Review: MINI SHOPAHOLIC by Sophie Kinsella *****

Becky Brandon (née Bloomwood) thought motherhood would be a breeze and that having a daughter was a dream come true - a shopping friend for life! But it s trickier than she thought as two-year-old Minnie has a quite different approach to shopping.
She can create havoc everywhere from Harrods to Harvey Nicks to her own christening. She hires taxis at random, her favourite word is Mine, and she's even started bidding for designer bags on ebay.
On top of everything else, there's a big financial crisis. People are having to Cut Back including all of Becky's personal shopping clients and she and Luke are still living with Becky s Mum and Dad. To cheer everyone up, Becky decides to throw a surprise birthday party on a budget but then things become really complicated.
Who will end up on the naughty step, who will get a gold star and will Becky's secret wishes come true?

I'm sure you all know how much I love and adore Ms Kinsella's books! As I've said before, she's the only author who has never ever disappointed me, not even in the slightest, and I've read all her books! I've been looking forward to Mini Shopaholic for months and as expected, I absolutely LOVED it - with it, Ms Kinsella just confirmed her status of My Favourite Author EVER!!! Be warned: there will be a lot of gushing in this post, but I just can't help myself, LOL.

Our beloved heroine Becky returns two years after she's given birth to Minnie, who turns out to be quite an energetic and determined little thing, hehehe! She's may not win the Most Well Behaved Daughter award anytime soon, but she's positively adorable, just like her mother!
Just like in the other books, Becky finds herself in a series of unfortunate events that she is determined to solve in her own special way - this time it's to do with Luke's birthday party, Minnie's upbringing, her job etc. As always, she manages to get herself in a million tricky situations, but she always finds the way out. That's what I love love love about Becky - she is such a good person. She may be a bit daft at times (and I mean that in the most endearing way possible), but she always means well and does the best she can. She is just so determined to deal with things her own way and she never gives up. Her way of thinking may be a bit silly, but you cannot help but love her. She's possibly my favourite literary character, just because she can crack me up like no one else in this world!!!

Oh and can we take a moment here and discuss LUKE BRANDON for a moment? Honestly, could this man possibly be any more PERFECT??? I don't think so and yet he keeps improving with every book, making me fall head over heels in love with him again and again! (Don't be jealous, hubby, you know I love you even more & fo' realz! ;) xoxo) He is the epitome of the perfect man and honestly too good to be true - I suppose that's why he's fictional, ha! He's not just perfect per say, but he's also perfect for Becky and I love the relationship they have, it's fantastic! OK, I think I'll stop fangirling over Luke here (even though I could go on all night, heh) and the last thing I'm saying is that he's just soooooo swoonworthy!

Excuse all the gushing (I'm prone to that when I'm discussing Kinsella's books), but I honestly cannot praise this book enough. I loved the plot, which was exciting and hilarious with all the twists & turns. The book was FILLED to the brink with HILARIOUS scenes that honestly had me in tears from laughing so hard!!! One of my favourites was the Eminem thing at Minnie's christening, hahaha! And Becky's bartering and Minnie's pocket money and Becky buying Minnie a dress for her 21st birthday, hahaha! Just thinking about everything that's happened in this book cracks me up - it's UH-MAAAZING STUFF! I was reading it during a particularly exhausting and crazy week and just reading a few pages before sleep made everything so much better - it's escapism at its best and like a little ray of sunshine that brightens up even the worst of days!

I really enjoyed seeing the whole gang again, not just Becky & Luke, but also Suze and Tarkie and Becky's parents and Janice and Danny! The new characters were fab too (Bonnie, Sage etc) and I look forward to seeing more of them in the upcoming books ... I say that with a bit of confidence as the ending of Mini Shopaholic suggests another massive adventure for Becky and I cannot WAIT to read all about it! Ooh, I hope the next book comes out sooooon, I just know it's going to be SO good!

