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The Party Crasher–a family breakup
The Party Crasher
by Sophie Kinsella
Check them off your list—the elements you anticipate in a Sophie Kinsella novel. You will find them in The Party Crasher.
- A wacky, but lovable protagonist: Effie (AKA Euphemia or Ephelant).
- Interesting setting: Greenoaks isn’t just any old house. It’s amazing. It has character. It has a turret! It has a stained-glass window. Visitors often call it “eccentric” or quirky” or just exclaim, “Wow!”
- Broken romantic relationship: What happened to Joe years ago that he would just drop Effie without an explanation?
- Dysfunctional family: Mimi, the beloved stepmother, and Dad have an announcement one Christmas that changes everyone’s life.
- Siblings: Bean, the always positive peacemaker, and Gus who is clearly unhappy in his relationship with the domineering Romilly.
- Mystery: Where are the missing Russian stacking dolls?
- A house-cooling party: Doesn’t everyone have one when they move?
- A gold-digger or two: Perhaps the flashy Krista and/or her flirty sister Lacey?
- Humor in both situations and characters: Maybe a protagonist dressed in black sneaking through her own house with a little Mission Impossible music thrown in for good measure?
I enjoyed The Party Crasher, and I recommend it for light-hearted fun with a background of serious themes and issues.
I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Rating: 4/5
Category: General Fiction, Women’s Fiction
Notes: Includes some casual swearing
Publication: October 12, 2021—Dial Press (Random House)
Memorable Lines:
For all that I loved him, I never got to the core of Joe. I never reached his innermost Russian doll. He always kept a part of himself locked well away.
I had no idea my brother and sister were so secretive and duplicitous. I’m shocked and I will tell them so, at some point, when I’m not hiding from them under the console table.
She sounds cynical. Her face is tight and jaded. She looks as if her expectations of life have sunk so low, she’s not going to bother having any anymore.
Snowflakes Over the Starfish Café–a lost dog brings hope
Snowflakes Over the Starfish Café
by Jessica Redland
In the first part of Snowflakes Over the Starfish Café, the reader really gets to know the characters in this book and the story behind each one of them. Hollie and Jake are the main characters; both of them have pasts immersed in tragedies. Those two tell the story in their points of view. The timeframe bounces around between the present and various times in their pasts slowly revealing the details of the personal disasters that they don’t seem to be able to overcome. The changes in timeframes and narrators are clearly delineated and never confusing. There are a lot of supportive friends and a few you would like to kick to the curb. “Mr. Pickles” is a tiny homeless shih tzu who plays a huge role in this romance, but will he be big enough to bring Hollie and Jake together and help overcome their issues?
All of the action occurs in or near Whitsborough Bay on the North Yorkshire coast. The book is filled with Britishisms that I enjoyed immensely such as references to wearing their “waterproofs” or shops displaying bags of “candyfloss.” I also learned a lot about the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) with its amazing volunteers.
As frequently occurs in romance novels, Jake and Hollie inch towards resolution and a happily ever after. Then suddenly there is a twist that neither Jake, Hollie, nor the reader could have predicted. It seems they may be forced to retreat into isolation abandoning what they had together.
I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Rating: 5/5
Category: General Fiction, Romance
Publication: August 31, 2021—Boldwood Books
Memorable Lines:
Angry waves snatched at the deserted beach, spitting spray over the railings, while ominous grey clouds threatened rain.
“People can still be in love but not like each other very much and sometimes they can like each other but not be in love.”
“Then he’s not right for you, but one day you’ll meet someone who is. Someone who makes you laugh every day, hugs you simply because it’s Tuesday, holds you when you cry, and dances in the rain with you.”
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