Shopaholic and Baby by Sophie Kinsella

Becky Brandon, loveable shopaholic, is back for her biggest adventure yet- motherhood! Readers may be wondering if being pregnant calms her urges  for all things fashion, but of course it doesn’t! Becky quickly goes overboard with her purchases, buying all the things a new baby doesn’t need- fashionable cribs, non-practicable prams, a closetful of designer clothes, and too much more. And what would a pregnancy be without the most sought after obstetrician that all the celebrities go to- Becky wisely name drops her own husbands PR firm to get a slot with the stunning Venetia Carter.

Becky’s pregnancy gets complicated when she figures out Venetia is actually Luke’s ex-girlfriend from college, and starts to suspect an affair brewing between her OB and husband. (The late night dinners and text messages in Latin really makes wonder.)She hires an off-key private detective to snoop around, and the results are not what Becky was hoping to hear. Meanwhile, she is trying to snag the perfect house for her growing family, trading the owner a pair of the “most coveted” boots for the keys and the lease.

Shopaholic and Baby, the fifth installment from Sophie Kinsella’s popular series brings the usual laughs and wild antics from the heroine, but I felt this one gave even more. With the pregnancy and the possible affair, I felt that I couldn’t put the book down. I had to keep reading to find out the sex of the baby, if Luke truly was unfaithful, and where the Brandon’s would eventually settle down after losing their perfect house. The ending may come as a surprise to some, but I think it is perfect to pick up for a sixth novel- which Kinsella has recently announced she is working on. All chick lit lovers will love this novel and leave you asking for more.

New Book from Sophie Kinsella

I am excited to share that Sophie Kinsella is working on a new ‘Shopaholic’ novel! Kinsella posted the news on her website, not offering any details yet but saying she is excited to get into Becky’s world again. I will be sure to post any updates as soon as they come!

The Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella

Samantha Sweeting is about to make partner at the prestigious law firm Carter Spink- something she has worked her whole life on becoming. Samantha really doesn’t have a life anymore because of it, she has put her all into her career;  almost no friends, no love interest, living off of take out orders, barely even knowing her neighbors in her apartment complex. But this ambitious 29-year old doesn’t care. Partner is what she wants, and partner is what she will get.

Until she finds an untouched, overlooked memo on her desk, signaling her mistake and costing her company 50 million pounds. She stumbles out of the office, her second home, and slips onto the first train she sees. She gets off somewhere in the country and knocks on the door of the first house she finds, intending to ask directions to the nearest hotel.

Instead, she is met by Trish Geiger, a spacey but kind housewife who thinks Samantha is her new housekeeper. Samantha is still confused about all the sudden changes taking place in her life, and decides to play along as housekeeper until she can sort things out. Only problem is- she has no domestic bones in her body. She gives it her all though, trying to master laundry, cooking, and cleaning, while trying not to let the Geiger’s stumble upon her true identity.

The Undomestic Goddess by Sophie Kinsella has funny elements and charming characters, but the plot is a little out there. Kinsella finds a way to pull it off though, easily drawing me into the story and Samantha’s love interest with the gardener who knows she is not truly a housekeeper, and the element of mystery surrounding that unseen memo costing Samantha her career and promotion. Another witty novel from Sophie Kinsella.

Can You Keep a Secret? by Sophie Kinsella

Emma Corrigan couldn’t be more humiliated. In hopes of being promoted to marketing executive at Panther Cola, Emma completely ruins a high priced deal, and more in likely dashes her dreams of that promotion, even possibly putting her job on the line. On her way back home to London, Emma’s flight experiences dangerous turbulence, causing her to think she is living her last moments. The handsome American stranger sitting next to her gets an earful of all of Emma’s most intimate secrets, including how much she hates her job, she’s not sure she loves her boyfriend who, on paper, seems perfect, how she ruined a business deal, she hates her flatmate, the snobby Jemima, and so on and so on.

Well, the plane doesn’t crash. Everyone is alive and well, and Emma bids a shaky and somewhat awkward goodbye to the American passenger, embarrassed of her rambling tirade. She gets real embarrassed the next day when she is introduced to Jack Harper, CEO of Panther Cola- aka the American passenger from that awful flight. The head of the company knows that she hates her job, the deal she blew, how she lies about her real weight, and just about every other secret Emma had been keeping.

