Lessons In Laughing Out Loud

By Rowan Coleman


I found this book a very moving and emotional read. In Willow Briars, Rowan Coleman has created a very sympathetic main character. In ‘Lessons In Laughing Out Loud’ we meet Willow and her twin sister Holly, and slowly find out what it is that has caused the sisters to be so different and to have lives that have taken them down very different paths.

Willow is a great character, but I also loved Chloe the teenager from Willow’s past who turns up on her doorstep needing help and India, the starlet with a problem who also has to rely on Willow to bail her out. The unlikely friendship that develops between Chloe and India is one of the most touching things in the book.

As we follow Willow’s story we find out a lot about her past loves and her present emotional dilemmas, including an ex-husband and a best friend who she’d like to be a bit more, and we also eventually find out the secret from her past that has been holding her back from getting what she wants and preventing her from laughing out loud.

It makes for a very satisfying plot. Throw in a borderline psychotic boss, a fur coat and some magic shoes and you have a very beguiling mix indeed.

Finally, I have to say that the ending wasn’t the one I was rooting for, but it was the right one!

Reviewed by Helen M Hunt