Wednesday 10 August 2016

Book Review - Life or Something Like It by Annie Lyons - Booklympics


Amazon UK
Title: Life or Something Like It
Author: Annie Lyons
Format reviewed: Ebook
Source: Purchased
Publisher: Carina
Publication Date: 13th July 2015
Rating: 5 Stars


Step into someone else’s shoes for a day… And it will change you for a lifetime.

Cat is very good at her job. She runs a PR company with her best friend (and secret crush) Jesse, and is never happier than when her high-profile celebrities are glittering in the spotlight.

But when her footballer client gets in the press for all the wrong reasons, Cat’s career takes a sudden nosedive. So when her brother Andrew unexpectedly needs her to look after his kids for a few weeks, she can hardly say no. She’s happily single, hasn’t exactly been the ‘World’s Best Auntie’ over the years, and what she knows about looking after children would fit on the back of a postage stamp. But it’s only temporary until she gets her real life back on track – isn’t it?

Cat's life starts to change, when her footballer client ends up in the newspapers for all the wrong reasons. Cat is made to take a sabbatical from work, and that coincides with her brother needing help with his kids over the summer. 

However Cat has made it clear on many occasions to anyone she speaks to that she has no interest in kids, and she barely knows her niece and nephew. But she is up for a challenge and she determines that she will try to become the best Auntie ever, and in doing so she may just learn more about herself than expected. 

I loved watching Cat with the kids, Ellie who's 6 and Charlie who's 10, and she starts off as not a fan of Finn, Ellie's best friend Daisy's uncle, but then they start to spend enforced time together, and something softens. 

This is the first book I have read by Annie Lyons, despite having bought all of them, and my instincts to mass buy the author appear to be correct. This is a delight to read, and I found myself smiling at some of the comments the children came out with. Ellie is a very insightful 6 year old, while Charlie is acting out but for good reasons, while Daisy is adorable too. 

I loved the way the book flowed, and the clear sense of humour with in it. The family interactions were really well done, and the story does touch on a couple of issues, including one that is becoming more common in schools in recent years. 

My favourite characters were definitely all the children, with their distinctive personalities, and generally great outlook on life. Cat's first outing with Ellie and Charlie was particularly fab, as she had no idea what she was doing, but gamely trying her hardest to give the kids the sort of day that perhaps she would have loved herself. 

I can't wait to see what Annie Lyons comes up with next, and I will on the back of this book endeavour to read more of her previous books too. What a great introduction to an author who is new to me. 

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