to achieve to kick-start a new life now that his wife has moved in with his best friend – his ex-best friend. A relationship with Bridget is top of the list, opening an arts café is a close second.

Formidable women – an unfaithful wife, a reckless teenage daughter, a boss from hell, a disapproving policewoman – seem like insurmountable obstacles.

But it’s still OK to dream, isn’t it?

Amazon

Review

In this novel Mr Gould's male character, David, is a normal bloke beset on all sides by forceful, not particularly nice women who he struggles to get to deal with, or even to understand, and I absolutely adored him. As I have come to expect from this author, his characters are multifaceted, and David is eminently likeable. I also adored Bridget, and the way their relationship developed as told from David's point of view was warm and honest, and humorous. In fact, the whole book was filled with wonderful cringeworthy moments that had me chuckling.

The major plot twist was one I didn't see coming and it was brilliantly executed, as were the subsequent scenes, and I really felt for David. His relationships and interactions with his children, his daughter especially, his ex-wife, ex-friend, and his mother were so well drawn, and each and every word dragged me in deep and deeper until I was fully immersed in the story.

Another fabulous novel from Mr Gould, and one I can't recommend highly enough.

About the Author

Richard writes under the pseudonym R J Gould and is a (rare male) member of the Romantic Novelists' Association (RNA). His first novel was shortlisted for the Joan Hessayon Award following his participation on the RNA New Writers' Scheme. Having been published by Headline Access and Lume Books, he now self-publishes.

He writes contemporary literary fiction about relationships, loosely though not prescriptively within the Romance genre, using both humour and pathos to describe the tragi-comic journeys of his protagonists in search of love. Dream Café is his sixth novel, following The Engagement Party, Jack and Jill Went Downhill, Mid-life follies, The bench by Cromer beach and Nothing Man. [It is a rewrite of A Street Café Named Desire].

Ahead of writing full time, Richard led a national educational charity. He has been published in a wide range of educational journals, national newspapers and magazines and is the co-author of a major work on educating able young people. He lives in Cambridge, England.

Follow R J Gould

Website: www.rjgould.info

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