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cathyatratedreads's review
3.0
I'd give this a solid 3.5 stars. Just didn't love it so much it would get a 4.
This was fun, a nice easy summer romantic read. I figured out a few plot points fairly early but still enjoyed it.
Read my full review, including a rating for content, at RatedReads.com: https://ratedreads.com/passionate-love-affair-total-stranger-fiction-book-review/
This was fun, a nice easy summer romantic read. I figured out a few plot points fairly early but still enjoyed it.
Read my full review, including a rating for content, at RatedReads.com: https://ratedreads.com/passionate-love-affair-total-stranger-fiction-book-review/
atefeh's review
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
ljbentley27's review
4.0
Having absolutely loved Lucy Robinson’s first novel The Greatest Love Story Ever Told I definitely had high expectations for her second offering. Initially, the story didn’t feel as easy to get into as her debut however, in a weird sense this kind of worked in the development of the character of Charley. To begin with she comes across as uptight and also a little tough to warm to however as the story develops and so does she; she softens and becomes likeable. The story has some shocking moments where you genuinely inhale an “Oh my god! That did not just happen!” way.
For those of us who love a good rom com then this book is definitely a must read. For those of you who are a bit sceptical but have considered online dating then I would still recommend that you give it a read, if not just to reminisce about your own collective courting experiences.
Both of Lucy Robinson’s books The Greatest Love Story Ever Told and A Passionate Love Affair with a Total Stranger are available now…and well worth the read.
You can follow Lucy Robinson (@Lucy_Robinson) on Twitter.
* Review originally published on Different Scene
For those of us who love a good rom com then this book is definitely a must read. For those of you who are a bit sceptical but have considered online dating then I would still recommend that you give it a read, if not just to reminisce about your own collective courting experiences.
Both of Lucy Robinson’s books The Greatest Love Story Ever Told and A Passionate Love Affair with a Total Stranger are available now…and well worth the read.
You can follow Lucy Robinson (@Lucy_Robinson) on Twitter.
* Review originally published on Different Scene
alexalovesbooks's review
4.0
FIRST THOUGHTS:
I must say, this is a DELIGHTFUL read. While I may have been yelling my head off at the main character at times, I was rooting for her to get a happily ever after. So good, and looking forward to reading more from her!
REVIEW:
(Originally posted on Alexa Loves Books)
It’s been much too long since I last read a book like this, so it definitely came at the right time. A Passionate Love Affair with a Total Stranger has so many elements that I love: amusing characters, a fun storyline and a romance that I was totally rooting for at the mere hint of suggestion. Basically, A Passionate Love Affair with a Total Stranger is a completely delightful read!
Charley Lambert is our main narrator, and I simply adored her! Sure, there were times when I (mentally) yelled at her for being too much: too stubborn, too obsessed with work, too obsessed with being perfect. But the thing is, I understood that too because I can, on occasion, be like that (though I’d like to think I’ve loosened up a bit!). Apart from those bits, Charley is engaging and funny, witty and clever and a bit of a go-getter. She loves her family and her friends, takes good care of herself and really goes through a surprisingly introspective journey with this novel. It was so easy to be charmed by her, and I can firmly count her as one of the most memorable chick lit heroines I’ve encountered in ages.
But Charley is not the only character that I loved. No, there’s plenty more people to be enamored with, including Charley’s family, friends, and work-related peers. The sheer variety of these characters could potentially have meant they were left unexplored and shallowly characterized, but thankfully, that is very much not the case! Each character (the ones who are important in Charley’s life, I mean) is granted a particularly memorable trait, and afforded more than just a role in the background. They were seriously a charming, riotous, fun bunch, with a few jerk exceptions.
Then, there’s this incredible story hidden within the pages of A Passionate Love Affair with a Total Stranger. Charley is obviously going to wind up involved in a romance, as the title hints. But the way the romantic angle plays out was unexpected, and I found it utterly charming. Plus, it’s not only about the romance either! Charley is learning how to create a proper work/life balance for herself, reevaluating where she is and what she wants within the confines of these pages. It’s a very thoughtful balance of both arcs, and Robinson does a wonderful job of making sure to include both stories in equal measures.
A Passionate Love Affair with a Total Stranger was my first Lucy Robinson novel, and it certainly will not be my last! The story is charming, the characters are wonderful, and I simply could not set it down once I’d really gotten started on it. If you’re in the market for a read that’s funny, thoughtful & sweet, then definitely snag your copy of A Passionate Love Affair with a Total Stranger!
I must say, this is a DELIGHTFUL read. While I may have been yelling my head off at the main character at times, I was rooting for her to get a happily ever after. So good, and looking forward to reading more from her!
REVIEW:
(Originally posted on Alexa Loves Books)
It’s been much too long since I last read a book like this, so it definitely came at the right time. A Passionate Love Affair with a Total Stranger has so many elements that I love: amusing characters, a fun storyline and a romance that I was totally rooting for at the mere hint of suggestion. Basically, A Passionate Love Affair with a Total Stranger is a completely delightful read!
Charley Lambert is our main narrator, and I simply adored her! Sure, there were times when I (mentally) yelled at her for being too much: too stubborn, too obsessed with work, too obsessed with being perfect. But the thing is, I understood that too because I can, on occasion, be like that (though I’d like to think I’ve loosened up a bit!). Apart from those bits, Charley is engaging and funny, witty and clever and a bit of a go-getter. She loves her family and her friends, takes good care of herself and really goes through a surprisingly introspective journey with this novel. It was so easy to be charmed by her, and I can firmly count her as one of the most memorable chick lit heroines I’ve encountered in ages.
But Charley is not the only character that I loved. No, there’s plenty more people to be enamored with, including Charley’s family, friends, and work-related peers. The sheer variety of these characters could potentially have meant they were left unexplored and shallowly characterized, but thankfully, that is very much not the case! Each character (the ones who are important in Charley’s life, I mean) is granted a particularly memorable trait, and afforded more than just a role in the background. They were seriously a charming, riotous, fun bunch, with a few jerk exceptions.
Then, there’s this incredible story hidden within the pages of A Passionate Love Affair with a Total Stranger. Charley is obviously going to wind up involved in a romance, as the title hints. But the way the romantic angle plays out was unexpected, and I found it utterly charming. Plus, it’s not only about the romance either! Charley is learning how to create a proper work/life balance for herself, reevaluating where she is and what she wants within the confines of these pages. It’s a very thoughtful balance of both arcs, and Robinson does a wonderful job of making sure to include both stories in equal measures.
A Passionate Love Affair with a Total Stranger was my first Lucy Robinson novel, and it certainly will not be my last! The story is charming, the characters are wonderful, and I simply could not set it down once I’d really gotten started on it. If you’re in the market for a read that’s funny, thoughtful & sweet, then definitely snag your copy of A Passionate Love Affair with a Total Stranger!
tinksreviews's review
5.0
***SPOILER ALERT***
Charlotte Lambert is a workaholic, she aims and thrives achievement in her busy and scheduled life. Weather it be for her family or friends, but most of all it's for her high standard, high paying job at Salutech. Being the director of communications is the love of Charley's life at the moment, she has a job that she loves and can't thing of anything else she would want to do.
Other than be the lover for John McAllister. Her strong, dark, handsome and downright dirty boss. Who she's been in a love tiff with for nearly seven years. And not to mention the 'man of her dreams'.
Then it all goes down hill, literally, as Charely soon wakes up in hospital with a broken leg in three different places and a broken pelvis to go with it. Panicking about her job, Charley tries to force John to let he carry on working. But he is having none of it and soon requests Margret to take care of things. Much to Charley's horror.
Sam Bowes on the other hand is Charley's best friend, and also her flat mate, her smelly, childlike, womanising flat mate. He was the kind who sulked off to his bedroom with a bag of bread and a jar of Nutella and would stay there for hours. But she loved him none the less.
Following boredom taking over herself and a recent read in the newspaper, Charley sets out to make a new business, First Date Aid. Her very own dating site, which soon becomes famous for a couple called Shelly and William. Here's how it went, Charley was a ghost writer, helping other people find love and time to write to there chosen men.
Though when she teams up to work for and with Shelly Cartwright, a busy, bossy business woman like herself. Lambert soon realises who she's become and doesn't like it. Slowly falling in love with Shelly's chosen man. Charley starts to worry as she spirals into a loving tiff with William. Who happens to be some one she is quite close too. But doesn't know it yet.
Soon First Date Aid kicks up a storm in many peoples lives, including Charley, Sam and even her best friend Hailey's. Spreading the love is harder than it looks, especially if you the one behind it all, trying to sort everyone else's relationships out, and your own at the same time.
Follow Charley Lambert, as she falls in love over emails from a stranger, has fall outs with her best friend's, romps with her boss and a love for her family that make the whole book magical.
A Passionate Love Affair With a Total Stranger by Lucy Robinson is a wonderful book. I know I say this often about books that I like, but this has got to be now one of my favourites books, one that I will read over and over again. It's hilarious and I laughed out loud so much, I felt I could relate to this book quite a lot, not with the whole loving you're boss part, But the part in which falling in love with a friend.
Her relationship with Sam is a lot like mine (With my boyfriend Sam, who was my best Friend before) and it was just a lovely and pleasant read. It made me giggle and smile so much, her grandmother, granny Helen reminded me of my own Nanan which I loved even more.
I love books that I can relate to and this is one of them, the book is well written and I love the story line, it made me giggle, laugh, smile, grin and was also really shocked to some degree in some parts.
This book is a real pager turner with some great twists in, I will definitely be reading more of Lucy Robinson's stuff when it comes out.
All in all it's a great read which you can really relate too. With some laugh out loud hurmor, tales of friendship and family and even some saucy bits.
I will give this book 10 out 0f 10
Charlotte Lambert is a workaholic, she aims and thrives achievement in her busy and scheduled life. Weather it be for her family or friends, but most of all it's for her high standard, high paying job at Salutech. Being the director of communications is the love of Charley's life at the moment, she has a job that she loves and can't thing of anything else she would want to do.
Other than be the lover for John McAllister. Her strong, dark, handsome and downright dirty boss. Who she's been in a love tiff with for nearly seven years. And not to mention the 'man of her dreams'.
Then it all goes down hill, literally, as Charely soon wakes up in hospital with a broken leg in three different places and a broken pelvis to go with it. Panicking about her job, Charley tries to force John to let he carry on working. But he is having none of it and soon requests Margret to take care of things. Much to Charley's horror.
Sam Bowes on the other hand is Charley's best friend, and also her flat mate, her smelly, childlike, womanising flat mate. He was the kind who sulked off to his bedroom with a bag of bread and a jar of Nutella and would stay there for hours. But she loved him none the less.
Following boredom taking over herself and a recent read in the newspaper, Charley sets out to make a new business, First Date Aid. Her very own dating site, which soon becomes famous for a couple called Shelly and William. Here's how it went, Charley was a ghost writer, helping other people find love and time to write to there chosen men.
Though when she teams up to work for and with Shelly Cartwright, a busy, bossy business woman like herself. Lambert soon realises who she's become and doesn't like it. Slowly falling in love with Shelly's chosen man. Charley starts to worry as she spirals into a loving tiff with William. Who happens to be some one she is quite close too. But doesn't know it yet.
Soon First Date Aid kicks up a storm in many peoples lives, including Charley, Sam and even her best friend Hailey's. Spreading the love is harder than it looks, especially if you the one behind it all, trying to sort everyone else's relationships out, and your own at the same time.
Follow Charley Lambert, as she falls in love over emails from a stranger, has fall outs with her best friend's, romps with her boss and a love for her family that make the whole book magical.
A Passionate Love Affair With a Total Stranger by Lucy Robinson is a wonderful book. I know I say this often about books that I like, but this has got to be now one of my favourites books, one that I will read over and over again. It's hilarious and I laughed out loud so much, I felt I could relate to this book quite a lot, not with the whole loving you're boss part, But the part in which falling in love with a friend.
