Picture Perfect by Kate Forster

This most certainly has shades of Lace by Shirley Conran, a book turned into a TV mini series ( not sure if anyone knows or remembers it, because it aired in 1984).

Picture Perfect has the same kind of Hollywood flare that Lace had, and that one would expect from a Jackie Collins novel.

The reader follows the story of two best friends,  who are drawn to each other in an attempt to find some sort of comfort and support. They are both children in dysfunctional family situations, suffering abuse and neglect, and with no obvious way out.

One of them winds up pregnant, and that sets a series of events in motion, which will have an impact on both of them in the future.

In the midst of this brassy, emotional and glitzy story there is also an intricate look at the relationship between birth mother, adoptive mother and child.

Adopted children, who don't know anything about their birth parents, often feel as if something is missing. There is this need to know and need for closure. This is how and why Shay's daughter ends up looking for her birth mother. Kept in the dark by her adoptive parents, she is on a mission to find the woman who couldn't keep her.

I liked the way Forster handled the whole 'coming back for you' aspect of the story. Instead of adults filled with selfishness and interested in their own gratification, Forster has created characters, who choose in the best interest of the child.

Simultaneously the reader is treated to a whirlwind combination of relationships and romances. The thrill of young love, the complicated love between a loner and a player, and the erratic romance between a widower and a hardcore cynic.

P.S: I have to admit to getting a little teary-eyed about the dog, it was such an endearing sub-plot.

Buy Picture Perfect at Amazon Uk or go to Goodreads for any other retailer.

Read The Last Will and Testament of Daphne Le Marche by Kate Forster.