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3.5 AVERAGE
3.5 AVERAGE
I read this book - it's a quick and easy read. Cosy, middle English, by the numbers romance. But I have a bit problem with the lead character. She pays lip service to being a feminist - mainly by deciding to squelch her feminism every time it would be at all inconvenient.
The 'hero' is silent, brooding, moody ... but great at sex. The 'heroine' isn't interested in sex unless/until she's already very attached to someone and knows them well enough to trust them. Unless, of course, it's Mr Handsome and Brooding.
It's all so very by the numbers with cardboard cut outs for characters. I am well aware that this is the first book by this author and she has written many more so I will read one or two more because I really wanted to like this book an - despite my review here - it was frustrating because it was so close to good but ended up being, to me, utterly frustrating.
The 'hero' is silent, brooding, moody ... but great at sex. The 'heroine' isn't interested in sex unless/until she's already very attached to someone and knows them well enough to trust them. Unless, of course, it's Mr Handsome and Brooding.
It's all so very by the numbers with cardboard cut outs for characters. I am well aware that this is the first book by this author and she has written many more so I will read one or two more because I really wanted to like this book an - despite my review here - it was frustrating because it was so close to good but ended up being, to me, utterly frustrating.
Oh, I so wanted to like this book. It’s Katie Fforde! She lives practically down the road from me (OK, about 20 miles away); she pops up on my local BBC radio station regularly, she’s lovely, how could I not like one of her books.
And yet.
This was Fforde’s first novel, published in 1995, and as her website states, it was her first attempt at a full-length novel after trying to write for Mills & Boon. Sadly, the M&B influence is a little too strong. Most of the book is actually quite decent, endearing, humorous, but the central characters, the two that you just know are going to end up happily ever after, have the most incredibly dysfunctional relationship. I think it may have been an attempt to inject a bit of a Lizzie Bennet/Mr Darcy element, but for me, it totally fails. In books with a romantic element, the reader generally wants to believe in the “happily ever after”; with this couple, I can’t see them lasting a year. And as for the sex scenes, I note that Fforde’s 2018 novel A Country Escape left much more to the imagination, which I hope means she realised she couldn’t write sex scenes very well.
And yet.
This was Fforde’s first novel, published in 1995, and as her website states, it was her first attempt at a full-length novel after trying to write for Mills & Boon. Sadly, the M&B influence is a little too strong. Most of the book is actually quite decent, endearing, humorous, but the central characters, the two that you just know are going to end up happily ever after, have the most incredibly dysfunctional relationship. I think it may have been an attempt to inject a bit of a Lizzie Bennet/Mr Darcy element, but for me, it totally fails. In books with a romantic element, the reader generally wants to believe in the “happily ever after”; with this couple, I can’t see them lasting a year. And as for the sex scenes, I note that Fforde’s 2018 novel A Country Escape left much more to the imagination, which I hope means she realised she couldn’t write sex scenes very well.
It was perfectly fun as a fun read that you really shouldn't think too hard about, but it kinda tries really hard to parade around as some interpretation of the 'average' feminist who really just needs a man but plays it out as though in favour of feminism?
Also David's character did like a 180 in the span of like 5 pages and then kept flitting between the two personalities whenever it was required by the author.
Also the ending was a little bland and meh to be honest. And she gave up an entire belief system and way of life quite easily if you ask me.
But overall it was entertaining so not terrible, but certainly not great. Really just a 'why not' type of book that you'll forget you read in about 3 months.
Also David's character did like a 180 in the span of like 5 pages and then kept flitting between the two personalities whenever it was required by the author.
Also the ending was a little bland and meh to be honest. And she gave up an entire belief system and way of life quite easily if you ask me.
But overall it was entertaining so not terrible, but certainly not great. Really just a 'why not' type of book that you'll forget you read in about 3 months.
I've not read much by Katie fforde - except the nice things she says for other people on their dustjackets/back covers - but I was still trying to avoid the book at the top of Mount Toobie when I bought this for someone else, so I had to read it.
At the start of the story Polly is a fairly happy celibate thirty-five year old and at the end she is engaged to just the person you predict in Chapter One (see, it wasn't really a spoiler was it?). Of course there are the inevitable other nice things (a chance for her real career to take off, some doing good with a light-hearted touch) and nasty things (a cad, a pregnancy scare and assorted mis-understandings) along the way and it is these that provide the entertainment and diversions from the formulaic that make it jolly good fun.
I probably won't go all out to collect everything by this scion of the fforde family, but I'll not ignore anything more that happens to come my way.
At the start of the story Polly is a fairly happy celibate thirty-five year old and at the end she is engaged to just the person you predict in Chapter One (see, it wasn't really a spoiler was it?). Of course there are the inevitable other nice things (a chance for her real career to take off, some doing good with a light-hearted touch) and nasty things (a cad, a pregnancy scare and assorted mis-understandings) along the way and it is these that provide the entertainment and diversions from the formulaic that make it jolly good fun.
I probably won't go all out to collect everything by this scion of the fforde family, but I'll not ignore anything more that happens to come my way.
OKAY SO this very easily could have been a 3 or even a 4 star read until it took a hard swerve into Problematicville, very much showing its age. I've had a mountain of my mom's old Katie Fforde books for ages, and I've been meaning to read them my whole life. Yesterday the urge gripped me after twenty or so years of seeing them around. I picked Living Dangerously at random and was instantly engaged.
Fforde's writing is HILARIOUS, witty, and nimble. Her books are cozily, clunkily, old-fashionedly English, with lots of talk of AGAs and Rayburns and public schools and English Warms and Wellingtons and tea kettles. I loved the main character, and I even quite liked the main dude. BUT OH GOODNESS, does the fact that this was written in 1995 show up in GRAND FASHION near the end, when Fforde has the hero (who, up until this point, was sort of lovely and stuffy and vERY INTENSELY STIFF UPPER LIP BRITISH) develop this terrifying and horrid and sexist temper and all these absolutely terrible randomly abusive things and OOF and NO and ARGH and WHY and WHERE DID THIS COME FROM and CRINGE
So, yes, delightful and hilarious and made me laugh out loud many a time, but oh dear, Katie Fforde, why????
I'm so going to read the rest of her books, aren't I? SIGH.
Fforde's writing is HILARIOUS, witty, and nimble. Her books are cozily, clunkily, old-fashionedly English, with lots of talk of AGAs and Rayburns and public schools and English Warms and Wellingtons and tea kettles. I loved the main character, and I even quite liked the main dude. BUT OH GOODNESS, does the fact that this was written in 1995 show up in GRAND FASHION near the end, when Fforde has the hero (who, up until this point, was sort of lovely and stuffy and vERY INTENSELY STIFF UPPER LIP BRITISH) develop this terrifying and horrid and sexist temper and all these absolutely terrible randomly abusive things and OOF and NO and ARGH and WHY and WHERE DID THIS COME FROM and CRINGE
So, yes, delightful and hilarious and made me laugh out loud many a time, but oh dear, Katie Fforde, why????
I'm so going to read the rest of her books, aren't I? SIGH.