Her relationship with Sam is a lot like mine (With my boyfriend Sam, who was my best Friend before) and it was just a lovely and pleasant read. It made me giggle and smile so much, her grandmother, granny Helen reminded me of my own Nanan which I loved even more.
I love books that I can relate to and this is one of them, the book is well written and I love the story line, it made me giggle, laugh, smile, grin and was also really shocked to some degree in some parts.
This book is a real pager turner with some great twists in, I will definitely be reading more of Lucy Robinson's stuff when it comes out.
All in all it's a great read which you can really relate too. With some laugh out loud hurmor, tales of friendship and family and even some saucy bits.
I will give this book 10 out 0f 10
memorable's review
1.0
I couldn’t wait to finish this book; reading this one was a challenge and I kinda hated myself for not being able to dnf a book.
I did feel bad for giving it only one star and I kinda wanted to give two, but then I realized that there’s nothing good about it. It’s sexist, ageist, fat phobic, and just the absolute worst example of chick lit. The story line about a woman changing her life could’ve been a great one; however, this one isn’t it.
I did feel bad for giving it only one star and I kinda wanted to give two, but then I realized that there’s nothing good about it. It’s sexist, ageist, fat phobic, and just the absolute worst example of chick lit. The story line about a woman changing her life could’ve been a great one; however, this one isn’t it.
stephaniekhani's review
5.0
Review originally posted at: http://stephinlondon.com/2012/12/19/a-passionate-love-affair-with-a-total-stranger/
I was lucky enough to be given an advance copy of Lucy Robinson's second book, "A Passionate Love Affair With a Total Stranger" to review for my blog, Amazon, Goodreads and so on.
Written along with her first novel, "The Greatest Love Story of All Time" while travelling (jaunting!) around South America, Robinson's book tells the hilarious tale of unlucky in love Charley Lambert.
Charley is a brilliant communications director for a major pharmaceutical company who are about to release miracle drug Simitol. She's successful, well rounded to the point of being a semi-expert at nearly everything and is in the prime of her life. Oh, and her boss has finally asked her out on a date after a clumsy fumbling in a broom closet several years previous at a party. Life is grand for our Charley... until she trips down a hill and breaks her leg in three different places. Ouch!
Life slows down dramatically for Charley who is banned from work and all of her "extra-curricular activities". She's forced to "take it easy" with her bum of a housemate Sam and watch as her job is handed over to her simpering nemesis Margot. To say she's in a bad place is an understatement. Charley needs an outlet for her energy and focus and starts an online venture called First Date Aid, a ghost writing service for the internet dating challenged. She plods along, throwing herself into First Date Aid and helping her lackluster clients. And then comes along William, a man whose messages will change her life and the way she sees herself.
I won't go into more detail as I don't want to ruin it, but I absolutely loved this book. Like Fran in "The Greatest Love Story of All Time", I found myself really identifying with Charley on so many different levels. I used to be a super, on-the-go, overly stressed (semi) professional. There was always a networking event to get to or a class at the gym or whatever. Now? I'm still a professional and (probably) just as stressed, but I've shifted a lot off of my plate because, like Charley, I've realised what's important in life.
One of my favourite things about "A Passionate Love Affair With a Total Stranger" is Charley's relationships with her friends, particularly Sam. The scene where they're eating a dirty curry in the Mandarin Oriental in London had me in stitches. (Interesting fact: N and I desperately want to book ourselves into Claridge's just so we can order in Dominoes for dinner. No joke.) Charley's family is a lot like mine, so I totally got their kind of dysfunction and "crazy" as it was all too familiar. And I'm pretty sure Robinson based Granny Helen off of my Memom.
Already tipped by What Shall I Read? to be a must read for 2013, Robinson's "A Passionate Love Affair With a Total Stranger" is not a book to be missed. It's funny, lighthearted and incredibly sweet... something I know I and a lot of other people could get behind right now.
I was lucky enough to be given an advance copy of Lucy Robinson's second book, "A Passionate Love Affair With a Total Stranger" to review for my blog, Amazon, Goodreads and so on.
