Book Review - I Owe You One by Sophie Kinsella

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Amazon UK

Title: I Owe You One

Author: Sophie Kinsella

Format reviewed: Ebook

Source: Netgalley

Publisher: Black Swan

Publication Date: 27th June 2019

Rating: 3.5 Stars

The irresistible new standalone from Sophie Kinsella is a story of love, empowerment and an IOU that changes everything . . .

Fixie Farr can’t help herself. Straightening a crooked object, removing a barely-there stain, helping out a friend . . . she just has to put things right. It’s how she got her nickname, after all.

So when a handsome stranger in a coffee shop asks her to watch his laptop for a moment, Fixie not only agrees, she ends up saving it from certain disaster. To thank her, the computer’s owner, Sebastian, scribbles her an IOU – but of course Fixie never intends to call in the favour.

That is, until her teenage crush, Ryan, comes back into her life and needs her help – and Fixie turns to Seb. But things don’t go according to plan, and now Fixie owes Seb: big time.

Soon the pair are caught up in a series of IOUs – from small favours to life-changing debts – and Fixie is torn between the past she’s used to and the future she deserves.

Does she have the courage to fix things for herself and fight for the life, and love, she really wants?

One random act of kindness, leads to a stranger giving Fixie an IOU, and starts a chain of events that you may not have predicted from the outset. 

Fixie so named as she likes fixing everything is lovely, passionate about the family business, loyal to her family but honestly comes across as a doormat.  She drove me mad half the time, as she wouldn't stand up to her siblings. 

And the least said about her long term love and crush, the better. He was utterly despicable. 

I'm really not sure if I liked most of the characters. In fact my favourite character is one that doesn't talk back -its the family shop Farrs.   We get enough description, plus of the vibe of the place and what it sells, that it feels like a character in its own right. 

I suspect had I read this any other week I would have loved it more, but given how exhausted I am, I have to say that reading this felt a bit like hard work.  It didn't really draw me back into it, which is odd as I normally love a Sophie Kinsella book. 

It's not a bad book in the slightest, and I did enjoy most of it, but its also not the best or funniest of Sophie Kinsella's standalone books. There are moments of humour and the further I got into the book, the more I was enjoying it, especially once I started to see the evidence of character development as they became more rounded people. 

Filled with characters you love to hate, a lovely small business, a complete mix of personalities in one story and a series of favours and good deeds done, thanks to one IOU note, this is a good story, which frustratingly felt a bit short for me. 

Thank you to Netgalley and Black Swan for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily. 

Book Review - Surprise Me by Sophie Kinsella - #HolidayReading Mexico

The Amazon Purchase link below is an Amazon Affiliate link.

Amazon UK

Title: Surprise Me

Author: Sophie Kinsella

Format reviewed: Paperback

Source: Purchased

Publisher: Transworld

Publication Date: 28th June 2018

Rating: 5 Stars

Surprise Me is Sophie Kinsella's emotionally charged, witty new standalone novel about love and long-term relationship survival - and how those we think we know best can sometimes surprise us the most . . .

After being together for ten years, Sylvie and Dan have a comfortable home, fulfilling jobs, beautiful twin girls, and communicate so seamlessly, they finish each other's sentences. They have a happy marriage and believe they know everything there is to know about each other. Until it's casually mentioned to them that they could be together for another sixty-eight years... and panic sets in.

They quickly decide to create little surprises for each other, to keep their relationship fresh and fun. But in their pursuit of Project Surprise Me - anything from unexpected gifts to restaurant dates to photo shoots - mishaps arise with disastrous and comical results. 

Gradually, the surprises turn to shocking discoveries. And when a scandal from the past is uncovered, they begin to wonder if they ever really knew each other after all...

Well Surprise Me certainly did that, what a surprising way to end the book. 

In fact all the surprises were a lot of fun. as a couple when discovering they have a very long life expectancy, realise that their marriage vows may mean even long together than anticipated. 

As you would expect from a Sophie Kinsella book this is filled with laughs, good times and a general fun factor.  

I especially loved Sylvie's work place and her boss and trying to bring the place into the 21st Century!

Another really enjoyable and quick to read book from one of my favourite authors. 

Book Review - My Not So Perfect Life by Sophie Kinsella - #AroundTheUKIn144Books #Somerset

Amazon UK

Title: My Not So Perfect Life

Author: Sophie Kinsella

Format reviewed: Paperback

Source: Publisher supplied copy

Publisher: Transworld Books

Publication Date: 9th February 2017

Rating: 5 Stars

Katie Brenner has the perfect life: a flat in London, a glamorous job, and a super-cool Instagram feed.

OK, so the truth is that she rents a tiny room with no space for a wardrobe, has a hideous commute to a lowly admin job, and the life she shares on Instagram isn’t really hers. 

But one day her dreams are bound to come true, aren’t they?

Until her not-so-perfect life comes crashing down when her mega-successful boss Demeter gives her the sack. All Katie’s hopes are shattered. She has to move home to Somerset, where she helps her dad with his new glamping business. 

