Length: 223 pages
Please note as always the cover image leads to a universal Amazon buy link for the book
What they say: Izzy Harris should have it all – but her boyfriend has been ignoring her for months, she’s been overlooked for a promotion, and the owner of her local coffee shop pervs on her every time she has a craving for a salted caramel muffin.
Then an unexpected turn of events gives her the boost she needed.
Suddenly Izzy has the confidence to do all the things she’s never dared: dump her oblivious boyfriend, turn the tables on catcallers, and put herself forward for a big pitch at work. Having to work closely with gorgeous colleague Alex is just an added perk…
But then her best friend has her heart broken, the pitch is way more complicated than expected, and Alex is keeping secrets. Does Izzy have what it takes to help her friend, save her career and get the guy?
A funny, feel-good read about finding yourself – and love – when you least expect it, for fans of The List, Just Haven’t Met You Yet, and Hot Mess.
They review: Don’t you hate when, after you’ve read and ADORED a book, you think ‘I wonder if (said author) has any other books out, and they’ve tons that you could have read and devoured before this? This is what happened after I read this book, thanked my lucky stars that I had, and signed up to Keris Stainton’s newsletter for more news of upcoming releases. I think you’ve guessed by now how much I ADORED this book (people who don’t like gushy reviews, hide … NOW!)!
The book starts with Izzy Harris finding out that the biggest and oldest client of their firm is shopping around and so the people of her company need to up their game and pitch to keep them sweet. Izzy has been told she’s always just on the periphery, never quite seen, and so she needs to prove to everyone that she’s capable and not just a background player.
Izzy is possibly one of my favourite characters in some time. It’s very difficult to still adore a character who has or feels they have, been let fade but Ms. Stainton has given us a lead character who is so lovely, with none of the ‘poor me’ or other people constantly talking about how perfect she is, when she isn’t (a regular thing in so many books!) Actually the characterisation in this book is spot on, in particular her best friend Tash was the perfect mix of bright, viviacious, loud and human, and made me laugh (out loud -me, the prude!) and Alex was excellent too. This leads me to another huge pull of the book, that Izzy had people to lean on. In a lot of books authors feel they need to alienate every last person to give the lead a properly rough ride, but there was enough drama (oh the drama!) to keep it all moving very well.
Actually (sorry, I knew this review would be all over the place!), the comedy was excellent too, there’s very few books that do really keep their promise of being ‘laugh out loud,’ but in particular, the bit of the book that I can’t speak of because it isn’t in the blurb, but which makes it so different and is, really its USP (hence the reason it should have been in the blurb in my humble opinion!) In this part, Izzy does something that EVERYONE would love to do to get back at her boyfriend, and it was so funny, that I snorted!
Even though its predominantly a comedy, there are some amazing touches, and the author is great at looking at Izzy’s journey and how she feels about her life before, and now in this situation, and plants her feet firmly at a crossroads, and there were some beautiful moments.The thing that happens, is also done amazingly (I’m so sorry about this, I just don’t want to do spoilers!)
This is a book about someone who wonders how and why everyone else seems to be better than she, a book that looks at how people can get into a rut, and inspires said people to do something about it. For people who aren’t fan of rom coms, they may reconsider their stance, for people who are, well, they’ll be excited and happy to have found this, a book that will make them smile, laugh and make them nod along. A sparkling triumph! Thanks to Bookouture and Netgalley for this perfect treat, I mean book, in return for an honest review.
Rating: most defintely 5/5, and definitely in my end of year ‘best of’s.’
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