Happy Birthday
Magical Village series book 5
by Christina Jones
Hairdresser Phoebe Bowler is all set to marry childhood sweetheart Ben Phipps—but he leaves her standing
at the altar. It seems he planned his escape from the bonds of matrimony for months, leaving a red-faced Phoebe
with nothing but the rent on her flat paid up for several more months. After that she needs to find a flatmate
or move back in with her parents. She has a gorgeous hunk of a man in the upstairs flat, but he has just been
released from prison and she is off men for good—isn’t she? Meanwhile the hapless residents of unlovely
retirement home Twilights yearn for freedom in the hottest summer anybody can remember, and a certain gypsy
OAP has a special magic spell just waiting for Phoebe.
I am not a fan of chick lit, and the mere mention has me hurrying towards the crime section at top speed. But
this is a lot of fun, the sort of feelgood tale that rather transcends genres and more especially because it
contains a wee bit of fantasy. It is not hard to get into the story of jilted Phoebe and the lively but
confined pensioners and in just a few pages in I was hooked. Ms Jones paints a tangible picture of semi-rural
Berkshire sweltering in a hot summer and all the fun of a fete, the bustle of a typical hairdressers and a
satirical picture of an old folks home. This was the first book I have read by this author so I was unfamiliar
with the cast, but several of the characters had been in other books so this was a chance to find out what they
had been up to. This made me want to read the others in the series, and any book that has me reading chick lit
must be good. Uplifting, and a lot of fun. |
The Book |
Piatkus (Little, Brown) |
6 November 2008 |
Paperback |
0749908898 / 9780749908898 |
Romance |
More at Amazon.com
UK |
Excerpt |
NOTE: Not yet up on Amazon US site |
The Reviewer |
Rachel A Hyde |
Reviewed 2009 |
NOTE: |
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