Never Too Late

by Cathy Kelly

A lot can happen in a year - and Evie, Cara and Olivia are about to find out just how much...Evie is a hopeless romantic who's never had a chance to do her own thing, and deep down she knows that marrying Simon isn't going to help. Her sister Cara's a walking disaster when it comes to relationships, and she's not much better in the workplace either. And her best friend Olivia can't quite bring herself to admit that she's married to the wrong man - after all, what would she do without him? When they go home for Christmas, Evie's father announces that he's getting remarried. That shouldn't change anything - but then they don't know who they're going to meet at the wedding...

Genres: Chick Lit, Romance, Fiction, Roman, Ireland, Womens Fiction, Contemporary Romance

Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Born in Belfast but raised in Dublin, Cathy initially worked for thirteen years as a newspaper journalist with a national Irish Sunday newspaper, where she worked in news, features, along with spending time as an agony aunt and the paper’s film critic. However, her overwhelming love was always fiction and she published her first international bestseller, Woman To Woman, in 1997. She did not become a full-time writer until she had written another two books (She’s The One and Never Too Late) and finally decided to leave the world of journalism in 2001, moving to HarperCollins Publishers at the same time.

Someone Like You and What She Wants followed in successive years. Her sixth novel, Just Between Us, was her first Sunday Times number one bestseller, while her eighth novel, Always and Forever, topped the UK bestseller lists in October 2005, displacing Dan Brown and J. K. Rowling. In 2007, Past Secrets in was also a number one paperback bestseller.

Lessons in Heartbreak was shortlisted for the Eason Irish Popular Fiction Book of the Year at the Irish Book Awards in April 2009. In September 2009, Once in a Lifetime topped the UK bestseller lists for three weeks. In March 2011, Homecoming achieved the same feat. Her latest novel is It Started With Paris, published by Orion in 2014.

In Autumn 2011, Cathy headlined a search for a new writer on ITV’s The Alan Titchmarsh Show.

Cathy’s trademark is warm story-telling and she consistently tops the bestseller lists around the world with books which deal with themes ranging from relationships and marriage to depression and loss, but always with an uplifting message and strong female characters at the heart.

Cathy also has a passionate interest in children’s rights and is an ambassador for UNICEF Ireland. Her role for UNICEF is a Global Parent, which means raising funds and awareness for children orphaned by or living with HIV/AIDs.

She lives with her husband, John, their twin sons, Dylan and Murray, and their three dogs in Enniskerry, Co Wicklow.

To contact Cathy email info@cathykelly.com

Reviews

[Alicja]

I like reading Irish chick-lit, but this one is awfully predictable and the main character is sooo irritating... I was thinking:"Poor Max" all the time. This woman needs a thorough therapy. Please, please, don't tell women that's it's ok to be so sickening jeleauos and mad and self- centered as Evie is. And having such low self-esteem is detrimental to every relationship.

[The Cats’ Mother]

Fairly average Irish chick-lit - easy reading. I didn't like the main character much, but her daughter, sister, best friend and mother-in-law were funny and made the story more interesting. Very predictable ending.

[UZIP]

Een roman om heerlijk bij weg te dromen, een echte feel-good-boek!

Ik kwam er in de eerste 150 pagina's heel moeilijk doorheen, vond de zinnen te lang, waardoor ik ze soms meerdere keren moest lezen om ze te begrijpen. De originaliteit is ver te zoeken, maar het is wel een boek om mee te nemen op vakantie en bij weg te dromen.

Het verhaal gaat om Evie, Cara en Olivia met ieder hun eigen problemen, welke zeer herkenbaar zijn. Evie gaat trouwen, maar niet met de heldhaftige prins op het witte paard waar ze van droomt. Cara durft geen relatie aan te gaan, terwijl ze geen gebrek aan aandacht heeft. Olivia wordt thuis kort gehouden, hoewel ze langzaamaan haar dromen begint na te jagen.

Deze problemen worden in het begin van het boek uitgebreid beschreven. En gaandeweg komen hier clichématige veranderingen in.

[Maria-Antonia]

mijn lieveling boek.... in 1 nachtje uitgelezen , en nog lees ik het soms,

[Anne Brooke]

This is an okay read but it outstays its welcome a bit - I keep trying Cathy Kelly novels and each time I end up thinking it's very much like Mills & Boon but just a tad higher class. It's a shame that here one of the main characters, Evie, is a complete idiot and astonishingly cruel to those around her and I never believed in her so-called passionate love affair with Max - it's a nonsense. However, the other two women, Cara and Olivia, are fine, though the ease in which Olivia stops being a doormat and becomes a TV star just made me laugh. A pleasant enough read, but unbelievable, and nothing to write home about.

[Cláudia]

It's the second book I've read from Cathy Kelly and I'm definitly a fan. She can make real stories with real people interesting and making us care for them. I just think that people don't fall in love so easyly and quickly, but maybe that just me ;)
This book accompanied me in the flight to New York, thr trip to celebrate our 1st wedding anniversary, and it was then a good excuse to buy 2 more books from her :o)

[Avril Dalton]

Verrrrrryy draaaaaaaaaaaaan out! Reminded me of something I read in my teens. There's light easy reading and then there's feather light. Probably just not my type of story. Too predictable and could've been told in half the time.

[Jean]

Evie and Cara have problems with romance until their fathers wedding and a step brother appears, the book was good but could have been halved as too much detail in it

[Sue]

One of the author's earliest novels, and my least favourite so far. The main character is two-dimensional, selfish and over-emotional. She loves or hates people at a moment's notice, and is obsessed about her weight - yet keeps on eating and drinking.

