Just A Girl Standing In Front Of A Boy by Lucy-Anne Holmes

The review for Just A Girl Standing In Front Of A Boy is brought to you by Guest Reviewer Katrina.

My love story may not be the sort you read about in books or see in films . . . Love stories have glorious highs and ghastly lows. But when it comes to my own life, I'd have to say, you can keep your fabulous highs and I'll happily steer clear of the terrible lows.' 

After a rocky start in life, Jenny Taylor, 27, star receptionist at the local doctors surgery, has things all worked out thanks to 'The Smiling Fanny Manifesto' - a list of 10 daily things she must do to keep the blues at bay. But her life is turned upside down when she meets aspiring musician Joe King. And reliable boyfriend Matt proposes. And then her mum leaves her dad and moves into Jenny's flat determined to 'bond'. 


I happened to stumble across 'Just A Girl Standing In Front Of A Boy' by Lucy-Anne Holmes as I was scrolling my Twitter feed. A girl I follow had written a review about it for her blog and I immediately went to buy a copy from Amazon.

Honestly, I've never felt so attached to a book and it's characters, I genuinely could not put the book down. From the first page it was impossible to stop cackling with laughter!

The book's protagonist, Jenny Taylor (otherwise known as Fanny, I'll let you read the book for the explanation) is magnificent and I really rooted for her from the start. Having suffered from depression, she now lives by a happiness manifesto written by her best friend Philippa.

Jenny is quite content with her life, she loves her receptionist job at the doctor's surgery and her boyfriend Matt has just proposed. That is until her mother lands on her doorstep, having left her husband and in the middle of what seems like a midlife crisis. Throw in the introduction of rock god pharmacist Joe King for good measure and Jenny's life is suddenly exceptionally chaotic.

The characters are very well written by Lucy-Anne, with Joe King being a particular favourite of mine. That's a slight understatement actually, for the first time ever I have fallen in love with a literary character! I'm still at a loss as to where I can find my own Joe King?! He is the ideal man, a far cry from Jenny's fiancé Matt. He almost seems too good to be true but I guarantee that you will be cheering for a happy ending for Jenny and Joe.

There are many twists and turns during the book, some of which I definitely did not expect. Whilst the book made me laugh hysterically throughout, it also pulled on my heart strings several times, especially towards the end. I thought I could foresee the ending but I really couldn't - I don't want to spoil it for anyone but it's a tearjerker! 

I would most definitely recommend this book to anyone who loves humour and romance in abundance. I desperately need to get my hands on Lucy's other books - she's a fantastic talent and I'm sure the rest of her work will captivate me just as much as this book did. To be honest, my review doesn't do this book the justice it deserves - go out and grab a copy and see for yourself the wonder of Jenny Taylor's world, as written so fantastically by Lucy-Anne Holmes! 

Always The Bridesmaid by Lindsey Kelk

It feels like it's taken me ages to read Always the Bridesmaid, when in truth it's only been a week and that was purely down to the fact that it was my birthday and I was a busy bee!

Last Saturday, May 9th, I was privileged to meet the lovely Lindsey Kelk at Southampton's West Quay branch of Waterstones.

I'd never been to a book signing before for one reason or another and having seen Always the Bridesmaid down my twitter feed for weeks it just seemed right that I attended... probably helped that my other half said he would buy the book for me as a gift. ..yay!

Lindsey was absolutely lovely and happy to chat, but I won't lie... I couldn't get out of there quick enough... I did have a new book to read ;)

I started reading Always the Bridesmaid as soon as I got home - went down nicely with the free bottle that came with it haha!

EVERYONE LOVES A BRIDESMAID
Except Maddie, who's perpetually asked to be one.
EVERYONE LOVES A WEDDING
Except Maddie's best friend, who's getting a divorce.
AND EVERYONE LOVES THE WAY MADDIE'S HAPPY BEHIND THE SCENES
Except Maddie herself.

One best friend is in wedding countdown while the other is heading for a marriage meltdown. And as Maddie juggles her best chance at promotion in years with bridezilla texts and late night counselling sessions, she starts to wonder - is it time to stop being the Bridesmaid?

"Outrageous, witty, exciting and romantic" ~ Closer

Page one of Always the Bridesmaid starts with the title 'My Bridesmaid Journal'.
There is then a list which had been filled out by Maddie Fraser, the books main character, containing basic information on the wedding - the brides name,  how they met and how long they've known each other for example.
The last question asks how Maddie feels being a bridesmaid and her honest answer, which states she would rather pull her womb out with a rusty coathanger,  has then been crossed out and replaced with the simple word 'blessed' - this had me  giggling from the get go. .. I knew instantly that Maddie was one of those characters I was going to love with a story I'd be addicted to and I wasn't disapointed! What I also liked from the book was that each chapter was a date from the bridesmaid journal, each one with the two lines;
Today I feel:
Today I am thankful for:
Some of Maddie's replies to this were brilliant and you really got a sense of Kelk's writing wit and ofcourse an insight to Maddie's character!

Maddie is an assistant for an events company with a bitch of a boss, she's unlucky in love -her ex boyfriend Seb cheated on her and has just become a dad, and her family think she's letting her life waste away.
There's only two main stable things in her life, her best friends Lauren and Sarah.

When Lauren announces she's getting married and would Maddie's help with the planning, little did Maddie know that Lauren would become the ultimate bridezilla! Maddie is confronted with a three month time scale and requests you'd need to be super human to fulfill, yet being the friend she is she puts up with the demands and plan changes... even at 4am!!

Whilst Lauren's life is full steam ahead, Sarah's is falling apart when her husband announces he wants a divorce. Maddie is stuck in the middle tying to keep one friend happy and the other from an emotional breakdown.... and whilst she's doing this, she's also up for promotion at work.
A job that Sarah has also applied for, a job with even more demands than Lauren's wedding...

There's also Tom who has specifically requested Maddie plan his mum's birthday party... purely due to the massive crush he's got on Maddie, the trouble is... Maddie is sleeping with his friend Will!

Over the course of the three months leading to Lauren's wedding, Maddie's life gets complicated to say the least and it all comes to a head when the job she needed to impress with for promotion goes hideously wrong and she discovers she's actually Will's bit on the side... A full blown melt down occurs resulting with the three girls not talking and Maddie out of work.

As with all good chick - lit books, Always the Bridesmaid does give you a happy ending.
Eventually the girls reunite for the wedding and Maddie and Tom, or Madom as ive named them in my head, get together (yay!).
Sarah also declares that she was offered Maddie's job but turns it down... now that's friendship loyalty, and they decide to set up their own party planning venture... which is fab as it leaves the story open should Lindsey Kelk decide to return to Maddie's life... I for one have my fingers crossed!!

Always the Bridesmaid was my first Lindsey Kelk read and I can say I thoroughly enjoyed the book - I've now added her "I Heart" series to my TBR list ;)