Book review: The Trouble with Choices is cheeky, lusty and full of laughs

The Trouble With Choices is the first book I have read by the very accomplished romance novelist, Trish Morey. If all her stories are as entertaining as this one, I can see myself fast becoming a fan.

From the first page, I found myself laughing and as the story unfolded, I was more and more entertained. The story takes place in the picturesque Adelaide Hills of South Australia, but as the lives of the Faraday family unfolded, I found this was no ordinary romance. There was something to laugh or cry about on nearly every page.

Sophie, a school teacher is the youngest granddaughter of the Faraday children. She has two older sisters, Beth and Hannah, who are twins and brother Dan. The story begins at Dan’s wedding to Lucy, where the girls are bridesmaids. Sophie, who seems to fall in love with every man she dates, has just been dumped by her current boyfriend and turns up at the wedding, more than a little tipsy, much to the disgust of serious twin, Hannah.

Nan and Pop Faraday are in their eighties. Their only child, the father of the Faraday grandchildren died a few years earlier and his wife, now remarried, is overseas with a broken leg, preventing her from returning for her son’s wedding. Nan and Pop, matriarchs of the family have everything under control, but Hannah suspects her grandmother is not well. Sophie is too intoxicated to listen to Hannah’s suspicions and Beth brushes them off.

The wedding goes off without a hitch, but Sophie seems hell bent on forgetting Jason, her now ex-boyfriend, by engaging in a flirtatious exchange with a much younger barman. The newly wed Dan decides to call upon his best mate and family friend, Nick, to intervene and keep his sister from getting into any more trouble than she can handle. Sophie of course is not happy with Nick’s interference and what follows sets the scene for some very funny and interesting reading throughout the remainder of the book.

Beth, a dedicated paramedic, has dealt with her own personal tragedy. The father of her 10-year-old daughter was killed in a motorcycle accident before his daughter was born. Even after all these years, Beth struggles with the loss of the man she believes was the love of her life. Hannah, Beth’s twin, is a vet and the serious one in the family. She and Beth were as close as twins can be growing up, but something changes Hannah and she and Beth have drifted apart.

The story heats up when Sophie shares some unexpected news with her family and Hannah’s suspicions about her grandmother are found to be true. Dan and his new wife Lucy return from their honeymoon with news of their own and Hannah has to deal with a novice wildlife carer, who also happens to be an Irish immigrant. Hannah’s overly cautious nature is reluctant to believe Declan can learn to take care of the baby Joey he has fallen in love with after her mother ran in front of his car and lost her life. Declan finds he will have to prove himself to the guarded vet.

Trish Morey creates a down to earth, very believable story of an ordinary family and it’s ups and downs. It was funny, sometimes sad and always entertaining. Sometimes a romance novel is not just another romance novel. I found this one, set in surroundings I knew and written with a way of making you ride the ups and downs of the Faraday’s, one of these times.

The Trouble With Choices by Trish Morey is available in digital and printed editions from the publisher HQ Fiction.