Not Quite Perfect by Annie Lyons
Publisher: CarinaUK
Release Date: 18th July 2014 (Paperback)
Buy: Paperback Kindle
Rating:
Sometimes having it all isn’t enough…
Emma has everything she’s ever wanted. Her boyfriend’s just proposed and her career has finally taken off. And so what if her latest client just happens to be downright gorgeous? She’s getting married. Isn’t she?
Rachel’s married with 2.4 children (well, actually, 3) and life is all about trying to leave the house in a non-stained top. