I'm a sucker for any book about bookstores, books, reading, etc. It's just who I am at my core. So it follows that when I saw this book available on NetGalley, I requested to read it. I'm now sorry I did. The characters (with only a couple of exceptions) were hard to like or to even connect with. Sofia was the always perfect child, raising her own mini-me in Pippa. Carmen was the constant failure, and Sofia has a clone of Carmen in Phoebe. Jack, Sofia's youngest child until the new baby was born, is just a boy--but he's all boy. This was my first book to read by Jenny Colgan, and I'm not sure I will read others by her. It just wasn't a good first introduction.
Carmen loses her job, and her mother convinces Sofia to help her find another one. One of Sofia's clients has a bookstore that's about to go under and Sofia feels this is exactly the right fit for Carmen.
Carmen's and Sofia's relationship is strained, at best, but the meddling of Carmen's parents and Sofia nearly drives Carmen over the edge. In revamping the store, Carmen comes into contact with a best-selling author who is all fluff and no substance, a dendrologist who is no fluff and all substance, and a shopkeeper who is rather absent-minded.
The language in the dialogs is rather coarse and adds nothing to the plot or the story at all. Carmen's mien is quite antagonistic toward those around her and toward her own circumstances. Sofia comes across as a too-good-to-be-true daughter/wife/mother. The other characters seem to just fill space in the book.
Two stars.
William Morrow and Custom House and NetGalley.com provided the copy I read for this review. All opinions expressed are solely my own.
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