This book couldn't possibly be any better and I tremendously enjoyed every single second of it, but now I'm crushed that it's all over. :( If you're a Shopaholic fan, they you're guaranteed to enjoy this just like the rest of this fantastic series. And if you're not a fan yet, then you absolutely MUST order yourself the whole series RIGHT NOW and read it asap - you'll thank me later. ;) Years ago, I was one of the people who looked down on others who read Shopaholic books - I thought books about shopping were far beneath me, but then I read one Shopaholic book and was immediately converted into not only a Shopaholic fan, but also a massive fan of the chick lit genre as such. So thank you, Ms Kinsella/Wickham, for showing me the light and thank you for writing such FANTASTIC and HILARIOUS books! How do you do it though, Sophie (can I call you that, by the way? Will you be my BFF? Will Becky be my BFF? Please?)? Is it MAGIC? Fairydust? Whatever it is, please don't ever stop and keep the books coming!!! :)

In conclusion: as it turns out, my predictions were correct and this is indeed THE CHICK LIT BOOK OF THE YEAR - it just doesn't get any better than this! Long live the Queen of Wit Lit!

overall rating: + ♥♥♥♥♥ (because it holds a special place in my heart :p)
plot: 5+/5 | writing: 5+/5 | characters: 5+/5 | cover: 4/5

ps: OH and don't forget to watch the third clip of The Queen herself reading an extract from the book - this time it's the visit to the Pound Shop and it's priceless, LOL!

pps: You can read the brilliant first chapter here - just click on the Extract tab & enjoooy!

Sophie Kinsella reads another extract from Mini Shopaholic!!!

Today is a very special day (albeit a strange one) - no, not because it's Friday the 13th, buuuuuut because my brand spanking shiny new hardcover copy of Mini Shopaholic arrived, wooohooo! I was thrilled when I was offered a copy for review and over the moon when I actually held a read copy in my hands, OMG! I've read a few pages and I just know this book will be SO amazing! I think I'll take a day off from work and translating and life basically and just read it ... But then I'll be sad once it's over ... I won't dwell on that now when I have a copy of Mini Shopaholic, yaaaay!

To make today even more special, an awesome video was posted - it shows Sophie Kinsella (aka Madeline Wickham) reading the second extract from Mini Shopaholic and it's downright HILARIOUS (no shock there)! I also love the way 'Sophie' reads it, she just brings it to life, hehe! You can watch the clip below and in case you missed the first reading, then click here & enjoooy!

Hands up who else is super mega inceredibly excited about this book? :D

Waiting On Wednesday: MINI SHOPAHOLIC!!!

As some of you may know, I love Sophie Kinsella's books with my heart and soul and she is, without a doubt, my favourite author - I've read all her works and adored each and every one of them! So why have I waited this long this long to feature this book here, you might ask??? Well, I was just waiting for the US cover to finally be released, which happened last week on Kinsella's website - I noticed it shortly I posted my WOW last week and then I had to wait the whole week for this post, torture! Anyway, now we can finally compare the two covers - and without further ado, here they are in all their glory ...

Soooo tell me, which one do you prefer?
I have to say I was rather pleasantly surprised by the US cover - it's just so nice and clean and too cute, whereas the UK one looks lovely and all, but a tad ... busy? Plus it certainly doesn't stand out as much as the other one so I just might have to get myself the US edition ... I haven't quite decided yet, but for now the US cover gets my vote, which is quite unusual indeed - but just look at it, it's too cute!
Both editions of this CHICK LIT BOOK OF THE YEAR will be out in SEPTEMBER 2010!

But regardless of the cover, we all know that this will be another mindblowingly FANTASTIC and utterly HILARIOUS read - after all, Ms Kinsella hasn't been crowned the Queen of Wit Lit for nothing! :D

Anyway, yes, this is guaranteed to be another fab installment in the magnificent Shopaholic series! I've had a chance to read the first chapter, which is set in a toy shop, and it honestly had me in tears and that's no exaggeration. My boyfriend can confirm that I was pretty much ROTFLMAO - Minnie (aka Becky's daughter in case you've been living under a rock!) is just priceless! I cannot wait to read the whole thing - you can read the plot summary below, but you all probably know it by heart anyway! I mean, how could somebody not be excited about this book?!

