Tattoos and Tata's by Tara Sivec

This has been sitting on my kindle since I bought it last October in support of Breast Cancer Awareness, and wanted to do my bit to support such a worthwhile cause.

Every now and then a book transcends normal reading patterns and the authors show just what they are made of by standing tall, Tara Sivec took on a subject that silently lies beneath the subconscious of each and every woman out there and showed us that it is Ok to be scared but that with friends and family it is also Ok to kick some cancer butt.

Told from Liz’s point of view, this is the story of two best friends dealing with the fact that cancer threatens to tear them apart.

Claire breaks the news that she has breast cancer and as hard as that is for her to deal with it is the powerlessness that Liz experiences that puts the biggest strain on the two of them.

Liz doesn’t cope well and to her shame she pulls away from Claire in order to try and assimilate how exactly she should feel, instead of just going with her gut instinct to be at her best friends side while she faces the biggest battle of her life,

It was fabulous to see all the characters from the The Chocolate Lover’s series pop up throughout the story, each offering their support in their own way but it is the relationship between Liz and Claire that dominates the tale.

Unable to fix her friend and make her well, Liz eventually gets her head around the situation and realises that she really is being a complete ass and she has to put Claire first.

When she rocks up at the hospital during Claire’s treatment in order to put things right and repair the friendship that she holds do dear, I couldn’t help but feel for both women. But I felt proud of Liz and the fact that she could swallow her stupidity and like a true best friend stand by her girl when it really mattered.

Tara gave a serious subject humour and hope. She showed that through pain and suffering that the tough pull on their big girl pants and with the support of those around them they learn that when all else may crumble around you, your friendship and family will pull you through.

Laughter is truly the best medicine and there are few that can make me laugh more than Tara Sivec.