Reviewed by Donna
TITLE: Puzzle Pieces
SERIES: La Trattoria Di Amore #1
AUTHOR: JP Sayle
PUBLISHER: Self Published
LENGTH: 261 Pages
RELEASE DATE: May 17, 2019
BLURB:
Sebastian Smythe is an accomplished chef and restaurateur with several businesses and has the perfect life. That is until his long-term partner decides he no longer wants to be with him.
Suffering the devastation and loss of his “boy,” Sebastian struggles to let go of the past and move on and find someone new with his ex’s shadow still hanging over him.
Richie Bellinger has his life mapped out for him by his girlfriend. A career in management once he’s completed his masters at university. Then marriage, followed with a house and two point four kids, and they’d all live happily ever after.
Only the universe seems to have other plans for him. With his mother diagnosed with breast cancer and his father having done a runner, Richie finds himself dropping out of uni and applying for the position of office assistant at the restaurant, La Trattoria Di Amore, to earn money to pay the mounting bills.
Richie’s well-organised life is turned on its head when he meets the enigmatic Sebastian. All the things Richie thought he knew about himself and what he wanted are challenged at every turn.
Will these two learn that there is more to life if they just let go? Can they both accept each other, slot the puzzle pieces of their lives together, and reform their future?
REVIEW:
Unfortunately, I struggled with this one from the start. Problem was, I was never keen on Sebastian, and when you don’t like one of the main characters it’s hard to really get behind their romance. The story begins with a disbelieving Sebastian being told that his ‘boy’, Ellie is leaving him. I actually really liked Ellie, and I hope he gets his own happily-ever-after. He was one of the only characters in this book that wasn’t an overly dramatic plonker. Sebastian can’t believe what Ellie is saying, and though he lets him walk away, he begins to stalk him to a rather uncomfortable degree. However, my main problem with Sebastian and Ellie was that they met when Ellie was a fourteen-year-old homeless kid, and Sebastian was a full-grown man…like thirtyish. Though I should stress that they didn’t begin a sexual relationship at this time, Sebastian took Ellie home with him, and both of them knew that as soon as Ellie turned sixteen (the legal age in the UK) they would be humping like bunnies. That put Sebastian firmly in the creeper department as far as I was concerned. Add to that the stalking, and giving his employee a neck massage while sporting an erection…and yeah. I just couldn’t like Sebastian as a main romantic character.
But while I wasn’t eagerly hanging out for the romance between Sebastian and Richie to start up, I was hooked on the story of Richie’s mum’s illness. As the blurb tells us, Richie’s mum is dying of breast cancer, when we first meet her she’s already struggling with trips to the bathroom and can’t walk unassisted. I loved the relationship between Richie and his mother and that’s what made this book for me. That was my favourite love story found in this book.
Having said that, this book wasn’t poorly written, it just wasn’t for me. Aside from some annoying time jumps at the start of most chapters, I didn’t have an issue with the writing of this book, just the characters. So if you think the blurb sounds interesting, maybe check out some of the book’s other reviews on Goodreads. From what I’ve seen, most people are definitely enjoying it.
RATING: 
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