mfabiano726's review against another edition
This was a cute story with very lovable characters. Fleur likes to meet very rich men at funerals, while they are vulnerable, get them to trust and like her and then take them for all the money she possibly can. This was her plan for Richard, father of two, who just lost his wife, except this time something unexpected happened - she fell in love! I enjoyed reading this book, but as always, I so very much enjoy when Wickham writes as Sophie Kinsella, better!
chelsiijb's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
abanez27's review against another edition
2.0
I like Madeleine Wickham's, aka Sophie Kinsella, Shopaholic series, so I'm hoping this book will be just as entertaining.
elliec130's review against another edition
1.0
TLDR: Only read if you're so into those stories where the worst person in the story is the main character that you don't mind a substandard one.
1.5 stars, but really it's like 1.4 as I can't bear to round it up to 2. Did this book keep my attention? Yes; I didn't find it that difficult a read at all. I daresay the story had a certain level of drawing me in, but it was still just trash really. But my god the characters, all the characters. Let me go from best to worst so I can end this review on an entertaining note.
Zara: Literally the only person in the story with some depth and she's the youngest character at 13. She's also the only person who doesn't seem to hero worship the vile main character, and she's her daughter. Her relationship with Antony is also kind of cute.
Antony: Son of the MC's love interest, or mark as it were, he was a bit of a drip but he did have some sweet moments. I liked his story and again, he and Zara's cute teenager romance was adequately done.
Gillian: She was actually more likeable than the first two but she didn't really have a ton to do after her initial boost of confidence. I just liked her general story.
Lambert/Phillipa: Yes, I liked the main misogynist, snobby, disgusting, lying drunk of a villain more than the two leads. No I am not joking. You know why? Because everyone hated Lambert at least; he had pretty much identical motives to the main character, he was just more stupidly obvious about them. The only moral high ground the mc had on him was she never choked her significant other. As for Phillipa, I did feel bad for her to start with, but god she was just such a baby, and even if I allow for the consequences of a person being abused in submission, the fact she hated Lambert for treating her like crap but didn't realise that the mc abandoned her three times and continued hero worshipping her? Pathetic.
Richard: MY GOD THIS GUY WAS SO STUPID. He decides he's going to sleep with the mc and she instantly becomes super affectionate after he says he'll give her a gold card. Nope nothing suspicious about that at all. I get he's supposed to be an idealist and like with Phillipa, I put up with it for a while, but he was so blind and even in the end he just wanted his beloved bitch back. Give me a break.
Fleur (the main character I've been alluding to): HOLY GOLDIGGER BATMAN. This woman was absolutely despicable. Fleur is a golddigger that shows her to funerals of rich people, flirts with the widow, lives with them for a bit until they give her a credit card, then works out how much the limit is and takes that limit before running off. She spends the whole novel faking a kind and warm personality, and look, I'm not saying that fakeness didn't have a good effect on the characters BUT ITS NOT REAL. Richard doesn't love her, he loves this constructed version of her. The real her is this callous hardened despicable woman who literally spends almost the whole novel making snobby comments in her head about the people she's manipulating. She doesn't change for the better, she just becomes comfortable being in a family unit. She still thinks the same terrible things about everyone, but doesn't realise she's the worst person among all of them. And what grosses me out most of all is she doesn't even really have any justification for it. Sure, she lost her father as a teenager. That's terrible. But she grew up in luxury; her best friend's family took her in for the rest of her formative years. Oh and let's not forget that she takes advantage of that best friend's cultural customs so she can have her engagement ring and sell it because boo hoo otherwise she would have to live with an aunt she doesn't know very well.
Emily (bonus): Richard's dead wife; she's not really in the story aside from flashbacks. She's just there to show she was a sneaky snob who manipulated her daughter into leaving the man she loved and encouraged her scarred son to wear an eye patch. I fail to see why I should like her less than Fleur.
On the whole, if I can provide a little bit of clarity as to what is fundamentally wrong with this book. In a good villain as the lead story, we should get one of three resolutions-
1. The villain repents in a way that we can be ok with her having a happy life.
2. The villain outmanoeuvres everyone so she can be comfortable and have everything she wants.
3. The villain gets her comeuppance and ends up with nothing.
2 or 3 were the most likely. Realistically, either we could have had an unrepentant Fleur resolve to stay with Richard for his money and be glad she got away with it or, and I probably would have preferred this, she could have left her daughter with the family and buggered off to swindle more rich widowers until she dies alone surrounded by wealth. Instead we got this weird moment where the book half tries to convince us she actually loves Richard, even though she clearly doesn't, while half saying she's doing it for her daughter, while half saying she should just settle for being comfortable. Which means this poor, albeit 50% stupid, family is stuck with this woman, with no knowledge that she's fake her warmth all this time and just thinking she's this perfect angel. Honestly, I didn't even understand what was so charming about her anyway. Yes she had charisma; you could like her. But everyone wanted to act like she was some magical pixie of joy and I did not see it. My god what a trainwreck this book was.
1.5 stars, but really it's like 1.4 as I can't bear to round it up to 2. Did this book keep my attention? Yes; I didn't find it that difficult a read at all. I daresay the story had a certain level of drawing me in, but it was still just trash really. But my god the characters, all the characters. Let me go from best to worst so I can end this review on an entertaining note.
Zara: Literally the only person in the story with some depth and she's the youngest character at 13. She's also the only person who doesn't seem to hero worship the vile main character, and she's her daughter. Her relationship with Antony is also kind of cute.
