Synopsis
“Maybe he wasn’t here because of the lights – maybe they were here because of him …”
It’s been over eighteen months since Molly Gilchrist has had a man (as her best friend, Caro, is so fond of reminding her) so when she as good as stumbles upon one, lying comatose, on the moors one bitterly cold morning, it seems like the Universe is having a laugh at her expense.
But Phinn Baxter (that’s Doctor Phinneas Baxter) is no drunken layabout, as Molly is soon to discover; with a PhD in astrophysics and a tortured past that is a match for Molly’s own disastrous love life.
Finding mysterious men on the moors isn’t the weirdest thing Molly has to contend with, however. There’s also those strange lights she keeps seeing in the sky. The ones she’s only started seeing since meeting Phinn …
Book 4 in the Yorkshire Romances.
Jane Lovering
Jane was born in Devon and now lives in Yorkshire. She has five children, four cats and two dogs! She works in a local school and also teaches creative writing. Jane is a member of the Romantic Novelists’ Association and has a first class honours degree in creative writing.
Jane writes romantic comedies which are often described as ‘quirky’.
Her debut Please Don’t Stop the Music won the 2012 Romantic Novel of the Year and the Best Romantic Comedy Novel award from the Romantic Novelists’ Association.
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You know how to grab a girls attention? Start your book by finding a beautiful man butt naked and unconscious on the moors. Yup, that’ll do it. Hooked from the start. Well played, Jane, well played.
….How I Wonder What You Are ticked all the boxes for me; it was romantic, cute, funny, engaging and mysterious. The ending was entirely satisfying in that warm-and-fuzzy way when everything just works out so nicely, in particular in regards to the lights. Overall, a really sweet and satisfying read.
Reviewed by Paris at Paris Baker’s Book Nook
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Yorkshire author Jane Lovering has given us an entertaining read that keeps us amused. While it is a light romantic read she cleverly weaves in a few mysteries to solve so that we need to read it to the end and enjoy doing so. It is a little bit of magic a the end of a hard days’ work.
Yorkshire Gazette & Herald The Bookshelf by Bill Spence.
There is a delicious amount of sexual tension throughout this novel! The characters are all well developed, each with their own set of endearing flaws. The tale flows well and is difficult to put down, and midway through the story is an unexpected plot twist. The detail in the scenery is beautifully written and the reader can easily imagine being there. There are heart-stopping scenes that have the reader sitting on the edge of the seat, waiting to see what happens next.
“How I Wonder What You Are” is as charming as its title suggests, and well worth a look!
Reviewed by Belinda at InDTale Magazine
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I don’t do reviews so this is a first. I won’t go into the storyline, as others have summarised it sufficiently here anyway. I do read lots of books, and as well as spending a small fortune, have worked my way through all my local libraries – including digital, and you do become jaded. I often skip chunks of books because I am bored, and already know how it ends without any great need to know how it gets there. However …. I have never read Jane Lovering before, but I am just about to look for more of her output – this was wonderfully quirky! I was hooked pretty much from the start – so much so that I took the book into town today as I could not leave it alone, and, while reading it at the bus stop, laughed out loud – another unusual occurrence, which generated a few funny looks! I didn’t skip any chunks of this one – what I found really refreshing was that though sex was mentioned, we did not have to go through all the gory details – a true romance in my eyes. I’m also going to be looking for more Choc Lit now I’ve discovered you too! Thank you.
This is not my first Jane Lovering book, and to be honest, it won’t be my last. Since discovering Jane’s books a few years ago I quickly, and delightfully, worked my way through them, with never a disappointment to be found. How I Wonder What You Are was no exception.
I doubt there would be many people who could walk away from the opening scene, where the protagonist, Molly, finds a naked man on the Yorkshire moors (the best I’ve ever found out in the open countryside was a discarded crisp packet). The naked man turns out to be Phinn (Phinneas Baxter, Physicist, geek and potential hunk), who is drawn up to the moors by the mysterious lights in the night sky. Molly is hiding out in Yorkshire after a failed relationship and she spends her time writing magazine articles and riding her friend’s recalcitrant horse, Stan. The relationship between Molly and Phinn develops gracefully throughout the book, they both have issues so there’s a lot of coming together and moving apart, which I did begin to find quite frustrating at times but it never got dull to watch the dance between these two. The mysterious lights keep cropping up throughout the story, right up to the very satisfying end, but I’m not going to spoil the fun by saying more on that point.
There is always something quirky going on in Jane Lovering’s stories, and that’s what appeals to me most about them – you know from the start that you’re going to get something different. Her characters are usually flawed, like the rest of us I suppose, which feels more authentic and easy to identify with. There is a lot of humour running through the story as I have come to expect from Lovering’s previous works, and she does it so well.
Overall, there is a lovely atmosphere to the book, the characters are believable and well rounded, the setting bleak enough to be believable and the back story doesn’t take over too much. Now all I have to do is wait patiently for the next book.
How I Wonder What You Are is the first book I have read published by Choc Lit. What a great find it is. This is the second new romance company that I have found that is right up my alley. Truly a company that must believe – it is all about the story and while we’re at it let’s make it a great story.
This is certainly a humdinger of one by Jane Lovering. I couldn’t believe that there were three previous books in the Yorkshire Romance Series. I laughed, I even cringed a few times, and I had my heart broken along with Molly but I never gave up hope for Phinn. Lastly I learned as Phinn did from a child, when Lucas said “But life’s not fair, Doctor Baxter. We just have to do what we can with what we’ve got.”
Wow, what a beautiful story of fate, finding strength to overcome fears and stepping out to embrace love. How I Wonder What You Are is full of colorful writing that creates vivid images. Just a small example – “boxes of toys overflowing as though a tsunami of plastic had just passed.” Then there is the entertaining storyline that the author somehow manages to makes both humorous and poignant, along with the many memorable characters who stole my heart. What a treat! Loved it!
Reviewed by Sarah Broadhurst at LoveReading
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This book is the perfect example of why I love Jane Lovering so much. How I wonder what you are, is filled with her trademark humour, whacky believable situations and a story that is both uplifting and heart warming.
Molly is a character of so much depth, although she appears bubbly and well humoured on the outside, you know there is a vein of heart break that runs deep inside her. It is like her pain is a constant companion but she hides it well and occasionally you see a little hint of her inner workings- and that is the hook that makes you empathize and cheer her on.
Phinn, is something else entirely-he is the quintessential Beta male. Jane Lovering excels at Beta males and Phinn is a total heart throb. Unconfident, geeky, but with a oozing soft centre- he stole the whole show for me and made me want to take up star gazing just to find my own Phinn.
I adored this book, as much as I have adored all of Lovering’s works and if you haven’t read her yet, You are missing out on a sheer delight of your senses and great books.
If I could give more than 5 stars I would, because I fell in love with this book and its characters.