LUCY SULLIVAN IS GETTING MARRIED by MARIAN KEYES

LUCY SULLIVAN IS GETTING MARRIED

BY MARIAN KEYES

THE BLURB:-

...Or is she? Lucy doesn't even have a boyfriend (to be honest, Lucy isn't that lucky in love). But Mrs. Nolan has read her tarot cards and predicted that Lucy will be walking up the aisle within the year.

Lucy's flatmates are appalled at the news. If Lucy leaves it could disrupt their lovely lifestyle of eating takeaways, drinking too much wine, bringing men home and never hoovering. But Lucy reassures them that she's far too bust arguing with her mother and taking care of her irresponsible father to even think about getting married.

And then there's the small matter of no boyfriend. But then Lucy meets Gus, gorgeous unreliable Gus, and she starts to wonder- could he be the future Mr. Lucy Sullivan? Or could it be Chuck, the handsome American? Or Daniel, the world's biggest flirt? Or even cute Jed, the new boy at work?

Will Lucy find her soulmate? Read this book if you want to laugh, cry and do no work for a week.

THE REALITY:-

I picked this book up in a charity shop, purely because I remember the TV series from the late 1990s/ early 2000s. It was on late at night and I thought it was charming. It starred Letitia Dean, at the time one of my favourite actresses from Eastenders and Sarah Stockbridge, model and muse of the best fashion designer in the world, Vivienne Westwood.

I should have known better than to bother reading the book. It's “chick lit”... yuk, yuk, yuk, BIG yuk.

This is really not my genre. I have never been a girls' girl and have always been a bit of a geezerbird. I cannot stand the cliquey, girly, gossipy, bitchy “all girls together” mentality, and I find it extremely hard to tolerate female insecurities, jealousy and bitchiness.  Okay, I'm not perfect myself, and have been known to behave like these unlikeable cows from time to time.  But if you lay down with dogs then you get fleas.  I have never lived with a gaggle of women (heaven forbid) and don't get obsessed with dating, dieting and shopping. I've never really dated (more “hooked up”) refuse to diet as I'm an ex-bulimic and know where that can lead, and hate shopping with a passion.

There is nothing wrong with this book- Marian Keyes is an acclaimed author, and I can see why. At 740 pages long, I did speed read some sections, but also found some parts endearing. I found the chapters dealing with Lucy's dad really moving, and they hit a raw nerve as I was brought up with alcoholism in the family. And I'm so glad Lucy found her balls and stood up the the user that was Gus and her bully of a flatmate, Karen.

This is a well-written book if you like this sort of thing- unfortunately, I don't.

MY BEST FRIEND'S GIRL by DOROTHY KOOMSON

MY BEST FRIEND'S GIRL

BY DOROTHY KOOMSON

THE BLURB:-

Best friends Kamryn Matika and Adele Brannon thought nothing could come between them- until Adele did the unthinkable and slept with Kamryn's fiancé Nate. Worse still, she got pregnant and had his child. When Kamryn discovered the truth about their betrayal she vowed never to see any of them ever again.

Years later, Kamryn receives a letter from Adele asking her to visit her in hospital. Adele is dying and asks Adele to adopt her daughter Tegan. With a great job and a hectic social life, the last thing Kamryn needs is a five-year-old to disrupt things. Especially not one who reminds her of Nate. But with no one else to take care of Tegan and Adele fading fast, does she have any other choice? So begins a difficult journey that leads Kamryn towards forgiveness, love, responsibility and, ultimately, a better understanding of herself.

THE REALITY:-

This will have you crying intermittently throughout. We've all been hurt and betrayed- and sometimes that action comes as a complete and utter shock, as it does to our Kamryn. But there is more to it than meets the eye, and this novel deals with the reasons behind the infidelity as much as the infidelity itself. The emotions Kamryn has to deal with regarding Adele- her once-best-friend, who is dying, come across in a blur of pain. This character should probably have got to the bottom of her issues with her fiancé, Nate, and Adele a long time ago, for her own sanity.

There are some very real characters in this book, the most awful being Adele's father and stepmother. It makes you question how their abuse towards both Adele and Tegan could go unnoticed in this day and age. It's quite fun watching Kamryn transcend from being a party girl to a mummy, and also a career woman to someone whose work plays second fiddle to her daughter, and it's also interesting looking at her difficult relationship with her new boss, how she deals with it, and how things develop between them.

The fact that Kamryn is a black woman who is trying to adopt a white child is not dealt with in depth, and that's good- I wouldn't have wanted racial differences to become an important part of this book as they don't seem highly relevant to me, whereas Kamryn's love for Tegan is. The story moves towards its conclusion with Nate and Kamryn having the talk that should have occurred WAY back, and dealing with the fall-out. And you are made to face up to facts- that some things can't be repaired, and perhaps weren't meant to be.