Sunday 22 April 2007

Stuck in Downward Dog by Chantel Simmons

Release date May 24, 2007.

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at PhotobucketPublished by Key Porter Books.

Mara Brennan is 28. This should be a good year for her, according to her mother that is. For Mara's mother and sister, 28 was a brilliant age, a year in which everything seemed to fall into place for them and surely it will work out that way for Mara too.

Within days, her boyfriend leaves her (taking almost everything), she feels a growing distance between herself and her long-time friends, and her sister - a regular Martha Stewart clone - decides to come and stay for a while to help cheer her up. Can things get any worse?

Mara feels surrounded by reminders of how incompetent she is. Her friends have their careers, while she is stuck in a mind-numbing receptionist job at a cosmetic surgery clinic. Even her parents are running a successful home business. Determined to get her life on track, she puts together a list of things she needs to achieve so that she can prove to everyone (and herself) that she is just as organised, confident, skilled and smart as anyone else. The results are often both hilarious and touching.

This is a tale of self-discovery and of friendship that will leave you wanting to both laugh and cry. It's also a wonderful reminder that everyone is human and things around us are rarely as they seem. This was a quick and easy read though admittedly it did take me a couple of pages to adjust to the writing style. A fun debut novel from Chantel Simmons. Hopefully there will be more to come.

Author's website: http://www.chantelsimmons.com/

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