Written along with her first novel, "The Greatest Love Story of All Time" while travelling (jaunting!) around South America, Robinson's book tells the hilarious tale of unlucky in love Charley Lambert.
Charley is a brilliant communications director for a major pharmaceutical company who are about to release miracle drug Simitol. She's successful, well rounded to the point of being a semi-expert at nearly everything and is in the prime of her life. Oh, and her boss has finally asked her out on a date after a clumsy fumbling in a broom closet several years previous at a party. Life is grand for our Charley... until she trips down a hill and breaks her leg in three different places. Ouch!
Life slows down dramatically for Charley who is banned from work and all of her "extra-curricular activities". She's forced to "take it easy" with her bum of a housemate Sam and watch as her job is handed over to her simpering nemesis Margot. To say she's in a bad place is an understatement. Charley needs an outlet for her energy and focus and starts an online venture called First Date Aid, a ghost writing service for the internet dating challenged. She plods along, throwing herself into First Date Aid and helping her lackluster clients. And then comes along William, a man whose messages will change her life and the way she sees herself.
I won't go into more detail as I don't want to ruin it, but I absolutely loved this book. Like Fran in "The Greatest Love Story of All Time", I found myself really identifying with Charley on so many different levels. I used to be a super, on-the-go, overly stressed (semi) professional. There was always a networking event to get to or a class at the gym or whatever. Now? I'm still a professional and (probably) just as stressed, but I've shifted a lot off of my plate because, like Charley, I've realised what's important in life.
One of my favourite things about "A Passionate Love Affair With a Total Stranger" is Charley's relationships with her friends, particularly Sam. The scene where they're eating a dirty curry in the Mandarin Oriental in London had me in stitches. (Interesting fact: N and I desperately want to book ourselves into Claridge's just so we can order in Dominoes for dinner. No joke.) Charley's family is a lot like mine, so I totally got their kind of dysfunction and "crazy" as it was all too familiar. And I'm pretty sure Robinson based Granny Helen off of my Memom.
Already tipped by What Shall I Read? to be a must read for 2013, Robinson's "A Passionate Love Affair With a Total Stranger" is not a book to be missed. It's funny, lighthearted and incredibly sweet... something I know I and a lot of other people could get behind right now.
aubreysmith9412's review
Thirty-something year old adults acting like teenagers. Much miscommunication as plot device because it never occurs to anyone to bloody talk to each other about things. Just, so much nope.
leahmichelle_13's review
5.0
Last year, I read and enjoyed The Greatest Love Story of All Time by Lucy Robinson. I read it when I was in England last March and it blew me away. I adored it, so when I heard about Lucy’s new book A Passionate Love Affair With A Total Stranger (which is possibly a better title that The Greatest Love Story of All Time – whoever comes up with the titles should applaud themselves because they’re AWESOME titles) I was practically giddy with excitement. Lucy has a very distinct voice, and is one of the brightest new Chick Lit stars around. When my copy arrived, I was overjoyed, and couldn’t wait to read it. And lemme tell you, it is just as good as The Greatest Love Story of All Time. In fact, it’s better.
Charley Lambert has the perfect life – a job she adores and devotes all of her time to, her own flat that she shares with Sam, and she’s finally managed to snag her boss, John, until it all goes disastrously wrong when, at a picnic, Charley falls over and breaks her leg in three places and learns, when she wakes up in hospital, that she hasn’t managed to snag her boss, in fact he’s just about to marry someone else. After being told she’s not allowed to work for a few months, Charley fears she will go mental. So after reading an article online about a man who writes emails for clients in a bid to snare them internet dates, Charley decides that’s what she do. Until she meets William. And falls in love with him.
I LOVED A Passionate Love Affair With a Total Stranger. Robinson did EVERYTHING I wanted her to do with the novel, and I just lapped it up like an excited puppy. When I heard about Charley I was a bit worried because she sounded like a really cold fish, but she’s actually not. Yes, she has a business front and perhaps doesn’t have many real-world interests or participate in any unorganised parties or anything, but I never found her cold or disinterested. You can’t not love someone who calls themself a Scottish Amazon. Because that’s just ace. That, right there, tells you all you need to know about Charley Lambert. She is ACE. I want her to be my friend.
