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!

SHOPAHOLIC ON HONEYMOON by Sophie Kinsella

2 out of 5 stars

Chick lit short story

On Amazon UK HERE

I downloaded this to read while I had a twenty minute/half hour wait for something, and thought that, at 53 pages and as a bit of lighthearted fun, it should fit the bill nicely. Unfortunately, it lasted just shy of ten minutes; the story ended at 47%, after which were the first chapters of another book. I know the book is free, and obviously the point of free short stories is to try and make you pay out for another book, but I think the blurb should make clear what the content is.

Anyway, back to the story. Chick lit is not a favourite genre of mine but I have read the first Shopaholic book a couple of times and liked many aspects of it (the debt letters and the Finnish aspects were very funny, and Becky's money catastrophes were quite real, and something a lot of single girls about town could relate to), but this story, although well-written for what it is, and even quite entertaining in a odd sort of way, was just too daft. 

The 'plot' is basically Becky being on honeymoon with husband Luke, and wanting to turn it into a shopping spree. An appealing premise, the sensible husband and the shopaholic wife, but in this book she was just completely inane. For instance, she saw some attractively packaged art equipment and suddenly fancied the idea of being an artist, spending a fortune on paper, easels, brushes, charcoal, gouache, etc and setting up her easel in front of a cathedral, only to discover that she couldn't draw.   Lukes wants to visit various places of interest in Venice, but all Becky is interested in is buying expensive glass to impress her friends.

It was too silly to be funny, to the extent that you couldn't imagine why an intelligent, successful man like Luke would have married a woman who was uncultured, selfish, superficial, bored by anything apart from clothes and fantasy images of herself, and ridiculously, childishly impulsive. There was more to Becky's character in the first book, and some genuine wit; this is just like a parody.

SIX LIES by Ben Adams

3.5 out of 5 stars

Lad Lit/Humour/Family Drama

Available for pre-order on Amazon UK HERE
Available for pre-order on Amazon.com HERE

Reviewed by me as part of Rosie Amber's Review Team
 

A very short way into this novel, I realised that Dave, the main character, is actually a minor one from Ben Adams's first book, Six Ways To Get A Life, which I read earlier this year, and I thought, what a great idea!  I love this sort of thing on TV dramas, when a series tells the story of a different member of the cast each week; it always brings home to me how little we really know about each others' lives.

The plot: After his mother's death, bank cashier Dave Fazackerley discovers that she wasn't really his mother at all.  It's a confusing time in his life, as his wife has left him for another man, and he's stuck in limbo emotionally, having ill advised one night stands and trying to lead his 1980s pop covers band in a favourable direction.

Ben Adams has a readable, conversational style of writing that flows along; it was no hardship to read this book over a short period of time.  There are some good lines: 

"Is that the best drummer you can find?  My gran could do a better job and she's had Parkinson's Disease for the last twenty years."

"It is a place where middle-aged, middle class people with large middles live."

"one bloke with an unruly beard that seemed to morph at about neck level into a brown cardigan"

"...your foreplay leaves a lot to be desired."
"I don't remember you moaning at the time."

"Exactly, Dave, exactly."

It's a good plot, too.  I think I preferred Graham's story in the first book, though; it seemed more 'real'.  I felt this was a little formulaic: Dave is a likable, good looking bloke (but not too good looking), desperate to get back with his former love who he lost through his own incompetence.  There's his group of mates that include the wacky best friend and the serious one (Graham), he has a couple of casual sexual encounters that he regrets, and listens to records from his youth when feeling morose ... not unlike most other 'lad lit' heroes (High Fidelity, The Understudy, etc).  This isn't necessarily bad, because he's a well drawn character and some genres do follow a formula; indeed, their readers like to know what they're getting. I did enjoy much of it, certainly enough to read it quickly because I wanted to know what happened.  I was just hoping for something with more spark; it was all a bit too safe. 

Although the book is mostly written from the first person, there are also chapters from the points of view of Dave's father, Terry, and his mother, Sue.  I was pleased to see this variation at first (I do love books from multiple points of view), but, alas, there wasn't much to differentiate between the 'voices' of the characters.  Aside from a couple of recurring slang words used by Terry, he and Sue told their sides of the story in much the same language and mood, with similar attitudes and rhythm, which gave no sense of being inside the head of a new person.  However, finding out what happened in their respective pasts added another dimension and rounded out the story nicely.

