A parcel for Anna Browne - Miranda Dickinson

Description

The gift of a lifetime? Anna Browne is an ordinary woman living an ordinary life. Her day job as a receptionist in bustling London isn't exactly her dream, yet she has everything she wants. But someone thinks Anna Browne deserves more . . . When a parcel addressed to Anna Browne arrives, she has no idea who has sent it. Inside she finds a beautiful gift - one that is designed to be seen. And so begins a series of incredible deliveries, each one bringing Anna further out of the shadows and encouraging her to become the woman she was destined to be. As Anna grows in confidence, others begin to notice her - and her life starts to change. But who is sending the mysterious gifts, and why?

Review

I've read a few Miranda Dickinson books and really enjoyed them,  I was looking forward to this one too. So I started out with the book hoping for great things. 

To begin with I loved the character of Anna and the parcels she was receiving. She had a good cast of supporting characters who also interested me. For the first few parcels I was really intrigued about the sender and what it would mean for Anna. Even if her tenacity with waiting to open the parcels until she got home made me impatient. For one parcel she even went out after getting home and only opened it on her return - had my patience stretched to the limit to find out what was in it.

The changes in Anna after the first and second parcel were very plausible and I was carried along by it all. The brief change in Anna's role at work was interesting and enjoyable. However, the plot then began to be strung out a little too long for my liking. A character was thrown into the mix which I thought was going to be around until the end of the book, but I feel they were there to throw you off the scent regarding the sender of the parcels. Their absence from the remainder of the book was a little weird as all the other characters continued to be mentioned.

I began to grow a little tired of Anna - I felt she got a whiny and tiresome. A brief respite was when her Mother turned up and rekindled my interest.  

In my opinion the parcel plot line was drawn out for too long in the book. Towards the end it did start to feel more like a whodunnit than chicklit - which was fine by me. I admit to feeling a little let down when I discovered who the sender of the parcels was - but you need to read it yourself and find out if you agree.

I'm holding back from the full five stars for this one - I'm giving it 4 out of 5.

My thanks go to netgalley for a free ecopy of the book to review.