Nothing comes between Becky Brandon (née Bloomwood) and her bargains. Neither act of God nor budget crunch can shatter her dreams of wall-to-wall Prada. Every milestone in her well-shopped life (travel, long-lost sister, marriage, pregnancy) inspires new vistas to explore in the name of retail therapy. But now she faces her greatest little challenge yet: Becky’s two-year-old daughter, Minnie.

While motherhood has been everything Becky dreamed it would be—Baby Dior, Little Marc Jacobs, and Dolce & Gabbana for toddlers—adorable Minnie is wreaking havoc everywhere she goes, from Harrods to her own christening. Her favorite word is “MINE!” and her penchant for Balenciaga bags, Chanel sunglasses, and online purchases has no rival under age five.

Becky is at her wits end. On top of this, she and her husband Luke are still living with her parents. Thankfully it appears house buying attempt number four is a go! Until a huge financial crisis causes panic everywhere, and nobody wants to shop—not Becky’s personal shopping clientele, not her friends, nobody. And with Luke in the doldrums, it’s time for Becky to step in—with a party: A surprise birthday party for Luke (on a budget) is the perfect antidote to everyone’s woes. At first.

Will Becky manage to keep the party of the year a surprise? Can she hire jugglers, fire-eaters, and acrobats at a discount? Will enlisting the help of Luke’s unflappable assistant to convince him to have another baby realize her dream of matching pom-poms? Will Minnie find a new outlet for her energetic and spirited nature (perhaps one with sixty percent markdowns)? She is, after all, a chip off the old shopping block. And everyone knows a committed shopper always finds a way.

Please excuse me while I take a moment to do a happy dance and jump and squeee - all the excitement is just too much to take! Can't you just tell that this book will be made of so much AWESOME!

You can also get a taste of the fabulousness that's in store for us by watching the clip below - it shows Ms Kinsella (nee Wickham) reading a hilarious ketchup extract from the book - featuring Becky and Luke and Suze and Tarquin and Minniiiiiieeeeee!

I absolutely love it - too hilarious for words as always! :D

ps: Excuse all the gushing, but it appears that I am unable to make a Kinsella related post without gushing all over the place. You know you can't blame me - and if you think you can, then you probably haven't read anything this amazing woman has written, which is your loss and you're missing out, ha! :p Honestly, Sophie Kinsella just rocks my socks off!

Review: REMEMBER ME? by Sophie Kinsella *****

What if you woke up and your life was perfect?
Lexi wakes up in hospital, thinking she’s twenty-five with crooked teeth and a disastrous love life. But, to her disbelief, she learns it’s three years later – she’s a super-toned twenty-eight-year-old, her teeth are straight, she’s the boss of her department – and she’s married! To a good-looking millionaire! She can’t believe her luck – especially when she sees her stunning new loft apartment. And she’ll definitely have a fantastic marriage once she gets to know her husband again. He’s drawn up a ‘marriage manual’, which should help.
But soon she realizes her perfect life isn’t all it seems. Her old colleagues hate her. A rival is after her job. Then a dishevelled, sexy guy turns up…and lands a new bombshell.
What the **** happened to her? Will she ever remember? And what will happen if she does?

I first read this book as soon as it came out back in 2007 and absolutely loved it! However, I recently got a chance to re-read this book (several times, ahem) so I thought I might as well review it and spread the word about it for those who haven't read it yet (*gasp*) or are looking for a great light read to cheer them up. If you fit this description, then look no further, this is definitely the book for you!

Sophie Kinsella is probably my favourite author and I've loved every single book by her, but Remember Me? was possibly my favourite, even though that could easily change if I re-read any of her other books as they're all fantastic. What I love about these books is that they're *hilarious* and that's how Ms Kinsella earned her title of The Queen of Wit Lit, she's amazing!

