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3.5 AVERAGE
3.5 AVERAGE
Enjoyable. A typical chic-lit. When your brain wants a quick chocolatey sugary fix, this is for you. Though its cover illustrator obviously hasn't read the book. Polly's not that skinny as in the cover.
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
Was in the mood for a light, hopeful romantic comedy that didn't take itself too seriously nor have too much melodrama and this fit the bill perfectly. Lovely and fun.
This novel is a lot like mac and cheese: comforting and indulgent, to be enjoyed from time to (very occasional) time.
This is a Bridget Jones meets hunky highlander (like those books with pictures of half-naked men on them) kind of story. On the one hand, this book is quick witted and actually funny, but on the other there are some passages that just drag on for way too long, Polly, the main character, has a weird idea of feminism and independence that just becomes annoying with time, and also, she thinks her main love interest capable of rape at least twice which scares her (kind of) but, uhm, in a hot way? Like wtf? Anyways, that was incredibly weird and just so wrong, but apart from that it was a decent enough read, I guess.
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Three and a half stars.
Gah! Forgot what I wanted to say about this book. Polly is a 35 year old single woman, she works at a health food shop and has dreams of making a living from her pottery. She bumps into an old school 'friend' who invites her to a dinner party. All of the other guests (and the hosts) are wealthy middle-class and fairly smug, especially the single man, David. Later Polly comes to know David better through acquaintance with his rebellious teenage son Patrick.
There is a love triangle/square between Polly, a journalist called Tristan, David and his son Patrick, although I think most readers can see which way Polly is going to jump. I understand that this was Katie Fforde's first novel and it exhibits some rather dated views of how a hero should behave, at times I thought David was like a teenage boy in his ridiculous jealousy when he wasn't even dating Polly - that sort of behaviour screams stalker to me. Also, as I have mentioned previously, Katie Fforde doesn't really flesh out her heroes, they remain shadowy characters whose motivations are vague and never truly explained. David is no different.
If you like novels where friends and family are desperately trying to set our heroine up with a man, she's artsy and involved in saving a local parade of shops from being torn down by developers, where there are snobby dinner parties and surly teenagers and scary housekeepers you'll love this.
Gah! Forgot what I wanted to say about this book. Polly is a 35 year old single woman, she works at a health food shop and has dreams of making a living from her pottery. She bumps into an old school 'friend' who invites her to a dinner party. All of the other guests (and the hosts) are wealthy middle-class and fairly smug, especially the single man, David. Later Polly comes to know David better through acquaintance with his rebellious teenage son Patrick.
There is a love triangle/square between Polly, a journalist called Tristan, David and his son Patrick, although I think most readers can see which way Polly is going to jump. I understand that this was Katie Fforde's first novel and it exhibits some rather dated views of how a hero should behave, at times I thought David was like a teenage boy in his ridiculous jealousy when he wasn't even dating Polly - that sort of behaviour screams stalker to me. Also, as I have mentioned previously, Katie Fforde doesn't really flesh out her heroes, they remain shadowy characters whose motivations are vague and never truly explained. David is no different.
If you like novels where friends and family are desperately trying to set our heroine up with a man, she's artsy and involved in saving a local parade of shops from being torn down by developers, where there are snobby dinner parties and surly teenagers and scary housekeepers you'll love this.
The hopeless romantic in me absolutely adored this book!