Antony: Son of the MC's love interest, or mark as it were, he was a bit of a drip but he did have some sweet moments. I liked his story and again, he and Zara's cute teenager romance was adequately done.
Gillian: She was actually more likeable than the first two but she didn't really have a ton to do after her initial boost of confidence. I just liked her general story.
Lambert/Phillipa: Yes, I liked the main misogynist, snobby, disgusting, lying drunk of a villain more than the two leads. No I am not joking. You know why? Because everyone hated Lambert at least; he had pretty much identical motives to the main character, he was just more stupidly obvious about them. The only moral high ground the mc had on him was she never choked her significant other. As for Phillipa, I did feel bad for her to start with, but god she was just such a baby, and even if I allow for the consequences of a person being abused in submission, the fact she hated Lambert for treating her like crap but didn't realise that the mc abandoned her three times and continued hero worshipping her? Pathetic.
Richard: MY GOD THIS GUY WAS SO STUPID. He decides he's going to sleep with the mc and she instantly becomes super affectionate after he says he'll give her a gold card. Nope nothing suspicious about that at all. I get he's supposed to be an idealist and like with Phillipa, I put up with it for a while, but he was so blind and even in the end he just wanted his beloved bitch back. Give me a break.
Fleur (the main character I've been alluding to): HOLY GOLDIGGER BATMAN. This woman was absolutely despicable. Fleur is a golddigger that shows her to funerals of rich people, flirts with the widow, lives with them for a bit until they give her a credit card, then works out how much the limit is and takes that limit before running off. She spends the whole novel faking a kind and warm personality, and look, I'm not saying that fakeness didn't have a good effect on the characters BUT ITS NOT REAL. Richard doesn't love her, he loves this constructed version of her. The real her is this callous hardened despicable woman who literally spends almost the whole novel making snobby comments in her head about the people she's manipulating. She doesn't change for the better, she just becomes comfortable being in a family unit. She still thinks the same terrible things about everyone, but doesn't realise she's the worst person among all of them. And what grosses me out most of all is she doesn't even really have any justification for it. Sure, she lost her father as a teenager. That's terrible. But she grew up in luxury; her best friend's family took her in for the rest of her formative years. Oh and let's not forget that she takes advantage of that best friend's cultural customs so she can have her engagement ring and sell it because boo hoo otherwise she would have to live with an aunt she doesn't know very well.
Emily (bonus): Richard's dead wife; she's not really in the story aside from flashbacks. She's just there to show she was a sneaky snob who manipulated her daughter into leaving the man she loved and encouraged her scarred son to wear an eye patch. I fail to see why I should like her less than Fleur.
On the whole, if I can provide a little bit of clarity as to what is fundamentally wrong with this book. In a good villain as the lead story, we should get one of three resolutions-
1. The villain repents in a way that we can be ok with her having a happy life.
2. The villain outmanoeuvres everyone so she can be comfortable and have everything she wants.
3. The villain gets her comeuppance and ends up with nothing.
2 or 3 were the most likely. Realistically, either we could have had an unrepentant Fleur resolve to stay with Richard for his money and be glad she got away with it or, and I probably would have preferred this, she could have left her daughter with the family and buggered off to swindle more rich widowers until she dies alone surrounded by wealth. Instead we got this weird moment where the book half tries to convince us she actually loves Richard, even though she clearly doesn't, while half saying she's doing it for her daughter, while half saying she should just settle for being comfortable. Which means this poor, albeit 50% stupid, family is stuck with this woman, with no knowledge that she's fake her warmth all this time and just thinking she's this perfect angel. Honestly, I didn't even understand what was so charming about her anyway. Yes she had charisma; you could like her. But everyone wanted to act like she was some magical pixie of joy and I did not see it. My god what a trainwreck this book was.
bookaholicalways's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Interesting concept!
Fleur uses funerals to meet wealthy men, date them and leave with vast amounts of their wealth.
I didn’t like how unimportant her daughter’s whereabouts were to her though. Didn’t make her seem very caring. She went from calculating and ruthless to downright heartless.
Some of the characters were really unlikeable.
I did get into the story but then the ending seemed rushed.
Fleur uses funerals to meet wealthy men, date them and leave with vast amounts of their wealth.
I didn’t like how unimportant her daughter’s whereabouts were to her though. Didn’t make her seem very caring. She went from calculating and ruthless to downright heartless.
Some of the characters were really unlikeable.
I did get into the story but then the ending seemed rushed.
luweebayy's review against another edition
4.0
Not something I would normally read but it was easy to read and fairly light-hearted until the last few chapters. Ideal for a weekend or short break read!!
leslielikesthings's review against another edition
1.0
Irredeemably stupid. Didn't even have the decency to have a schmaltzy, superficially satisfying ending to go along with the rest of the book, but just ended abruptly (and stupidly).
lit_chick's review against another edition
3.0
Another light read from the author of the "Shopaholic" series. Fleur Daxeny crashes funerals for a living, preying on widowers in quick succession. This time though, she finds herself in a web of colorful family members and has some difficult decisions to make. Definitely on my "beach read" list.
julibug86's review against another edition
3.0
After reading a heavy book, I picked this up for a light, happy romance (the type I've come to enjoy from Kinsella/Wickham). Guess I set my expectations too high as there were no butterflies in the stomach moments at all. But, my biggest issue wasn't even the lack of romance, it was the lack of a cohesive ending. There was so much build up (too much in my opinion) and no delivery.
leleroulant's review against another edition
2.0
I don't like her as well writing as Madeleiene Wickham. It's a bit harsher than Sophie Kinsella.