I thought the premise of the book was really good. It opens with a scene where our 25-year-old heroine Lexi is going through a really tough time - she's standing in the pouring rain, trying to find a taxi and thinking about how she's the only one who didn't get a bonus at work, her cheap shoes are killing her, she has horrible teeth and hair, she lousy boyfriend stood her up and her dad recently died. She thinks things couldn't possibly get worse and then she slips in the rain and falls down some stairs ... When she wakes up in a hospital, she's stunned to realize that she's already 28 and that her life is perfect! She's married to a millionaire, she's the boss at work, she looks fantastic (fixed teeth, shiny hair, two sizes smaller, bigger lips), she apparently drives a Mercedes (that's why she ended up in a hospital) and everything couldn't be better! The only downside is that she's suffering from amnesia due to the traffic accident that got her in the hospital and she sort of can't remember what's been going on for the past three years! She's determined to find out, but before that she realizes that her life may not be as perfect as it seemed at first ... She's lost all her friends, she sucks at her job and she's not all that comfortable in this new skin of hers ...

Yes, yes, it's one of those "all that glitters isn't gold" or whatever stories, but this one's actually really enjoyable and far less ditzy than it may sound - it has real depth to it in both plot and character development. Plus did I mention it's pure comedy? :)

Sophie Kinsella always, repeat: always, comes up with the most fantastic characters ever. Her heroines have a tendency to be a bit silly sometimes, but they're also very warm and admirable characters. When they find themselves in a predicament, they fight to get to the bottom of it and try their best to solve their problems without hurting anyone - they're the kind of girls you'd *want* to be your best friend! They often have weird families and they really value friendship. And Lexi's not different. She's just a girl who ended up living the life she always dreamt of, but in the process she's lost herself and her friends and she wants to get it all back. She can't remember why she changed so much and turned into a cold-hearted and power-hungry bitch, but she eventually realizes that she was sort of forced into it by the events that took place after her memory three years ago. After her father's funeral, she had a lot to cope with and a too heavy burden to carry and she couldn't find the right way to do what she had to do to solve her serious problems. So after waking up in a hospital with no recollection of the past three years, Lexi finds herself in several hilarious as well as sad situations to sort her dreamy new life out, but don't worry, she'll do it one way or another - she's a Kinsella girl, after all. ;)

Oh and don't even get me started on Kinsella's menfolk! The heroine's love interest always ends up being the man of my dreams and this book was no exception. I won't spoil it for those who haven't read the book yet, but I also loved the guy here and the relationship he and Lexi had was just so sweet. I'd love to read more about it and there should be a sequel!
But seriously, I've fallen in love (metaphorically speaking) with *all* of them (especially Luke) even though they're each so different, but they always sweep me off my feet, hehe! I guess that's another reason why I love Kinsella's books - it's the guys, even if they're too good to be true. :)

Gosh, I'm honestly trying to keep this very short, but it's already turning into an essay, lol. So anyway, what I'm trying to stress here is that Sophie Kinsella is a fantastic author and she write your typical chicklit novels, she does far more than that. I know plenty of people who aren't fans of these types of reads, but still adore Kinsella because her novels and smart and sooooo much fun to read! So if you haven't already, give any of her books a try, I'm sure you won't regret it! :)


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

ps: Feel free to read my review of Kinsella's latest bestseller TWENTIES GIRL (out now in paperback) here.

pps: As I said, I thought the premise was great, but it may not be the most original one as there are at least three more books that I'm eager to read with dealing with a topic of amnesia in a similar way. But just like Remember Me?, these three books sound fantastic as well and they're all very high on my TBR list!
Click on the covers for more info! Has anyone read any of these?

A Q&A session with Sophie Kinsella on Facebook!

A while ago I posted an announcement about a sort of a chat session (hosted by Barnes & Noble) with Sophie Kinsella on Facebook, which happened yesterday and lasted for hours! WERE YOU THERE? I sure was and so was Rebekka and Sophie actually answered her questions, woohoo!!! :) I posted a question similar to Rebekka's (because I thought she wouldn't be there) and some about the new book etc., but alas she ignored me - can't blame her as there were like shazillion people posting questions every second!!!

