PUBLISHERS BLURB
She’s fighting to save everyone else, but will she have anything left to save herself?
Witty, sharp and sarcastic tattoo artist Lydia’s life is imploding. Her long-term relationship has broken down after several miscarriages and she’s hiding from her hurt in loss and rage. After a big night out she wakes beside a much younger man who brings complications she could really do without.
As her grief about her lost babies and failed relationships spirals out of control, she obsesses about rescuing a wayward teenage girl she watches from her window and gets more involved than she should with her charming but unstable young lover.
Unprotected is a raw and punchy story of love, family and accepting yourself for who you really are.
MY REVIEW
Well, when the publishers say this is raw and punchy they are not kidding. Lydia and Max have been trying for a baby, but after 5 miscarriages their relationship is troubled. When Max moves out, Lydia is a mess and she’s angry, hurt and when friend Cassie invites her out, she goes all out, drink, drugs and wakes up with a much younger man in her bed.
But, Martin is as troubled as she is.
Lydia also sees a young girl in trouble and tries to help.
When her sister gets pregnant, all sorts of family secrets come out.
Lydia, a tattooed tattooist tries to help everyone, but it’s her that needs the help really.
This is an incredibly emotional tale, the heartbreak and trauma of miscarriage, the secrets in families and some gritty truths around neglected, abused and abandoned children. Not always an easy read, but there is also hope and love. A remarkable, thoughtful and utterly engrossing read.
Thank you to Anne Cater and Random Things Tours for the opportunity to participate in this blog tour, for the promotional materials and a free copy of the book. This is my honest, unbiased review.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sophie has had what might be politely described as a varied career, which has seen her be a black-smith, silver-smith, jewellery designer, pattern-cutter and wedding dress designer, home help, teacher, extreme knitter, burlesque performer, artist and various combinations of the above. Her one abiding passion alongside drawing has always been writing, from her early work in year four producing hand bound novellas mostly written in crayon, to the inevitable fantasy epic which pushed 500 pages and, thank goodness, has never seen the light of day. She began focusing on her writing after the birth of her first child, and has been working on it ever since, losing hands down to the publishing industry’s gatekeepers and Gorgons, until she met fellow traveller Amanda Saint, who as the name suggests, was something of a shining light on the path.
She is currently studying an MA in illustration and discovering how much she hates academic writing, and what a wise move it was to give someone else the task of designing the cover for her first book with Retreat West, Unprotected. She lives in Kent with her long suffering husband, two children and a very handsome cat.
