ALL THESE NEARLY FIGHTS by Richard Cunliffe @CunliffeRich #RBRT

4 out of 5 stars

On Amazon UK
On Amazon.com
On Goodreads

How I discovered this book: it was submitted to Rosie's Book Review Team, of which I am a member.

In a nutshell: Lad Lit: Car salesman Jimmy Harris has problems of the financial and romantic kind.

I enjoyed this book, it's well-written and jogs along nicely - the plot is fairly domestic with only the occasional surprise, but such was the quality of the writing and that all-important characterisation that it kept me interested throughout.

It takes place over five days in any-town, England, mostly in the downmarket car showroom where Jimmy works, and at his home, which he shares with the beautiful and virtuous but rather bland Charlotte. Few people know that Jimmy won the lottery recently, and Charlotte is not one of them.  Before the win, he was planning to start his own garage with best friend Ash, but his new circumstances have affected his plans - and so have the feelings he still has for the gorgeous and fickle Isabel, who broke his heart.

I've read a fair bit of lad lit over the years, and notice that the heroes tend to fall into two categories: the cute nerd who makes a big deal out of the lyrics of songs and is trying to win back the heart of a girl (often called Laura), or the more swaggering jack-the-lad who cheats on women and calls his friends 'mate', 'buddy' and 'Big Man' every time he talks to them.  Jimmy Harris belongs to the second crew, which makes for a livelier read.  The other truism about this genre is that the women fall into two basic types: the beautiful, good-hearted and bland, and the sexy-but-a-bit-nuts.  Kind of the Madonna-whore thing.  Charlotte is the former, while Isabel is the latter.  Jimmy spends his time swaying hither and thither in his feelings for the two of them.

The characters who work in the showroom are great, very real, and the sales scenarios were totally realistic; even though I know nothing of this world, have zero interest in cars and loathe sales patter, I really enjoyed reading this side of it.

I was a little disappointed to find that the book ends with no wrapping up of any of the storylines, to be continued in Book 2, Fault On Both Sides, because there is no indication in the blurb that it is not a complete story.  I like continuing stories and am happy with cliffhangers, if I know what I'm getting, but it is not listed on Amazon as part of a series.  I turned the page expecting to carry on reading, only to see 'The End'.  However, I liked it enough to download the sequel on Kindle Unlimited, which speaks for itself about the quality of the book; I do want to know what happens!

It's a sound debut novel; I would suggest that Mr Cunliffe adds the term 'Lad Lit' to his keywords to make it show up in this category on Amazon, and also lists them as a series, with an indication in the blurb for this one that it is only part one of the story.  At £3.48 for the pair they'll hardly break the bank, and they're available on Kindle Unlimited, too.  Yes, I recommend!