There's a particularly neat twist near the end; I knew something was coming because there were a couple of hints earlier on, but I couldn't guess it, hadn't a clue - good shot!

To sum up, Ben Adams can certainly write, knows how to make a reader keep turning the pages (not a quality all writers can boast, by any means), and has the cosier end of this genre down to a 'T'.  I didn't spot one single error in it, and although I prefer something with a bit more bite, I imagine it will do very well for him and will appeal to many.

SIX MONTHS TO GET A LIFE by Ben Adams reviewed HERE

THE NEW MRS D by Heather Hill

3.5 out of 5 stars

Mature Chick Lit

On Amazon UK HERE
On Amazon.com HERE

Reviewed by me as part of Rosie Amber's Book Review Team

Bernice is on her honeymoon in Greece; it's her second marriage, and she has two grown up daughters.  The problem is that her husband, David, loves her but doesn't fancy her - several days into the holiday they still haven't had sex - he's been getting his kicks from porn websites.  Oh, and he had a picture of four of her bikini clad friends in his wallet.  Not Bernice, just her friends...

Bernice decides she can't take it any more, and will spend the rest of the holiday alone.  She meets up with David's friend Chris, an artist who lives nearby, and makes several new friends.

This is a smart, well written, lighthearted-with-serious-undertones sort of book, and I enjoyed the Greek holiday atmosphere.  I thought the whole subject of Bernice's dilemma was most interesting; her relationship with her mother that led to the low self-esteem, that led to her making a first unwise marriage, then becoming a Facebook 'friend' of the woman for whom Husband #1 left her, and, finally, marrying a man who didn't want to sleep with her.  I think many women would be able to relate to Bernice's tendency to 'people please', which in itself had a detrimental effect on her self-esteem, but I thought the story might have been better suited to a slightly edgy, contemporary drama, rather than chick lit mode, with all its zany incidents -  I do sometimes wonder if anyone's ever written a chick lit heroine who isn't ludicrously accident prone!

I was pleased that the ending wasn't predictable (I liked it alot, it made me smile!), and I thought the message of the book, about learning to love and accept yourself, was sincerely and sympathetically executed.  The whole thing was a bit too 'whoo-hoo, you go girl, let's all be sassy real women' for me (and a bit too naked), but that's only personal taste; Bernice and her new friends were believable characters and I think this book will appeal to many women.  I can imagine it being an inspiration to others caught in the low self-esteem trap; haven't most of us been there at some point?

FRENCH KISSING by Lynne Shelby

4 out of 5 stars

Chick Lit

On Amazon UK HERE
On Amazon.com HERE

Reviewed by me as part of Rosie Amber's Review Team

Well, this was a pleasant and undemanding afternoon's reading!  Light romance/romcom is not a preferred genre of mine, but there was something about the blurb that appealed to me.

Anna Mitchel, London girl, has been writing to French penfriend Alexandre since she was eleven.  Now, they're in their late twenties, and Alex has come to visit.  Anna's boyfriend Nick is not pleased about the sudden appearance of this sexy Frenchman, and Anna is disturbed by the fact that all her friends fancy him.  Then there's the girl back home, who Alex is still in love with....

This book is very well written chick lit, with a bit more substance than your average zany-cupcake-and-kitten-heels type novel.  I didn't actually like Anna very much—I thought she was rather selfish and lacking in self-awareness, especially concerning the way she treated Nick, and her attitude towards Izzy and Beth.  At the same time as being annoyed with her, though, I noticed how excellent the characterisation is; each character is clear and well-defined.  Being annoyed with a character means that he/she has come alive, after all!

The last third of the book is set in France; there is much description of Paris, etc, but it is not intrusive and is artfully woven into the story.  I guessed the outcome only about half way through, which is good for a chick lit book - in the past, I've guessed it in the first chapter!  And there's a nice unexpected turn of events at the end, too.

This is professionally presented and I'd have no hesitation in recommending it to lovers of the light romance; I haven't got anything negative to say about it at all.