On A Night Like This by Lindsey Kelk

On a Night Like This by Lindsey Kelk
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 1 day

Pages - 342

Publisher - Harper Collins

Source - Review copy

Blurb from Goodreads

Within days of wishing she could change her life, Fran Cooper is acting assistant to a celebrity, on a yacht in the Mediterranean, and en route to a tiny Italian island and the glittering Crystal Ball, along with the world’s rich and famous.


When she – quite literally – bumps into a handsome American called Evan, a man able to keep his cool in the face of chaos, the magic really begins.


Evan makes her a promise: no last names, no life stories, just one unforgettable night. Yet Evan belongs at the Crystal Ball and Fran is a gatecrasher. They may be soulmates, but their homes are an ocean apart, and their lives a world apart. They’ll never meet again – unless, on a night like this, everything can change forever…



My Review

Guys I have been struggling to read both in terms of time and concentration, I have read Kelk before and do enjoy her books. In this one we meet Fran, engaged and been with her partner Stew for 12 years, everything is centred around ease/routine of his life. When Fran is offered an interview for a job, assistant type, with little information on the who and all top secret hush hush she goes for it. Kicking off a whirlwind with looking after a high maintenance celebrity, off on a high class super rich yatch and away from Stew, pals, routine, incommunicado effectively.

So if you want to ditch your current life and bounce into one of babysitting a brat celeb, secrecy, money, madness then put your device down and grab this book. Fran is super relatable because she is like your average everyday type person. A bit of a people pleaser but has drive, loves to do a good job but also very human which finds her getting into a few hilarious and mortifying scrapes.

The celeb lifestyle aspects of the story are very believable, we watch Tiktok, we read the stories/news and Kelk spins it we can absorb and eat up every word and enjoy the ride and riddies as poor Fran scrapes through one disaster to the next. Even at the start when we didn't have much info/contact with Stew I wanted to pan his melt in, I just didn't like the way he was with Fran, I found myself eh RED FLAG RED FLAG MATE but Fran has been living it for 12 years whilst a bit selfish and maybe annoying she accepts things as is. Until she takes the job, she knows he won't be happy but she goes for it anyway *air punch* yas, good for you Fran. I did find myself cheering her on at points, others cringing going oh no no no girl don't do/say that, eeek.

I think that is why Kelk books are so popular, you can sink in, leave your own nonsense behind and soak into someone else's. In this one we get transported to the rich and how the other half live but as Fran is staff it makes it more accessible/relatable for the reader. Humour, disaster, romance, celeb, relationships, friendships - it has a bit of everything and so good to just switch everything off to, 4.5/5 for me.

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Gross Anatomy by Mara Altman

Gross Anatomy by Mara Altman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 3 day

Pages - 320

Publisher - Harper Collins

Source - Review Copy

Blurb from Goodreads

An honest, funny, neurotic, and totally gross love child of Mindy Kaling and Mary Roach.

Mara Altman's volatile and apprehensive relationship with her body has led her to wonder about a lot of stuff over the years. Like, who decided that women shouldn't have body hair? And how sweaty is too sweaty? Also, why is breast cleavage sexy but camel toe revolting? Isn't it all just cleavage? These questions and others like them have led to the comforting and sometimes smelly revelations that constitute Gross Anatomy, an essay collection about what it's like to operate the bags of meat we call our bodies.

Divided into two sections, "The Top Half" and "The Bottom Half," with cartoons scattered throughout, Altman's book takes the reader on a wild and relatable journey from head to toe--as she attempts to strike up a peace accord with our grody bits.

With a combination of personal anecdotes and fascinating research, Gross Anatomy holds up a magnifying glass to our beliefs, practices, biases, and body parts and shows us the naked truth: that there is greatness in our grossness.



My Review

Well this was certainly different that is for sure. Altman takes us on a journey down the female body, our hang ups, embarrassing problems, why we are ashamed or embarrassed of some things in our body. Using humour, research and speaking to professionals in their fields about things that happen or puzzle us or even affect us so much we resort to surgery to change the appearance of a particular body part we have an eye opening journey.

