It may seem a little like stating the blindingly obvious but Audrey Davis has a way with words.

I’ve enjoyed the witty word play in both of her Hattie Hastings novellas which I read earlier this year.

And A Clean Sweep is just as clever, packed with dry asides and witty observations.

In the opening pages, for instance, 50-something Emily is considering the Kim Kardashian question – how can a woman build a multi-million dollar empire purely by virtue of having an unfeasible enormous bottom.

Her own rear, she observes, is ‘far from superstardom status but it did seem to grow in direct proportion to the shrinking of her grey matter’.

What the blurb says:

A Clean Sweep is a laugh-out loud tale of love, lies and second chances.

Love comes around when you least expect it. Fifty-two-year-old widow Emily isn’t expecting romance.

Nor is she expecting a hunky 20-something chimney sweep on her doorstep.

Daughter Tabitha knows something isn’t right with her relationship, while her boss – Abba-loving Meryl thinks she’s found the real deal. Are they both right? Or pursuing Mr Wrong?

Emily’s sister, Celeste has the perfect marriage…or does she? Can a fitness tracker lead her down the path to happiness or heartbreak?

Susan is single, overweight and resigned to a life of loneliness. There was the one who got away but you don’t get another try, do you?

Prepare for a rollercoaster ride of emotions in a book that will grab your heart, make you smile and wish you had a chimney sweep.

Einstein, thinks Emily, could probably have created a mathematical equation to address the conundrum.

Davis is particularly good at painting word pictures. Take this description of Emily: ‘High cheekbones, thick hair and good skin kept in check with liberal applications of whatever cream or serum promised to work miracles. Her bathroom cabinet resembled a suburban branch of Boots.’

Picture perfect.

The plot is, perhaps, a little predictable and I struggled a bit with the notion of a 20-something hunk falling for a 52-year-old – I wish…

But Davis writes with such dash and verve it’s impossible not to enjoy every page.

Review by Sue Featherstone.

Available to buy on Amazon.

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