The Q&A session took place here and in the end there were nearly a thousand posts! Basically people posted questions and Sophie tried her best to answer them, but as I sad, it was a pretty maddening situation, I couldn't even refresh fast enough to keep up with everything, hehe.

For those of you who missed or are not on Facebook (shame on you all), I've copies all of Sophie's replies and posted them here, on my sub blog that I usually use just for plot summaries. So if you don't want to go through all those posts, then just click here to read her replies only.

I'm afraid her answers weren't as informative as I would've hoped, but that could be just me expecting too much, hehehe. She did confirm that she's working on another Shopaholic book, which is supposed to come out sometime next autumn, which means we'll have to wait for at least a year, boo. :( She remained tight-lipped about the title and the plot, but she promised to reveal more as the months go by.
She did have an interesting request though: "I'm sure some of you have great ideas for what Becky could do but can I ask you very nicely not to post them?! I am right in the middle of working on the next plot and I think it might do my head in!!! Hope you understand and I appreciate your interest in Becky! :)" Can't blame people for getting overexcited though, I'm in the same boat myself, lol!

♥ Other than that she said that Can You Keep a Secret? is in development with a production company and also said that she's not planning any sequels to her standalone novels.
♥ Her favourite authors include "Jane Austen, PG Wodehouse, my sister Gemma Townley (of course!) Ian McEwan, Lewis Caroll... too many!"
♥ Someone suggested she should launch a clothing & accessories line (hello, the dragonfly necklace) and I think that's a really good idea actually, I'd probably buy everything, hehe.
♥ Someone asked how she chose her nom de plume and her answer was: "Sophie is my middle name, Kinsella is my mother's maiden name." Interesting, I don't think I've heard that before?!
♥ Her views on comeday: "Comedy is so hard to define. I find cringeworthy, embarrassment moments very funny, and I like ridiculous, childlike comedy. I write and rewrite my scenes till they make me laugh."
♥ On chick lit: "I can understand the chick lit term as a shorthand term. If people say 'Oh you write chick lit', I reply 'Yes, I write intelligent modern humorous fiction featuring a femail heroine dealing with contemporary issues... why, thank you very much!'"
♥ Her latest favourite purchase: "I think my favourite thing most recently was my beautiful fairy Prada bag. I saw it in the Prada shop in Miami when we were filming there. It was so perfect I had to have it, but there was a waiting list! Just like the Angel bag!! Luckily the lovely people at Prada called me up when there was a cancellation and so I could buy it. I still love it and use it all the time." It really is a gorgeous bag, isn't it?
♥ On her favourite Becky moment: "I can't choose. Too many. The zebra jeans, the Finnish, the running machine in New York, helping Suze in labour, running over the hot coals, sonographing her bladder..." Do YOU have one???
♥ Sophie confessed that she's very bad at cooking and that The Undomestic Goddess was a tad autobiographical, hahaha.
♥ She said the dragonfly necklace was all made up, but her friend designed some while she was writing Twenties Girl, you can check them out here.
♥ The UK paperback of TG comes out in January and she has some publicity events scheduled for that time, details will be posted on her website and on FB.

Those were just a few highlights for me, but if you want to read the Queen's words by yourself, then you may do so either here or here. Reading her answers just made me want to re-read her books, hehe!

PSA: Chat to the Queen of Chick Lit & Wit Lit!

Sophie Kinsella's Facebook fan page was updated yesterday, which you probably already know, unless you haven't joined her FB fan page yet (what are you waiting for?) or you're not on FB at all (you freak!). ;)
Guess what, in about a week her fans will be able to ask her questions and she'll answer them all on Facebook, yay! See below for more details and start thinking about what you're going to ask her!

Hi everyone!

I'm pleased to announce that on Wednesday, September 9th, I will join Barnes & Noble to take part in a one-day Q&A event on Facebook, and I am inviting all of you!

