Book Description
The American Woman: a story of hope, disappointment and new beginnings
When it’s impossible to forget is it possible to forgive?
Jennifer is stuck doing dead end waitressing jobs, her naïve dream of Hollywood stardom in tatters.
Gareth, an IT consultant on a temporary contract, is the unlikely customer at Giulio’s Diner in the
downbeat part of Los Angeles where she is now working.
It shouldn’t be a perfect match, the attractive, outgoing waitress from Idaho and the shy, good looker
from Wales, but when it comes to relationships nothing is predictable, is it?
They move from state to state and when Gareth’s work in America dries up Jennifer follows him to
Britain. Everything changes. What is she supposed to do when she discovers that she’s been fed a
pack of lies?
Now living alone in Muswell Hill, Jennifer is a regular at the popular Dream Café with a great job and
a lovely set of friends, but it’s impossible to cast aside the wonderful memories of her time together
with Gareth.
Were his lies justified? Are they forgivable? And most importantly, should she be giving Gareth the
second chance he so desperately wants?
[This is a stand-alone novel in the ‘at the Dream Café’ series]
BLOG TOUR REVIEW
Review for 'The American Woman' by R.J Gould.
Read and reviewed for R J Gould and Rachel's Random Tours
Publication date 28th September 2023.
This is the first book I have read by this author. It is also the third book in the 'At The Dream Café Series' but can be read as a standalone.
This novel consists of 50 chapters and an epilogue. The chapters are short in length so easy to read 'just one more chapter' before bed...OK, I know yeah right, but still just in case!
This book is very well written with vivid descriptions setting the picture perfectly in the readers mind. The title, description and cover works perfectly with the storyline.
This book is a unique story about a young woman called Jennifer who moved to Hollywood in the hopes of living her dreams and becoming an actress. However, things aren't as easy as she thought they would be and she ends up stuck in dead end waitressing jobs. It is while working one of these jobs that she meets Gareth. This book is written over multiple timelines telling the story of Jennifer's life in the USA with Gareth in the past and also in the present where she is now living in the UK. Richard weaves the past and present timelines together perfectly so the author can see what happened between Gareth and Jennifer along with finding about the friendships she makes, people she meets, problems she has, her family history, the jobs she works and much more. It is very well written and thanks to Richard's evocative writing skills the areas, characters and the storyline come to life in front of the readers eyes ensuring they smell the gorgeous drinks and food at the Dream Café along with feeling the emotions Jennifer is going through. Filled with romance, family, friendships, dreams, regrets, hopes and so much more this is a book that will keep you laughing, have you shedding some tears and also shouting at a few unlikeable characters while your at it!!! It is a lovely character driven literary/contemporary family drama and romance that will whisk you from the US to the UK!!! I loved visiting all the different areas with Jennifer and felt like I was on a journey with her. It was a shame to come to the end and have to "unpack my suitcase" but what a lovely ending it was and I'm looking forward to going back and reading the first two books in what promises to be a lovely series!!!
Although this is the third book in the series I had would have had absolutely no problems reading it without the others. Any details or events that have previously happened are mentioned in just the right amount of detail to let a new reader know what has happened and yet not too much to bore a previous reader.
The characters were all very strong and realistic and Richard's writing ensured they jumped off the pages at me. My heart went out to Jennifer on so many occasions after her dreams were dashed time and time again. However, I loved the relationship between her and Gareth and was rooting for them both throughout!!! I loved both of their characters and although nobody is perfect I think there were several lessons learnt from many of the characters. It wasn't just the main couple that I was invested in but so many of the other characters as they each all had a part to play and played them perfectly. I loved the "sisterhood" and friendship with Jennifer, Melissa, Kelly, Darren, Emma and Andrew and I adored how they all supported each other through thick and thin. Jennifer's family was complex and I really liked her parents, especially her Mum in later chapters but could not stand her uptight brother at all!!! I could literally go on about all of the characters but it will turn into an either longer essay then and I don't want to run the risk of ruining any of this lovely book for other people so grab your copy and get to know them all yourself. As with all books there were some fantastic characters along with some horror ones but regardless of whether you love them or hate them they all played their parts perfectly and it wouldn't have been such a great read with any of them missing. I'm looking forward to (hopefully) meeting some of them again in the previous two books in this series!!!
This may be the first book I have read by R.J Gould but I'm definitely looking forward to reading the other books in this series!!!
Overall an engaging book that will take you on a journey from the US to the UK filled with hope and new beginnings.
272 pages.
This book is just £3.99 to purchase on kindle, free with Kindle Unlimited and £13.03 in paperback via Amazon at time of review which I think is an absolute bargain for this book!!!
Rated 4/5 (I enjoyed it ) on Goodreads, Instagram, Amazon UK and Amazon US and on over 30 Facebook pages plus my blog on Facebook.
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Author Bio
R J Gould writes contemporary fiction about relationships using a mix of wry humour and pathos to
describe the tragi-comic life journeys of his protagonists. The American Woman is his ninth novel and
follows The Engagement Party, Jack and Jill Went Downhill, Mid-life follies, The bench by Cromer
beach, Nothing Man, Dream Café, Then and now, and Darren, Andrew and Mrs Hall. He has been
published by Headline Accent and Lume Books and also self-publishes. Before becoming a full-time
author he worked in the education and charity sectors. In addition to his addiction to telling stories,
he has somewhat milder addictions to playing tennis, watching film noir cinema, completing Wordle
and eating dried mango slices. He is a member of Cambridge Writers and the Romantic Novelists’
Association UK and lives in Cambridge, England.
Social Media Links
Website: http://www.rjgould.info
Twitter: https://twitter.com/RJGould_author
Email: rjgould.author@gmail.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RJGouldauthor
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rjgould_author
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