Orphaned at 14, Jude's new guardian is a man of 33 who lives in London rather than in her beloved Ireland. But there all resemblance to a Mills & Boon title ends as the couple try to cope with the aftermath of bereavement and a future which at times seems hopeless. A well written and very believable novel.
This curious platonic intimacy which had developed between them was not what her father would have envisaged when, years before, they had spoken about her care. And yet Oliver remained comfortable with it. As a child Jude had been much cuddled by her gran and her dad, and she had always come to him expecting the same. He had allowed it to continue into the awkward teenage years for the simple reason that he couldn't allow her to mature in a vacuum of physical affection.