Starting at 11:00am EST, which is 4:00pm my time, I will respond to your questions about my books, and pretty much anything you've been wanting to know. You can RSVP for the event here —and don't forget to invite your friends!
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=237444355183#/event.php?eid=237444355183

Please note: The event will take place in a separate discussion board on September 9th. You must click through to this link to participate in the discussion on that day: http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?topic=10479&uid=9122810019

xoxo,
Sophie

I'm working on my questions, but here's what I've got so far:
1. WHEN WILL THE NEXT BOOK BE PUBLISHED?
2. WHAT WILL THE TITLE BE?
3. WHAT'S NEXT FOR BECKY?
Those questions are super obvious and everyone & their monkey will hopefully ask this so she simply has to answer, no way out, hehe! Other than that, I'd like to know if her male characters are based on real men and if so, where can I meet them, hehe? ;)

What will *you* ask? :)

And while we're on the subject, you can also tell me which of Sophie Kinsella's books was your favourite???
I'd have a hard time deciding because I adored them ALL, but perhaps I'd have to go with Remember Me? or The Undomestic Goddess - but it's really hard to say because they were all brilliant!

Sophie Kinsella's next book will be about ...

Yep, you guessed it - Becky Bloomwood! The queen of WIT LIT confirmed it in an interview:

Q. What is your next book about?

A. My next book is going to be a Shopaholic book, but beyond that I'm not giving anything else away at this stage.

I know many, many people have been hoping for another Becky novel so there you go, this should make you/us all very happy! I'm obviously looking forward to reading about Becky's further (family) adventures too, it should be great fun as always! :)

Review: TWENTIES GIRL!!! by Sophie Kinsella!!! *****

"Lara has always had an overactive imagination. Now she wonders if she is losing her mind. Normal twenty-something girls just don't get visited by ghosts! But inexplicably, the spirit of Lara's great aunt Sadie - in the form of a bold, demanding Charleston-dancing girl - has appeared to make one last request: Lara must track down a missing necklace Sadie simply can't rest without. Lara's got enough problems of her own. Her start-up company is floundering, her best friend and business partner has run off to Goa, and she's just been dumped by the love of her life. But as Lara spends time with Sadie, life becomes more glamorous and their treasure hunt turns into something intriguing and romantic. Could Sadie's ghost be the answer to Lara's problems and can two girls from different times end up learning something special from each other?"

(summary TBA)

Oooh, how long I've waited for this book! It was actually my most anticipated novel of the year and I'm glad to say that it totally lived up to all the hype and expectations! It arrived on Friday (words can't describe how happy I was), I started reading it on Saturday evening and finished it on Sunday afternoon (obviously went to sleep etc. in between). It's not a small book, it's over 400 pages, but I so wish it could've lasted longer.

The book had me hooked from page one, which immediately cracked me up. This one's a bit different to other Kinsella novels, possibly due to the supernatural element, which I know sounds strange, but the author totally makes it work! At the same time, it's a typical Kinsella, i.e. very, very, very hilarious (grammatically incorrect but still true). I was reading it with a permanent grin on my face and occassionally I just had to close the book because I was laughing so hard.

Kinsella's heroines are always so funny and loveable, and Lara is certainly no exception. Furthermore, Kinsella always, repeat: ALWAYS creates dreamy leading male characters and yes, I developed a crush on the guy in this novel too - typical (Luke Brandon is still my number one though, hehe). I may have kinda fallen in love with him during their London sightseeing and oooh, don't even get me started on the London Eye scene (before Sadie showed up, lol), which was just amazing and unforgettable (the scene of my dreams, hehehe).

All in all, I adored the characters - they were all wonderfully portrayed and they all contributed to the story. I thought Sadie was a bit annoying at times, but she pushed the story forward and on the whole she turned out to be quite a loveable character too. The plot was far fetched, yes, and a bit slow at first, but it all worked out in the end, everything connected and the ending was awww. It even has elements of mystery in it, which was quite refreshing and enjoyable, and it made the book even harder to put down, hehe.