Altman is brutally honest about things that she questions on her own body, some thoughts/accounts will make you blush or squirm. One section about headlice had me clawing as I was reading. She doesn't just tackle her own hangups, she examines why so many females have issues with so many things, from excess hair, to removing hair from areas, odours, sweating, discharge yup if that word makes you uncomfortable this book will NOT be for you. She refers to the female anatomy with the P word and even the C word sneaks out a few times in conversations in the book. I could feel myself going red reading some paragraphs and the book wasn't about me and I don't embarrass easily.

I think she has been really brave tackling some of the issues in the book, why do we feel the need to go to extremes to deal with hair, sweating, odours, aesthetics it is really interesting in parts. I love that she spoke to specialists, examined research that had been conducted and added very honest confessions about her own "issues" hangups and experiences.

It is very uncomfortable reading at points but a lot of it is very valid and I am sure many females will be nodding when reading parts of the book. It is not the easiest book to read purely because it is so honest and the things she discusses are things many people, even some of the experts wouldn't engage her in chatting about. She challenges some ideas, pushes some boundaries and I think many will find it empowering to be so honest about so many things we shy away from. 3/5 for me this time, although this was my first dance with this author I would look out for more of her offerings. If you like a book that pushes you a wee bit, this would be perfect for you to pick up. Honest, funny, cringe, mortifying, embarrassing, well researched and I think you would struggle to find a more personal book that tackles issues that I would be surprised if any female didn't relate to something in the book.

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Why Mummy Swears by Gill Sims

Why Mummy Swears by Gill Sims
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - on and off over 4 days

Pages - 368

Publisher - Harper Collins

Source - Review copy

Blurb from Goodreads

Why Mummy Swears is the much anticipated new novel from Gill Sims, author of the hilarious Why Mummy Drinks and online sensation Peter and Jane.

It’s every parents’ nightmare – the start of the school holidays – and instead of sitting in the sun, reading a book over a cold, crisp glass of Pinot Grigio, Mummy has two bored moppets to attend to. After frantically booking sports camps, child minder slots, not to mention time off work, Mummy is exhausted. But this is only the beginning…

After being dragged to join the school’s PTA in the new term by an annoyingly kind-spirited neighbour, Mummy is stuck with organising the Christmas Fayre and pleasing all the overly disapproving parents. In combination with getting to know her father’s surprise new glamorous (and much younger) wife, and being forced to spend more time with her narcissistic mother, life isn’t cutting her much of a break. What more could possibly happen?



My Review

Over the space of a year we delve into Ellen's life, in diary format. A no holds barred look into parenthood, marriage, two children, interviews/work, family and juggling the added pressures from all corners. Ellen is hillarious, she has a mouth that could make a sailor blush, she swears like almost every other sentence. She is really funny, has different names for the kids, not all pleasant and I think if you don't take it in the humour it was intended some may be offended.

Even if you don't have kids I think you can appreciate and get a kick out of this book. It shows you the madness that is the life of a mum, wife and trying to find time just to be you. We can slip into that domestic situation, get a feel for it, experience it without the committal of being an actual parent.

Lots of ups and downs, some things infuriated me, the relationship with her mother and sister sadly it echos some of the real life family dynamics. The "politics" and behaviours of some parents when trying to arrange things for the kids ugh. However, I loved the shallow, Instagram obsessed Kiki and whilst it is wrote in humour there really are real life Kiki's out there #priorities

For me there were some echos of Bridget Jones in there and what it is like trying to raise kids in a day and age where everything is device and social media obsessed. Laughter, inappropriate humour, emotional, sadness, cursing, joviality to name just a few. Certainly a book you can read poolside and I think it is relate-able for pretty much any reader. This is my first read of this author, it won't be my last 3.5/5 for me this time.

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Bridget Jones's Baby by Helen Fielding

Bridget Jones's Baby: The Diaries by Helen Fielding
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - <4 hours

Pages - 219

Blurb from Goodreads

Bridget Jones, beloved Singleton and global phenomenon, is back with a bump in Bridget Jones's Baby: The Diaries.
8:45 P.M. Realize there have been so many times in my life when have fantasized about going to a scan with Mark or Daniel: just not both at the same time.
Before motherhood, before marriage, Bridget with biological clock ticking very, very loudly, finds herself unexpectedly pregnant at the eleventh hour: a joyful pregnancy which is dominated, however, by a crucial but terribly awkward question who is the father? Mark Darcy: honourable, decent, notable human rights lawyer? Or Daniel Cleaver: charming, witty, notable fuckwit?
9:45 PM It s like they re two halves of the perfect man, who ll spend the rest of their lives each wanting to outdo the other one. And now it s all enacting itself in my stomach.
In this gloriously funny, touching story of baby-deadline panic, maternal bliss, and social, professional, technological, culinary and childbirth chaos, Bridget Jones global phenomenon and the world s favorite Singleton is back with a bump."



