Review: The Piano Man Project

The Piano Man Project by Kat French
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Honeysuckle Jones hasn't had much luck with men so her two BFFs (as always when girls have friends in books there are two of them and they are extremely irritating) decide to try to set her up with a man, for some reason they decide that a pianist would be ideal, because he would be good with his hands, so they set her up on a series of blind dates with men who play the piano, or teach music, or something equally vaguely related to music. At the same time her boss announces that the company that owns the charity shop that she works for, and the old people's home attached to it, have decided to sell the buildings for redevelopment. Honey will be out of a job and the old people, many of whom are her friends, will be "rehomed". Nevertheless, despite all her bad luck Honey remains relentlessly optimistic.

A new man has moved into the flat that shares a hallway with Honey's, what she doesn't know is that the new neighbour is Benedict 'Hal' Hallam, former bad boy restaurateur and adrenaline junkie, Hal had a snowboard accident that left him blind and now he is hiding away from his friends and family, drinking whisky and unable to move on from the loss of everything that meant anything to him: his job; his fiancee; and his adrenaline-fuelled lifestyle.

Honey and Hal can't be more different but slowly an antagonistic relationship develops between them. Honey buys Hal whisky and food items, in return she sits at his door and talks at him, even though he rarely responds.

As Honey's plans to save the retirement home become increasingly eccentric Hal is drawn into the madness and starts to emerge from the prison he's made from himself. But when the press finds out where he's hiding, and his old life comes back to claim him, what will Hal choose.

If you are a fan of English romances featuring a cast of lovable but eccentric characters then this one is for you. The snarky banter between Hal and Honey is funny and the plot is enjoyable.

However, I'm afraid you do have to suspend a little disbelief. First that a blind wealthy celebrity would move into a block of flats that could be afforded by a woman who works for a small local charity shop. Second that the family that does know where Hal is make no attempt to check he is okay, they even send him letters! Third, Hal doesn't seem to have any issues wandering around his flat, or Honey's or various other places despite being blind.

Nevertheless, despite these minor niggles (and some issues I have with the age of the pensioners and the idea that they were adults at the time of the second world war - I'm an accountant deal with it) I really enjoyed the book and I will definitely look out for more books by Kat French.

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