Can You Keep a Secret? from Sophie Kinsella, author of the Shopaholic trilogy, serves up another humorous novel that will make you laugh and want to cry all within a few pages. The stories of deceit, love, and scandal will hold your attention, rooting for the heroine who is incredibly believable and easy to sympathize with when her secrets are spilled to the public. I didn’t think the love story was quite as believable, mainly because Jack’s character was a little too in shadows. That aside, the novel was still entertaining and irresistible to put down.

Remember Me by Sophie Kinsella

One day, she’s Lexi Smart: shy, crooked teeth, frizzy hair, with a  no-good boyfriend and life seeming to go nowhere. The next, she is Lexi Smart: powerhouse businesswoman with glossy hair, manicured nails, and a fast car. Remember Me touches on a classic case of amnesia with Lexi being a victim of a car crash, causing her to lose her memory of the past three years. The last she remembers is her old self, getting ready for her fathers funeral, furious with her low life boyfriend and dumpy assistant’s job. She doesn’t remember how she got to this amazing place in her career, why she is suddenly so beautiful, and worse- who her husband is.

It seems as thought Lexi has gotten everything she every wanted, seemingly overnight for her. Money. Power. Love. But something is wrong. Her best friends hate her. They won’t even speak to her after she’s been in the accident. All the employees that work under her seem to despise her. And she’s feel no connection what so ever with her fabulous rich husband. How did she possibly marry him? And why does his colleague, Jon, keep trying to tell her that Lexi should be with him?

Sophie Kinsella nails it again with Remember Me. Not only is there humor, a light hearted spirit, but the reader feels the frustration and urgency Lexi is struggling with throughout the chapters. We want her to regain her memory; we want to know just as bad as she does how she got to this unfamiliar place. The characters are relatable and the plot is witty and fast paced, a real page turner while new events and surprises are uncovered.

 

Shopaholic Takes Manhattan by Sophie Kinsella

Shopaholic Takes Manhattan is Sophie Kinsella’s follow-up to Confessions of a Shopaholic. Becky Bloomwood is back, after paying off all her high flying debts she accumulated on her multiple shopping sprees. Since paying off those debts, along with her new job of financial advisor on a morning talk show, Becky has the mind set that she is free and clear to shop her fashionable little heart out again. You see it coming: the collection letters in the mail, her new bank manager offering no sympathetic ear, and the continuous downward spiral of her shopaholic life.

It only gets worse after Becky’s famed PR boyfriend, Luke Lloyd, moves them across the pond to New York City, in hopes of opening a new branch. Becky’s financial woes are leaked to the press, causing lost deals for both Becky and Luke, and Becky boards a plane back to London, thousands of dollars gone and worse, single. You ache for Becky even though you are well aware that it is her fault; how could she let herself spend thousands of dollars on one dress or hundreds of dollars on some new makeup? Now Becky has no hopes in getting a job and prepared to hit rock bottom.

But like all good chick lit books, Kinsella finds a way for Becky to come out on top. The last few chapters fly by with action, deceit, new opportunities, and the ultimate cliff hanger in the last page of the book. We know that a third book in this series will be coming, and I look forward to it as much as I did this well written second novel.

 

Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella

Confessions of a Shopaholic. All chick lit readers should be well aware of this fabulous Sophie Kinsella novel turned movie starring the red headed beauty Isla Fischer. Becky Bloomwood is the lovable main character, with a weakness for designer labels and debt chasing her to the extreme. Her thought processes can make you laugh for the entire duration of the book, with crazy schemes running wild in her head. You cringe as she continues to rack up debt after debt, and can do nothing else but shake your head as the tales she tries to feed to her bank manger.

As Becky continues to go further into debt, her schemes to get out will make you chuckle. Win the lottery (she actually planned out everything she was going to buy with her winnings.) Marry the 15^th most eligible bachelor in London, worth millions of dollars (she really went on a date with him!) Each and every plot twist brought a smile to my face, and Kinsella shows off her powerful writing skills in her debut novel.