This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.
REVIEWED BY KIRA SLAUGHTER
Scarlett loves the movies, but does she love sensible fiancé David just as much?
When Scarlett has the chance to house-sit a grand mansion in Notting Hill- the setting of one of her favourite movies- she jumps at the chance to live out her film fantasies. Soon Scarlett finds herself starring in a romantic comedy of her very own: but who will end up as the leading man?
A few months ago I was on Amazon (shocker!) and I was looking for books to add to my wish list. This one cropped up and when I read the synopsis I immediately knew that this book would be right up my street. Based on some of the best romantic comedies around, this book grabs you and pulls you in until you aren’t able to tell real life from fiction.
Scarlett is an avid movie fan and her obvious choice of film is the romantic comedy. She has always thought that her life should really be like one of the characters from Bridget Jones’ Diary or Notting Hill. She is engaged to David who, much to Scarlett’s chagrin, is nothing like the romantic heroes from her movies. He is sensible, has a good job and wants to get married as soon as possible. He doesn’t understand Scarlett’s obsession with the movies and repeatedly tries to convince her that real life is nothing like a chick flick! Even Scarlett’s Dad is conspiring against her and wants her to take her head from out the clouds and get on with her life.
When Scarlett’s friend Maddie asks if she’d be interested in house sitting in Notting Hill she jumps at the chance, hoping that her favourite movie will come to life, with her as the star. In the few weeks she is in London, she meets the outrageous Oscar, her gorgeous next door neighbour Sean (who is on my list of top chick lit hotties!) and even deals with some issues that have been troubling her since she was young.
You can’t help but love Scarlett, even though she’s scatty and lives in her dream world most of the time, her heart is in the right place. Some of the situations she lands herself in had me laughing out loud (seriously, I even snorted at one point, very embarrassing!).
The sign of a good book to me is if I feel disappointed when I get to the last page, and this is one of those. I wanted to be in Notting Hill, living Scarlett’s dream along with her. It took me a day and a half to read this novel and I will be very surprised if you don’t get as involved with the story as much as I did.
A very impressive debut from Ali McNamara!
I’m giving it a 10/10!
Tune in tomorrow for a fantastic video from Ali Mcnamara, featuring her writing room!