This post was originally published at Novelicious.com and is now at WritingTipsOasis.com. WritingTipsOasis.com acquired Novelicious.com in June 2022.
Reviewed by Victoria Sutton
I am a blogger so when I read the press release for Some Girls Do by Clodagh Murphy and discovered it was a book about a blogger, I was really excited to get started. Blogging has become so big in recent years and it was interesting to see how it was handled in the context of a novel.
By day, Claire Kennedy is a quiet, kind and studious girl. She works in a bookshop while she pursues her dream of becoming a published author. As a testament to her kindness, Claire moved back home to Dublin after studying in Edinburgh when her mum, Espie, first fell ill and much of her time is now spent looking after her, as she is plagued with health problems. With little social life to speak of, Claire has lots of time for her writing and by night she is NiceGirl, author of a steamy sex blog! Her blog Scenes of a Sexual Nature is extremely popular and the sexual antics of NiceGirl are a hot topic on the Internet – although unbeknown to the readers, they are all figments of Claire’s imagination.
Claire’s simple life starts to change when London publisher, Mark Bell, who NiceGirl has developed an online flirtation with, reveals he is interested in offering her a book deal for her blog. Claire is obviously ecstatic and, as well as the interest he has in her blog, it transpires that Mark is also interested in her. On paper he is Claire’s ‘Mr Right’ and she is determined that he will not be disappointed when he meets the real NiceGirl. This sets her on a path she would never have imagined for herself, including enlisting the services of the brooding Luca.
Luca is a commitment phobic struggling artist, who is definitely not Claire’s type. But when she hires him to help her develop her sex skills, a relationship develops that neither of them were expecting…I really enjoyed following Claire’s story. She is a lovely character, loyal to her family and friends and compassionate to strangers. But she is also more complex with the double life she leads – first with her blog and then her secret sexual relationship with Luca. I loved watching her character develop through her arrangement with Luca, and also the way their relationship changed Luca himself, who is your classic, scrummy, brooding hero.
Sexy but romantic, often funny and sometimes sad, Some Girls Do was a fantastic read. Yes, it is a bit saucy, but all in the best possible taste, I think. I especially liked it when the sex scenes were interjected with humour, which made it all the more realistic. I did feel that the ending was a little rushed and I would like to have known more about what happened next, but that is also a sign of how much I loved the characters and didn’t want to let them go!
8/10