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Book Review: To Catch a Creeper by Ellie Campbell

To Catch a Creeper by Ellie Campbell is the sequel to Looking for La La. Most of the crazy gang from the original story are back. Cathy, after being applauded for the Looking For La La campaign, is now an account executive at a London advertising firm. She’s trying to get her footing as a career woman, while also juggling the care of her family and household. To add to her complications, she’s also agreed to find the “Creeper”/burglar who’s terrorizing the neighborhood. Throw in a pregnant best friend, a depressed and out of work husband, difficult neighbors and a couple of transvestites and you’ve got yourself a unique mystery. Fasten your seatbelts.
This is the third Ellie Campbell book I’ve read in the last year and the author is consistent with her writing style. The book has very interesting characters who at first don’t seem real, yet by the end of the story, you actually begin to relate to them. The plot is very convoluted, but again, at the end of the story, everything falls into place. The dialogue is sharp and witty. All the elements of a good book are there, so I’m not sure why this one didn’t resonate with me like the others. In the first book, Cathy stumbled into the mystery and had a personal stake in the outcome – but this time around, a friend asked Cathy to investigate. Then it seemed as if everyone was involved and although entertaining, it required quite a bit of suspended belief. That said, it’s a fun ride and I do recommend the book to readers who enjoy British humor, zany people and a good mystery.
4 Stars

In My Mailbox: Week of February 24

Title: Dangled Carat
Author: Hilary Grossman
Received: CLP Blog Tours
Synopsis: to pressure him for marriage, believing that when the time was right, he would propose. But after they had been together for four years, their friends decided to take matters into their own hands, pushing Marc to propose and making Hilary realize how much she really did want to marry the man that she loved. Unfortunately, Marc still wasn’t ready–and their friends’ meddling in the form of a faux engagement party led to a disastrous New Year’s Eve that brought their relationship to an inevitable turning point.

Title: When Girlfriends Take Chances
Author: Savannah Page
Received: CLP Blog Tours
Synopsis: A novel about exploring love and life’s path, and taking chances along the way.

Emily Saunders has never thought twice about grabbing her passport, rucksack, and camera and trekking across the globe. If there’s an NGO, a study abroad program, or simply the travel itch, Emily’s on the first plane out. Free-spirited, open-minded, and eager to explore, it’s no wonder Emily’s hardly in one spot (or relationship) for long.

For the past year and a half, though, Emily’s found herself planted in her college hometown of Seattle. She’s surrounded by her best friends, has steady work as a photographer and at her friend Sophie’s café, and is certainly kept busy by the wild antics of her BFF Jackie. Life’s enjoyable, but Emily’s looking for something more. She’s ready for a change, for adventure!

But when Emily tells her girlfriends she’s ready for something new she does not expect Operation Blind Date!

Sure, Emily’s single. Sure, she hopes to some day find true love. But being thrown into an insane challenge like this is not exactly the adventure she had in mind! Couldn’t she just travel and focus on her photography? Or volunteer in Africa? Will a string of eligible bachelors lined up by her friends–a shot at finding a real and lasting love–really be that change she’s searching for?

This is a spirited story about seeking adventure while being true to yourself, wherever you are in life. It’s a story about love, risk, and self-discovery. About what happens when girlfriends take chances.

While this New Adult Contemporary Romance is Book #5 in the When Girlfriends collection, it can be read as a stand-alone.
Title: The Baby and the Bride
Author: Laura Barnard
Received: Laura Barnard
Synopsis: Poppy and Jazz’s lives sound perfect on paper. Jazz has a new baby and Poppy’s getting married. But their realities are very different.
Poppy must strive to keep her cool new job with crazy hours, while trying to keep Ryan happy. Before she knows it her wedding has got out of control, thanks to her mother, the runners at work are bullying her, her parents are in financial difficulty and she’s doubting everything and everyone she ever knew.
Meanwhile Jazz is struggling with motherhood, something a credit card won’t fix. Why won’t this baby give her a break? Will Jazz be able to cope before she loses it?
And will Poppy make it down the aisle? Will Ryan even be waiting?

Title: To Catch a Creeper
Author: Ellie Campbell
Received: Ellie Campbell
Synopsis: Cathy is riding high in her brand-new job at a (surprisingly bitchy) top London advertising agency working with best friend Rosa. But when Rosa’s pregnancy goes amiss and enemies sabotage her new career, she finds herself leading a chaotic double life of lies and deception, hiding a shameful secret from all, especially husband Declan who appears in the throes of a nervous breakdown. Meanwhile she’s agreed to unmask the notorious Crouch End Creeper, a burglar terrorizing their neighbourhood. Little does she know that her meddling, assisted by fellow mothers (the Wednesday Once Weeklies) and the Neighbourhood Watch, will lead their dangerous opponent to murder. And that it’s not only the tall elegant transvestite who is placing herself at risk…