Description
Love Like Your Heart’s On Fire by Sally-Anne Lomas
Sixteen-year-old Pen Flowers is angry. She’s furious about climate injustice and social inequality, her parents’ separation, and her own lonely single existence. The only thing that makes life worth living is dancing. And with that she plans to change the world.
But when romance arrives unexpectedly on the Number eleven bus, Pen leaps in. Once her heart’s set ablaze, she’s gripped by passion. With emotions running high, can she stay true to herself, her art, and all the things that matter most to her?
Love Like Your Heart’s On Fire is the stunning sequel to Live Like Your Head’s On Fire. It is a celebration of the power of dance to drive change, and a page-turning story of teenage dreams and devastation. Sally-Anne Lomas’s On Fire Trilogy is destined to become a must-read for everyone who wants to live life with passion and make the world a better place.
Author Introduction
Praise for Love Like Your Heart’s On Fire
‘In this searing follow-up to Live Like Your Head’s on Fire, Sally-Anne Lomas delivers a gripping and relevant novel, one that roars with intrigue and passion, firing both the head and the heart. A true book for our time.’ Yvvette Edwards, author of Booker longlisted A Cupboard Full of Coats, and The Mother
‘ Love like your Heart’s on Fire trembles and shimmers with a rare quality – life. The characters leap, jitter and waltz off the page, and Lomas sets them in a complex, lively dance. From the main character Pen Flowers to the array of friends, family and dancers who move around her with their own claims on our sympathy and interest and affection, the novel spins forward through a story that takes in the shifting loyalties of school, the young characters’ hopes and dreams for adult life, and love and betrayal and friendship. And it’s all done with humour, a lightness of touch that hides great craft, and empathy. Love Like Your Heart’s on Fire is a sparkling pleasure of a novel.’ Richard Lambert, author of The Wolf Road.
‘A marvellous heart-breaking, heart-warming rollercoaster ride. Pen is passionate, strong and vulnerable, I was cheering and crying for her.’
Iain B. MacDonald, director of Shameless, Wayne and Mansfield Park
‘Very funny. Love Like Your Heart’s On Fire is a beautiful novel full of warmth and compassion.’
Hannah, reader
‘A celebration of universal love. The evocation of Extinction Rebellion is authentic and gives the reader a felt-sense of Earth-love too.’
Dr. Rupert Read, Director of the Climate Majority Project, and author of Why Climate Breakdown Matters
‘A tremendous, wholehearted gem of warmth and creativity, rooted in compassion, emotion, and love. An unputdownable read. What a writer.’
Martin, reader
About the Author
Sally-Anne Lomas lives in Norfolk. Love Like Your Heart’s on Fire is her second novel and is the sequel to her debut Live Like Your Head’s on Fire. She is an award-winning documentary filmmaker and Creative Director of the Cloth of Kindness health and wellbeing textile art project. She runs writing and movement for well-being workshops.
Love Like Your Heart’s On Fire Details
Paperback ISBN: 9781912665181Planet Positive Publishing
Story Machine is committed to putting the environment first. This book is printed using processes that are: 
Planet Positive Printing means that our books are a little more expensive than they would otherwise be. We believe that this is a small price to pay for the future of our planet.
Hannah –
Love Like Your Heart’s On Fire is a beautiful novel. Lomas has written a wonderful story full of warmth and compassion. She has done a fantastic job of capturing the teenage voice. The characters are beautifully vibrant and they also feel extremely human. Pen’s love for the earth is very refreshing and Lomas’ passion leaps off the pages as we see Pen fuel her dance routines with her growing frustrations.
This novel covers a diverse range of topics including love, heartbreak, family, loneliness and self-worth, and also touches on a number of important social issues. Each of these subjects is handled with sensitivity and care and the novel feels like a glimpse into a very real world.
As a narrator Pen is fascinating and she is often very funny. It is heart-warming to see her journey and her changing relationships as she comes to further understand her capacity to love and be loved.
All in all, this novel was completely mesmerising. Cannot recommend enough!
Sara Willett (verified owner) –
Having loved Lomas’ debut novel ‘Live Like Your Heads on Fire’ I was eager to read the sequel – very happy to report that it does not disappoint. An absolute page turner from start to finish, it almost bursts with the energy and pulse of her youthful characters. We continue to follow Pen Flower’s journey through the minefield that is adolescence, with her passion for dance and life still blazing fiercely. Lomas’ ability to transport us back to the heartbreak and intensity of early years is remarkable, and I found myself, cheering, laughing and sometimes even shedding a tear. The novel does not shy away from some of the challenges and conflicts that young people face, and I enjoyed the way that Pen is seen as a fully rounded character, with all the flaws and contradictions that being human carries. This novel brims with warmth, humour and humanity, with a passionate evocation of the positive changes that creativity can bring at its core.
Liz Jolly –
Pen’s passion for living and loving comes to the fore in this brilliant book. Sally Anne Lomas has created the character we need right now, a young woman discovering just how crazy life can be, with all its risks and possibilities, and deciding to live it to its full. Pen is vulnerable and powerful, insecure and committed as she negotiates through the challenges of understanding who she is and who she wants to become. I loved this book, familiar characters from book 1 are here including the great city of Birmingham, but we are introduced to some wonderful new friends (and enemies) as well. The writing is vibrant, skilful and thrilling: Lomas makes the reader laugh and cry along with Pen, and who could see THAT end coming?
Eleanor (verified owner) –
Love Like Your Hearts on Fire tells the story of Pen, a strong vibrant teenager with a passion for dance. It is a novel about confidence courage and friendship. Although about teenagers It is a novel which anyone of any age would enjoy because Pen is such a compelling character. A great read!
Antonia Smith –
This book gave me so much pleasure- my teenage years were a long time ago but the authors writing Transported me back. Tender writing full of heart and humour.
Rachel Higgs (verified owner) –
Love Like Your Heart’s On Fire is a warm, witty, well-observed page-turner of a novel which captures the “hormones firing on all cylinders” intensity of teenage first love and the vivid and energetic world of dance. With well-rounded characters, a compelling storyline and a fluid writing style, it moves at a gallop and covers a lot of ground. A great read and highly recommended.