Then Demeter and her family book in for a holiday, and Katie sees her chance. But should she get revenge on the woman who ruined her dreams - or try to get her job back? Does Demeter – the woman who has everything – actually have such an idyllic life herself? Maybe they have more in common than it seems. 

And what’s wrong with not-so-perfect, anyway?

Tons of fun, in one easy to read package! My Not So Perfect Life, has the sort of heroine that Sophie Kinsella writes so well, young girl with big ideas but could do with a bit of guidance in her life. Katie is determined that she should be a Londoner, and works for a nightmarish boss Demeter. 

Demeter has to Katie's eyes a perfect life, whereas Katie has a horrific commute, the descriptions of which I fully recognised and sympathise with, lives in a tiny apartment and has not the best flatmates.  Katie though posts pictures to instagram on a regular basis showing off the best of London and portraying her own perfect life. 

So when she loses her job she can't bring herself to tell her family, but pretends to be on a sabbatical while she moves back to Somerset to help her dad set up his new glamping business. I loved the details of the glamping business, they had some wonderful ideas, and I could really picture all the different activities on offer. 

The book steps up a further gear when Katie's ex boss and her family come and stay at the glamping resort. For a book that had been really enjoyable and entertaining up to that point, it suddenly becomes hilarious and gains a few more dimensions to the plot too. 

For Katie its a journey of self discovery, just what sort of person she really is, and working out if there is any way that she could be happy anywhere outside of London. She also needs to learn about the realities of instagram. 

There are many comic scenes in the book, and I spent a large amount of time reading it, with a huge smile on my face. My Not So Perfect Life is one of my favourite Sophie Kinsella standalone novels, just behind Wedding Night. I loved how half the book was set in London and half in Somerset. 

Everything to do with Katie's family and the glamping I really enjoyed including the images of Farmer Mick, the various methods Katie thinks up for revenge, the whole setting was just lovely. Whether in Somerset or London I always had a clear idea picture in my mind of Katie's surroundings, which is down to the authors wonderful writing skills. 

My Not So Perfect Life was an easy to read story, that is a brilliant way to brighten up a boring day. Whether you have ever read anything by Sophie Kinsella or not, so long as you enjoy reading books with a fabulous set of characters, that will make you laugh and with some absolutely fantastic scenes, then this could be the book for you! 

Thank you so much to Becky Short at Transworld Books for this copy of the book that I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily. 

Book Review - Shopaholic to the Rescue by Sophie Kinsella

Amazon UK

Title: Shopaholic to the Rescue

Author: Sophie Kinsella

Format reviewed: Paperback

Source: Purchased

Publisher: Black Swan

Publication Date: 10th March 2016

Rating: 5 Stars

To Las Vegas . . . and beyond!

Becky Brandon (née Bloomwood) is on a major rescue mission! Hollywood was full of surprises, and now she's on a road trip to Las Vegas to help her friends and family.

She's determined to get to the bottom of why her dad has mysteriously disappeared, help her best friend Suze and even bond with Alicia Bitch Long-legs (maybe...).

As Becky discovers just how much her friends and family need help, she comes up with her biggest, boldest, most brilliant plan yet! So can she save the day just when they need her most?

Becky is setting out to make things right in this laugh-out-loud, feel-good conclusion to her American adventure that began with SHOPAHOLIC TO THE STARS.

I firmly believe this is the best Shopaholic book I have read for many years, and definitely makes up for my annoyances with the previous book Shopaholic to the Stars. This is definitely Sophie Kinsella back to her best, and when the book opens with a letter from Derek Smeathe (Becky's old bank manager), and had me laughing as well as reminding me of where we are in the story, I knew this was going to be good. 

This is a direct continuation of the previous Shopaholic, and although this could be read as a standalone, I would suggest reading the To the Stars before this, to get a full sense of just why it is Becky and her friends and family are on  road trip. 

I spent most of the book laughing and smiling at various observations, things Minnie (Becky's 2 and a half year old) comes out with, and generally the whole sense of humour of the book. There is just something about mutton bustin that will have you laughing out loud when you get to it. 

I fell that Becky has matured a bit in this book, given how frustrating I found her in the last release, I couldn't believe how she has changed, although for how long is anyones guess. She is trying her hardest to not spend money, remembering to ask herself whether she needs something before buying it. In fact from that question, there is a fabulous scene in a Las Vegas souvenir shop, that really did feel like classic Becky Bloomwood. 

Of course there are plenty of mad cap schemes, as well as all of Becky's usual wacky correspondence. And then there is the setting for this book, I had a real sense of  Las Vegas, and loved Becky's first ever attempt at gambling, and then there were the other towns that they go to, which also had their charms. 

I know I am going on a bit about Becky, but this book is not just about her, in face although she is the central character, the focus is on her dad, what he got up to on this same road trip many years ago, and also on her best friend, her arch enemy, and all the other recurring characters I've grown to love over the years. 

There is a small part of me that wonders whether this is the end of a series, and of a fabulous era, and I hope I am wrong but I have no idea where the series could progress from here. 

Loved every second of Shopaholic to the Rescue, its well paced and a great addition to the series, in Sophie Kinsella's usual easy to read style.