I’m thrilled to be part of the blog tour today for the lovely Nicky Clifford’s debut novel Never Again and to be sharing my review.

The Blurb

Mountains, Mystery, Romance: Can you run from your past?

Harriet Anderson’s life is spiralling out of control.  Unused to such mayhem, she ditches her high-powered job to take refuge in the Swiss Alps where she meets Phillipe Smith, a crime writer with a dark and shadowy past.  Thrown together by chance, is their fate intertwined?  Will the karma and romance of the mountains and the quaintness of the Alps soothe their troubled souls?

Or will their rocky paths create avalanches that cannot be avoided…

My Review

Never Again is the debut novel by Nicky Clifford and describes how love can be a complicated thing, especially when you are influenced by the experiences of your past.

Harriet has given up her life in the UK to work as a waitress in a hotel in the Swiss alps following the death of her mother and breakdown of her relationship. While there she meets Phillipe, who has his own past issues to bear, and so Never Again begins.

I loved the Swiss setting and Nicky has encapsulated the alps, hotel and village wonderfully, totally immersing you into the surroundings. Nicky’s descriptions are vivid and bring Wengen and the Hotel Neueranfang totally to life. I was with the characters while they hiked, ate apple strudel and drank hot chocolate.

Never Again is not, however, a simple story about a holiday romance. This is a story about how life can sometimes knock you down and how you pick yourself up again. 

‘The battering that life had given her recently had knocked her confidence and dimmed the spark inside that had driven her.’

I became totally absorbed in the characters to the point that I wanted at times to shake Harriet! I adored her but at the same time she infuriated me. She has a kindness and selflessness that is engaging and throughout the book I was urging her to make the right decisions and sincerely hoped everything worked out for her. Phillipe is also an interesting character and as the story unfolds I began to understand him and empathise with him. Nicky has done a great job creating all of the characters, including the characters on the periphery of Harriet’s tale.

Never Again kept me intrigued as you are kept guessing as to what has gone on for Harriet and Phillipe and the reasons for the way they are acting the way they do. The perfect amount of drama and ‘will she, won’t she?’ kept me turning the pages.

I felt the book drifted a little in the middle, however, it quickly picks up pace again towards the latter half and I soon became re-absorbed into the story.

An enjoyable read that reminds us that despite the hardships life sometimes throws at us good things can happen when you least expect them. It is full of drama, romance, great characters and a wonderful setting. Never Again is a perfect escape from everyday life. A great debut novel, I look forward to reading more by Nicky in the future.

A huge thank you to Nicky for the advance copy of Never Again.

Published 21 October 2016.

Catch the rest of the reviews and guest posts on the blog tour –

Purchase your copy of Never Again HERE