Review: PLAYING THE FIELD by Zoë Foster **** + GIVEAWAY!

Scroll down for more info on how to
win a copy of AIR KISSES!

"Jean Bennett knows as much about football as she does astrophysics. But when she moves to the bright lights of Sydney and falls in love with a star footballer, Josh Fox, she has to learn - fast. Thrown eyelashes first into the world of WAGs, Jean is way out of her league. She navigates her way through semi-finals, a gruelling social calendar and salacious scandals on Josh's arm, safe in the knowledge he belongs to her or so she thinks. But as her hair gets blonder, her heels higher and her tops lower, Jean begins to wonder who she's become."

I loooooved Zoë's debut novel Air Kisses and I've been waiting for a new book by her for months and I was over the moon when my copy arrived! My hopes for it were quite high, but while it doesn't quite give Air Kisses a run for its money, it was still a very enjoyable book - another light but entertaining hit by Ms Foster, as expected!

Plot-wise, not a lot happens, but just as I was thinking that the book is getting slightly predictable - bang - there was a small twist! I can't exactly say this book is boring when Jean's life suddenly gets turned upside down and she finds herself in a shiny world where she doesn't know what to believe and who to trust. One moment she was a simple girl working in a beautique, dreaming of being a jewellery designer and generally minding her own business, but the next moment she is swept of her feet by a high profile footballer and thus becomes one of the infamous WAGs. Sure, her life becomes more glamorous and exciting, but on the other hand she has to deal with Josh's crazy ex, rumours, annoying fans and other 'perks' that come with the territory. Remind me again, why would anyone want to be a WAG? Is it all worth it? I guess so since people (especially in the UK) seem to be fascinated by them. I can say I'm one of them, but it was still interesting to read about the lives of these WAGs - and Zoë should know what she's talking about since she was a WAG herself for nearly a decade.
I'm shocked to hear that the book hasn't been released in the UK yet when that WAG-obsessed nation would love this stuff, especially with the World Cup coming up and all when the WAGs will be all over the place! Fingers crossed one of the UK publishers has the sense to publish it asap, it would be a shame not to since it has so much potential there!

Oh and another thing while we're on the subject of plot - the book ends in a massive cliffhanger, grr! I read the last line and thought that surely this can't be the end?! Zoë, darling, I'm afraid we'll need a sequel here stat so I do hope you're already working on it? ;)

The best thing about this book is easily the writing itself! I've gushed about it before, but I honestly love the way Zoë writes, be it books, blogs or tweets, she just has this fantastic way with words and I can't get enough of it! It's very witty in a way and modern and yet very real (swearing included), and I think it really helps in bringing the characters to life so you can't help but take a shine to them! In this novel, I perhaps thought some characters were slightly underdeveloped (namely Josh and Tess) while my favourite character was probably Collette, Jean's sister, she cracked me up! Frank was also a nice side character and I was quite impressed by Cam until he let me down. (Oh and I loved the small cameo appereance by Hannah from Air Kisses!) But on the whole, the characters are a lovely bunch and the writing is fantastic, as always! Can't wait to see what Zoë comes up with next!

Sadly this book isn't available outside Australia yet (boo!), but if you'd still like to find out more about it, then click here and let Zoë introduce you to the book! She's also appeared on TV not once but twice to discuss the book so feel free to watch those! If you can't take take all the teasing anymore and desperately want to see what all the fuss about Zoë amazing writing is about, then scroll down and see how you can win a copy of her debut novel!

overall rating:
plot: 3/5 | writing: 5/5 | characters: 4/5 | cover: 4/5

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And now finally THE GIVEAWAY! I really enjoyed Air Kisses and I want you to enjoy it too sooooo I'll be giving away a shiny new copy of AIR KISSES, Zoë's brilliant first novel which was published in the UK by Allison & Busby. This contest thingy is open worldwide and it will end on 25th February at midnight. Here's what you have to do in order to enter:

• you have to leave a comment saying you want to be entered;
• you have to follow my blog;

Optional:

• for an extra entry, follow Zoë on Twitter (trust me, you won't regret it, hehe)
• for extra two entries, tweet about this contest (provide link) or post on your sidebar.

The winner will be chosen with the help of random.org. Good luck! :)