Book Review: A Passionate Love Affair with a Total Stranger

Author: Lucy Robinson
Publication Date: January 31, 2013
Publisher: Penguin

A Passionate Love Affair with a Total Stranger by Lucy Robinson, author of The Greatest Love Story of All Time, is a hilariously funny and gorgeously romantic story about falling in love when you least expect it. Charley Lambert has put considerable effort into achieving a perfect life. She has The Job. The Wardrobe. And The Flat. Her womanising, junk food-loving housemate Sam lowers the tone a bit but that aside, things are peachy. Then she breaks her leg in three places, watches her unrequited love propose to someone else and - worst of all - is forced to hand over her job to her nasty deputy while she recovers. Workaholic Charley fears that she will soon go mad. Desperate for something to do, she discovers her talent for helping the lovelorn online. And then William arrives in her inbox. Within hours of his first email, her world starts to change. Helpless, she watches herself fall in love with this man and begins to realise that she's not who she thought she was. But will she be brave enough to turn her back on her old life - all for a total stranger?

Laugh out loud and fall in love with Lucy Robinson's A Passionate Love Affair with a Total Stranger Praise for Lucy Robinson: 'Romantic and laugh-out-loud hilarious' Cosmopolitan 'Prepare for public-transport belly laughs' Glamour Lucy Robinson is the author of The Greatest Love Story of All Time. Prior to writing Lucy earned her crust in West End theatre production and then factual television, working on documentaries for the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel Five. Her writing career began when she started a dating blog for marieclaire.co.uk where she entertained readers with frank tales from her laughably unsuccessful foray into the world of internet dating. Lucy was brought up in Gloucestershire and now lives with her boyfriend in South London. She is writing her next novel while working on various television projects and plotting a return to academia.

“Is this it? I wondered, gazing down at the scene spread out below me. Is my life perfect?” – Paperback Copy pg. 1

 

“John leaned down and kissed me gently on the mouth, lingering for just a second before straightening up, smiling at me. My brain went funny and fizzy. I had just received a Tender Kiss. From John MacAllister! The man who, I was quite happy to admit, was the only reason I’d been single since I’d split up with Dr. Nathan Gillies six years ago. Too busy for love, my arse. I just wanted John.” – Paperback Copy pt. 29

 

“All the men had been hooked, yet I’d felt nothing during the courtships. Maybe it was because I was pretending to be someone else, which did rather take the edge off things; maybe I was just frozen. But I could see that it was no joke, this Internet love thing. Fully grown men abandoning their pride and begging, throwing themselves at the perfect cyber feet of all these perfect cyber girls?” – Paperback Copy pg. 70

 

“And then I saw him. Sitting in the back at a high table, reading a book. He was even wearing the same polo-neck jumper. He was beautiful. I felt a strange sensation of inertia in my chest. Was I having a heart attack?” – Paperback Copy pg. 143

Charley Lambert leads one hectic life. She is organized and well put together, but always on the go. Her schedule barely gives her enough time to eat and sleep, that is until she breaks her leg and has to take some serious time away from work and her other extracurricular activities. In her newfound downtime, Charley finds herself with too much time on her hands and decides to start her own business: a website to help online daters communicate better and find better matches. Charley’s goal is to help people who aren’t the best at flirting, dating, or even communication, but what she doesn’t expect is to fall in love herself.

 

I have found that most Chick Lit is predictable, including the plot and most of the time the characters; however, this does not change the fact that I love it. I loved Charley’s character and I loved the romance and the romantic scenes that Robinson writes. There were times that I was thinking, “No, she isn’t going to go there…yep, she went there!” I especially loved Charley’s ambition and willpower when it came to romantically enticing her boss and CEO John MacAllister. I also loved the idea of Charley running an online dating site because I think a lot of times they get a bad reputation, so it was nice to see them in a different light in this book.

 

Laughter filled the room as I read this book and I am not ashamed to admit that I even snorted from laughing so hard. There are so many scenes where I felt embarrassed, shocked, or just downright overcome with laughter at some of the remarks and decisions Charley makes. The blurb on the front calls for belly laughs, and it definitely wasn’t joking. The characters are so realistic and easy to love. They each brought a different type of humor to the table, although Charley and Sam both had a sense of humor that was enough to drive the entire plot. I am passing this book on to some of my very dear friends who are in very much need of a good laugh!

 

Be sure to head on over and purchase your own copy of this book. You can find awesome deals at Amazon when you click here.

 

And for all of my UK followers you can find the same book listed here.

 

***A copy of this book was provided to me by the publishers at Penguin in exchange for my honest and unbiased review***