Somehow she's managed to raise a likeable and sensible 17-year-old, Rosie, whom I did quite like. I also liked Rosie's godmother (Evie's best friend) Olivia, whose story may be a bit caricatured, but was, in my view, the most interesting part. Evie's sister Cara is another main character but I found her frankly uninteresting and irrelevant.

There's a lot of detail that could have been cut, including far too many detailed bedroom encounters. This is not a book I would recommend. Cathy Kelly's more recent novels (written in the past twelve years or so) are, in my opinion, much better.

Possibly two and a half stars would be fairer; I did finish reading in just a few days, although I skimmed some sections and skipped the explicit scenes.

Not recommended.

Longer review here: https://suesbookreviews.blogspot.com/...

[IrishFan]

this book was good, but not great. I think it dragged in a few places, which is why I gave it 3 and not 4 stars. I did like all the characters, I just think it took forever for her to dump Simon. I was glad that Stephen decided to change to save his family. And i'm glad Cara saw her errors and saved her relationship with Ewan.

[Ben Currey]

Nothing better than a light Cathy Kelly read where the heroes are invariably described as “six foot something” and the heroines who never seem to know their own value.

Drawbacks: very much a product of its time as far as fat shaming and diet culture, and sometimes Kelly stays on one storyline at the expense of another meaning you don’t always get the same resolutions for each character.

[Sama Tariq]

A good read.

[Karen Wharton]

Very slow in getting started. Agree with other reviews that it could have been said in half the time.

[Fathima Rishana]

Simple, sweet, nothing to brag about

[Catherine]

A bit longwinded & predictable

[Yvonne Van]

P

[Rosemary Turner]

ho humm, very Mills and Boon, sickly, saccharine drippy main character.

[Donna Linton-Palmer]

A great read for the summer -- always enjoy Cathy Kelly's stories and the characters she develops.

[Lady B of house Sefer]

My god, chick lit has certainly changed for the better since the 80s.
Main character: I'm so fat and unlovable, because I'm so fat.
Moderately attractive male: you're gorgeous just the way you are, I like curvy girls.
Main character: swoons, oh I'm now loveable, a man likes me so I can love myself.
Gag

[Rafaila]

I had read this book for the first time more than 10 years ago, and decided to re-read it as in my mind it was one of my favourite romance books - I didn’t remember much about the story, I just had this positive impression. Well, my memory was confirmed, I once again loved it! I really liked the characters and the plot and the fact that the book’s plot is not based on the classic romance clichés (well, except for the tall athletic man)

The book also has a social aspect, discussing on red flags inside or outside a relationship, touching subjects such as sexual harassment and verbal abuse, drawing lines on what should be considered unacceptable and indirectly encouraging readers to put their limits in such situations or even giving them the feeling that they are not alone.

I really liked the fact that the book included one case with a problematic relationship that after all made it work after hard work from both parties, not taking the “easy road” that most romance novels would take, having the heroine meet a handsome new lover and dump the old bad husband.

Cathy Kelly at her very best, I would totally recommend it!

[Elliedoc]

i waited more when i started reading this book . the characters seemed a bit shallow, i couldn;t see any depth or any reason behind their actions and their feelings.first, there;s evie, who, just before her wedding and just because she meets a handsome man, decides she does not love her fiance the way she wants to or is supposed to. she falls in love with this new guy because he is handsome????at least, i didn't understand that there was any other reason for this quick and fatal!!attraction. she knew him what? for about an hour...or so. yet she practically writes off her fiance.then, there's olivia. who loves a husband, who has been nothing less than abusive to her. again, there's no reason whatsoever for her loving this guy so much, there is not another aspect of him to show us something that is worth loving.and finally, kara, who is the only one not so superficial, who somehow justifies her actions and feelings...A fairly light read, just to pass some time without too much thinking. just ok, i guess.

[Karschtl]

Drei Frauen, und alle haben sie nicht wirklich Glück in der Liebe. Die eine findet erst keinen, die anderen hat einen Langweiler als Verlobten und die dritte ist bereits verheiratet - jedoch mit dem Falschen, wie sie leider zu spät feststellt.

Hauptperson ist Evie (die mit dem faden Verlobten Simon), deren Liebesleben auf der Hochzeit ihres verwitweten Vaters ein bißchen durchgewirbelt wird und sich daraufhin fragt, ob sie zu ihrer eigenen Hochzeit mit Simon überhaupt gehen soll. Denn wie schon der Originaltitel sagt: es ist "never too late" seine Meinung zu ändern.

[Anita Johnson]

I have totally enjoyed every book by Cathy Kelly that I could find. I think this was her first novel, written in 1999, and it has her humor, warmth and assortment of kind, lovely people and witchy ones you love to hate. I read it on my iPad and was very disappointed with the formatting. Many times, one character would follow another with no paragraph break and sentences sometimes would stop mid-way at the top of a page and then continue on the next page. It was a good story despite that.

[Dmareen]

I decided to chose the Cathy Kelly novels for some more light hearted reading after reading so many dramatic and often sad historical
Novels before these.
Her novels are an easy read but the story lines can be a bit predictable in parts, so I will think I will move to something different when finished
the 3rd run in her series.

[Karen Chambers]

A nice, light chick lit book. Easy reading for when you want something to relax with and not have to remember plot's or intense story lines.

Excellent book for whiling the time away by a pool or on a lazy afternoon.

[Heidi Irmeli]

Very nice entertaining book which is can suprising a readers.

[Huyenvu]

I see that there is nothing in life that's too late for us. The importance is we are eager to start or restart and be tolerant with others (respect their own life).

[Audrey Mealiff]

One of Cathy Kellys best!

[Tania Easton]

Read this onea while ago, loved it.

[Toni Umar]

Light weight fun style of reading, lots of fun family dynamics and always true love eventually, very good