Amazon UK
Title: The Truth About This Charming Man
Author: Peter Jones
Format reviewed: Ebook
Source: Negalley
Publisher: Soundhaven Books
Publication Date: 18th February 2016
Rating: 4.5 Stars
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| Amazon UK |
All William Lewis ever wanted in life, was to be an actor.
That is until he met Rachel.
Beautiful. Beguiling. Sharp as a tack. Rachel’s almost as appealing as a life in theatre. Unfortunate then that she happens to be married. To cut-throat venture capitalist Michael Richmond. So that’s the end of that.
Or is it?
Although Will’s never actually been on stage, or immortalised in celluloid, or appeared in a TV commercial, he’s still made a reasonable living out of pretending to be people he’s not. So when two of his ‘roles’ collide - seemingly by complete coincidence - well, maybe there’s a way he can be with Rachel after all…
That is until he met Rachel.
Beautiful. Beguiling. Sharp as a tack. Rachel’s almost as appealing as a life in theatre. Unfortunate then that she happens to be married. To cut-throat venture capitalist Michael Richmond. So that’s the end of that.
Or is it?
Although Will’s never actually been on stage, or immortalised in celluloid, or appeared in a TV commercial, he’s still made a reasonable living out of pretending to be people he’s not. So when two of his ‘roles’ collide - seemingly by complete coincidence - well, maybe there’s a way he can be with Rachel after all…
How I love discovering authors that are new to me. You never now what you are going to get, and in The Truth About This Charming Man, I read an incredibly enjoyably story, so long as you suspend pretty much most disbelief for the majority of the book.
What took me by surprise a bit at the start was that instead of chapters, per se, the book is split into Acts and Scenes, a bit like a play. In fact this would be a terrific stage play, I could really see it on a stage somewhere, as a farce.
It's a funny as it is bordering on the ridiculous in places, but its such a good upbeat feel to the book I was swept away in the story. Without giving too much away, its about William Lewis who is a struggling actor, who has never had an acting gig on stage, but has been paid for the past 4 years to act as someone's boyfriend for social occasions.
In a series of coincidences that are surprising, he is sacked from that job, bumps into the beautiful girl friend of his ex-girlfriend's boss, in another situation, is busted as an actor and then falls in love, with her, all the while as others think he is someone else.
There is a series of more and more implausible situations and scenes that just show how good an actor Will really is, and all the while there are multiple people in this set of acquaintances that all want revenge on one person - the charming man mentioned in the title.
This really is a hard book for me to describe as I don't think I've read anything quite like it, which makes if fabulously unique, and so enjoyable for me. Due to the amount of actors in the book, or wannabe actors, the style of it being set up like a play, without it being a script, makes perfect sense.
If you like comedy, farces, slightly over the top circumstances with elaborate revenge plots, and the finale is brilliant, with a reasonably small cast of key characters, then I would definitely recommend The Truth About This Charming Man. I will definitely be going back, probably quite soon to read Peter Jones' debut novel to see just he is capable of.
Thank you to Netgalley and Lawsome Books for this review copy. This was my honest opinion.
What took me by surprise a bit at the start was that instead of chapters, per se, the book is split into Acts and Scenes, a bit like a play. In fact this would be a terrific stage play, I could really see it on a stage somewhere, as a farce.
It's a funny as it is bordering on the ridiculous in places, but its such a good upbeat feel to the book I was swept away in the story. Without giving too much away, its about William Lewis who is a struggling actor, who has never had an acting gig on stage, but has been paid for the past 4 years to act as someone's boyfriend for social occasions.
In a series of coincidences that are surprising, he is sacked from that job, bumps into the beautiful girl friend of his ex-girlfriend's boss, in another situation, is busted as an actor and then falls in love, with her, all the while as others think he is someone else.
There is a series of more and more implausible situations and scenes that just show how good an actor Will really is, and all the while there are multiple people in this set of acquaintances that all want revenge on one person - the charming man mentioned in the title.
This really is a hard book for me to describe as I don't think I've read anything quite like it, which makes if fabulously unique, and so enjoyable for me. Due to the amount of actors in the book, or wannabe actors, the style of it being set up like a play, without it being a script, makes perfect sense.
If you like comedy, farces, slightly over the top circumstances with elaborate revenge plots, and the finale is brilliant, with a reasonably small cast of key characters, then I would definitely recommend The Truth About This Charming Man. I will definitely be going back, probably quite soon to read Peter Jones' debut novel to see just he is capable of.
Thank you to Netgalley and Lawsome Books for this review copy. This was my honest opinion.
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