Nell Sullivan has always been known as ‘Miss Five-Year Plan’. But when she finds herself jobless and newly single on the same day, Nell decides it is time to stop planning and start taking chances.
Nell blows her redundancy cheque on a trip of lifetime to a place where anything is possible – San Francisco. There she meets a host of colourful characters, including the intriguing and gorgeous Max. Very soon the city begins to feel like Nell’s second home.
But when it’s time to return to London, will she leave the ‘new Nell’ behind? And can the magic of San Francisco continue to sparkle thousands of miles away?
I'm a huge fan of Miranda Dickinson's books having loved all of four of her previous books so have been really looking forward to her latest book, Take a Look at Me Now, ever since she started tweeting details of it earlier this year.
When Nell Sullivan turns up for work the last thing she expects is to be told that she's being made redundant especially by her on/off boyfriend Aidan. She has no clue as to what to do with her future but heads off to a local travel agency where she decides to book a flight to San Francisco to stay with her cousin Lizzie for 8 weeks .
And it would seem that her stay in the city is the the perfect cure as she falls for the city's charms and is welcomed with open arms by Lizzie's friends and neighbours. It also gives her the perfect opportunity to contemplate her future and think about what she'd like to do when she returns home although after meeting the handsome mysterious Max she might find it hard to leave...
This was another fantastic story from Miranda that had me swept away as I was reading as her descriptive writing took me on the journey with Nell around San Francisco as if I was there in person, I could picture myself being in Annie's diner, at the S-O-S club with the kids or simply exploring the city with her. And as for the characters, there were so many interesting and diverse people that Nell and Lizzie have contact with who all help make this story into such a fab fun read.
I'm going to sound like a broken record as last year when I wrote my review for When I Fall in Love I said that it was her best book to date, and am going to have to repeat myself again as I loved this one from the very first page.
This story resonated with me personally for a couple of reasons, the first being that I'm on notice of being made redundant next year when our office closes so I'm currently trying to decide what I want to do after having been in the same job for almost 25 years! But the other reason I had been looking forward to reading Take a Look at Me Now was because it was set in San Francisco which is on my bucket list as one of the places I want to visit one day... maybe I'll bite the bullet and head off there myself as soon as I'm made redundant.
I'd like to thank Sammie at Avon for sending me a proof copy of this book to review.
So you could be saying that next year - "Take A Look At Me Now"!" Sometimes things happen for a reason. Hope all turns out well. Books sounds a must read : ))
ReplyDeleteBless your intellectual and book-besotted head. How could they? Redundancy in humans is impossible as each individual brings their own uniqueness to the world. However, I am a big fan of the serendipitous and the realms of infinite possibility. So, San Francisco? Yes. One of my favorite places in the US. "Take A Look At Me Now" is a great title, by the way. Gets that song by Phil Collins going in my head. Makes me want to shake it up a little.
ReplyDelete