Most of all, though, I loved William. I loved the whole William thing. The BANTER between Charley and William was something else entirely. It is quite something when a writer can make sparks fly OVER EMAIL. And Lucy Robinson did it. She really SHOULD be a writer for those hopeless at emailing because, man, the amount of marriages there would be. There wouldn’t be a single person left in the world. I guessed the plot twist, it isn’t obvious, but I knew how I wanted it to pan out and it did pan out that way and that just made me love the book even more because it was like Lucy was in my head. It blew my brains, actually, reading those few pages. It was only trumped by the last five pages which made me feel like a giddy teenager. I was literally smiling at the book as I finished it.
I truly can’t speak highly enough of A Passionate Love Affair With A Total Stranger. It was everything I wanted in a book. Charley was awesome, but also, with the friends around her particularly Sam (oh, Sam!), and Hailey, and her sisters Katy and Ness, and even her parents, it was just a really brilliant cast of characters. Even the ghastly Margot added to the novel. I loved the novel more than Lucy Robinson’s first one, and I LOVED that one, as well. Robinson actually reminds me of Gemma Burgess, an author who I worship the socks off, they both write novels that twenty-somethings like me can relate to, with heroines who aren’t afraid to speak their mind. They both know how to write books that kick bum. It made me laugh, it made me happy, it made me sad at points, and it was an all-round fabulous book. Robinson is a Chick Lit star, there is no doubt about that, and I can’t wait for the next one.
Charley Lambert has the perfect life – a job she adores and devotes all of her time to, her own flat that she shares with Sam, and she’s finally managed to snag her boss, John, until it all goes disastrously wrong when, at a picnic, Charley falls over and breaks her leg in three places and learns, when she wakes up in hospital, that she hasn’t managed to snag her boss, in fact he’s just about to marry someone else. After being told she’s not allowed to work for a few months, Charley fears she will go mental. So after reading an article online about a man who writes emails for clients in a bid to snare them internet dates, Charley decides that’s what she do. Until she meets William. And falls in love with him.
I LOVED A Passionate Love Affair With a Total Stranger. Robinson did EVERYTHING I wanted her to do with the novel, and I just lapped it up like an excited puppy. When I heard about Charley I was a bit worried because she sounded like a really cold fish, but she’s actually not. Yes, she has a business front and perhaps doesn’t have many real-world interests or participate in any unorganised parties or anything, but I never found her cold or disinterested. You can’t not love someone who calls themself a Scottish Amazon. Because that’s just ace. That, right there, tells you all you need to know about Charley Lambert. She is ACE. I want her to be my friend.
Most of all, though, I loved William. I loved the whole William thing. The BANTER between Charley and William was something else entirely. It is quite something when a writer can make sparks fly OVER EMAIL. And Lucy Robinson did it. She really SHOULD be a writer for those hopeless at emailing because, man, the amount of marriages there would be. There wouldn’t be a single person left in the world. I guessed the plot twist, it isn’t obvious, but I knew how I wanted it to pan out and it did pan out that way and that just made me love the book even more because it was like Lucy was in my head. It blew my brains, actually, reading those few pages. It was only trumped by the last five pages which made me feel like a giddy teenager. I was literally smiling at the book as I finished it.
I truly can’t speak highly enough of A Passionate Love Affair With A Total Stranger. It was everything I wanted in a book. Charley was awesome, but also, with the friends around her particularly Sam (oh, Sam!), and Hailey, and her sisters Katy and Ness, and even her parents, it was just a really brilliant cast of characters. Even the ghastly Margot added to the novel. I loved the novel more than Lucy Robinson’s first one, and I LOVED that one, as well. Robinson actually reminds me of Gemma Burgess, an author who I worship the socks off, they both write novels that twenty-somethings like me can relate to, with heroines who aren’t afraid to speak their mind. They both know how to write books that kick bum. It made me laugh, it made me happy, it made me sad at points, and it was an all-round fabulous book. Robinson is a Chick Lit star, there is no doubt about that, and I can’t wait for the next one.