Haters gonna hate, but I'm convinced that Kinsella fans will adoooore this story. Yes, it's not very deep blah blah, but it's just such an incredible feel-good read and I just can't praise it enough! I'm gutted that I finished it so fast and now I'll have to wait like a year or so for the next Kinsella book, boooo! :(

overall rating: 5/5 (d'oh, was there ever any doubt whatsoever)
plot: 5/5 | writing: 5/5 | characters: 5/5 | cover: 5/5

ps: It's safe to say Sophie Kinsella is my favourite writer - I've read and bought ALL her books and thoroughly enjoyed every single one of them, which is something that I can't say for other authors that I also admire. This woman is just brilliant! :)

Twenties Girl trailer!!!

A trailer for Twenties Girl has just been posted on Sophie Kinsella's Facebook page!!!

I've been told my copy is on the way and I cannot wait to read it!!! Funky music too!

ps: Pardon the excessive use of exclamation marks, but they're just necessary in this case - can't you tell I'm a bit excited here?!?! :D

Review: THE WEDDING GIRL by Madeleine Wickham ****

"At the age of eighteen, in that first golden Oxford summer, Milly was up for anything. Rupert and his American lover Allan were all part of her new, exciting life, and when Rupert suggested to her that she and Allan should get married, just so that Allan could stay in the country, Milly didn't hesitate, and to make it seem real she dressed up in cheap wedding finery and posed on the steps of the registry office for photographs. Ten years later, Milly is a very different person. Engaged to Simon - who is wealthy, serious, and believes her to be perfect - she is facing the biggest and most elaborate wedding imaginable. Her mother has it planned to the finest detail, from the massive marquee to the sculpted ice swans filled with oysters. Her dreadful secret is locked away so securely she has almost persuaded herself that it doesn't exist - until, with only four days to go, her past catches up with her. Suddenly, her carefully constructed world is about to crash in ruins around her. How can she tell Simon she's already married? How can she tell her mother? But as the crisis develops, more secrets are revealed than Milly could possibly have realised..."

(summary)

As I'm sure you all know, Madeleine Wickham is the real name of the much adored novelist Sophie Kinsella. So since I've read all the Kinsella novels and needed another fix, I decided to give Ms Wickham a try to see what her pre-Kinsella writing was like.

Firstly, it must be noted that I wouldn't have guessed that they are both the same person as I found Ms Wickham's work to be far less hilarious than her Kinsella novels. It was cute and lovely, but I did miss those ROTFLOL moments that Ms Kinsella provides in abundance (that's the main reason why I adore her books).

Nonetheless, The Wedding Girl was well written and enjoyable (as expected). The main character Milly was a tad too ditzy and not funny enough, but still likeable, albeit rather silly (she really thought something like *that* could be kept a secret forever?!). I liked how the various subplots were tied together and I think the author dealt with the topic of homosexuality in a very appropriate way. I didn't really have a favourite character, but I thought they were all well developed and contributed to the story, which in itself was not too gripping, but it still kept me reading as I wanted to find out how this improbable mess will be sorted out - and I loved the ending!

I must admit that I expected a rather different storyline from the first couple of pages and I'm so glad the author didn't take that road. On the whole, it was a pretty average read, but not one bit annoying and still quite enjoyable. One huge downside of this book is the cover - what on earth is up with that?! They could've done so much better.

One thing that these "two" authors do have in common are the fabulous leading male characters - surely I'm not the only one who aaaaalways falls in love with the male protagonists in Kinsella's novels? ;) Well, it appears that Ms Wickham has a knack for creating fantastic heros too and I must admit that I developed a small crush on Simon, hehe.

All in all, I wouldn't mind reading more by Ms Wickham, but I don't think I'll be in a hurry. It's a completely different story with Ms Kinsella though as I absolutely positively cannot wait to get my hands on Twenties Girl and I'll probably devour it one day!!! Judging by the first review, I shan't be disappointed!

Has anyone else read any other books by Madeleine Wickham?

Also, how weird must it be that everyone keeps addressing her as Sophie Kinsella when that's not even her real name, lol.