My Review

We all know my feelings on book 3, Mad About The Boy, so it was lovely to head back to a nicer time and in this book we find Bridget, Mark and Daniel again in another "relationship" nightmare. Bridget has a dalliance with each of the boys, one night only resulting in a pregnancy, having no idea which is the father, the three try to work together to get through the pregnancy. As always, told in diary format Bridget catalogs the hilarious trials and tribulations from the run up to pregnancy, coping with the boys and being pregnant and how it impacts her whole life really!

This is one of the few times I preferred the movie to the book, the film is my fav of them all but I did still enjoy the book. The movie sees the introduction of a billionaire and Cleaver is not around however the book stays true to the characters and we have the age old competitive rivalry between the two men, Darcy and Cleaver.

The tale opens written to the baby with Bridget explaining he will hear the story anyway so she would rather hear it from her and her diary entries. Considering some of the content, probably not what I would leave for my kid, some of Cleaver's attitude will quite probably offend some readers however he was always a cad so it isn't really anything new. Timeline wise, this one is set before Mad About The Boy and if you haven't read it I personally would by pass it. Also if you haven't seen the movie, go check it out, absolutely brilliant. 3/5 for me this time, it is always nice to catch up with Bridg especially when all is right in the world of regular characters!

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NR - Yours Truly by Kirsty Greenwood

Yours Truly by Kirsty Greenwood
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Time taken to read - 2 days

Publisher - PAN

Blurb from Goodreads

Your bum does not look big in that dress.
Mmmm, it tastes delicious!
Of course you're better looking than Jon Hamm.

Newly engaged Natalie Butterworth is an easy-going girl. She'll do anything for a quiet life and if telling a few teensy white lies keeps her friends and family happy, then so what? It's not like they'll ever discover what she's really thinking...

Until one night, thanks to a pub hypnotist, Natalie's most private thoughts begin to bubble up and pop out of her mouth. Things get very messy indeed, especially when some sticky home truths offend her fiancé.

Natalie must track down the hypnotist before her wedding is officially cancelled. So along with bad influence bestie Meg, Natalie finds herself in the Yorkshire Parish of Little Trooley - a small village bursting with big secrets, nosy old folk and intriguing Wellington-wearing men.

When the girls get stuck in the village with no means of escape and no way to break the hypnotist's spell, Natalie is forced to face the truths she has been avoiding her whole life..



My Review

Natalie Butterworth is a people pleaser, she will do almost anything to keep the peace and go out of her way for her loved ones and strangers. Recently engaged and her wedding brought forward her family are helping by taking over all aspects of the wedding and Natalie doesn't want to rock the boat so stays quiet. Meg decide to take Natalie to a hypnotist show and Natalie ends up accidentally getting hypnotized. What follows is utter mayhem, Natalie cannot lie and everything that has annoyed or upset her comes out ten fold when she is asked a question. With hilarious, cringey and upsetting consequences, Natalie must track the hypnotist before her truth telling loses her everything and everyone she cares about.

I got this book as a new release for a fabulous £2 bargain, selling in Tesco under the try this section. I had never heard of the author, a friend recommended and at that price it is hard to say no. From the first couple of pages your pulled in to poor Natalies life, she is such a trier to keep everyone happy, even going to the hairdressers and disliking the service she is too polite to pipe up. She is a very likable character, sweet, tries really hard to loose weight but the love of food always makes saying no to those calories that wee bit too irresistible to say no to. I think everyone could related to Natalie, the annoying family but wanting to do right and look after them. The uber hot boyfriend who is a tad OTT and OCD but feeling he is above her station and he is super hot, you would have to put up with his quirks right?

The journey is one of humour, humility, bad words, sex, friendship, family and moments of social disaster to name but a few of the topics covered in this book. It is a great wee debut novel, it is laugh out loud at some parts, some moral dilemmas and like I said there is bad language and some sex. Overall a great introduction to a new author and I would definitely read more of her work, 4/5 for me this time.

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