Book Review: Jumping in Puddles by Claire Allan

Rathinch is a small Irish town with a lot of people who aren't necessarily friends, but Detta is set to change all that with her 'Single Parents' group. She wants to get them all talking, and despite their initial reluctance, they soon find themselves making steadfast friends and suprising themselves along the way too.

Niamh has just lost her husband Seán in a car accident, leaving her alone with their young twins... but is it all as it seemed for Niamh and Seán? Ruth was left along when her husband James ran off with a younger woman, leaving her mothering their 3 chilren alone... but Ruth is hiding a devastating secret she won't let get out. Liam is a single dad as it was his wife who ran off with Ruth's husband, but the pair don't talk as Liam wants his wife back. Finally, teen mum Ciara makes up the group and is unsure about hanging out with people her own mum's age. Ciara is keeping her baby's daddy a secret but is it for good reason, and will the older adults help her let go of her demons?

Can Detta help these people find friendship and confidence once more? And what is Detta's secret too?

I read and loved Claire Allan's second book Feels Like Maybe earlier this year and I absolutely loved it, so I jumped at the chance of reading Jumping In Puddles which is Claire's 3rd book. It was published in September by Irish publishers Poolbeg, and its gorgeous bright cover screams "chick lit", something I love! The book focuses on a group of friends who have their own problems, but how talking them through just might help them to get through the worst of it. Claire has the knack for writing believable characters who you can imagine are real people, and stories that are very realistic as well.

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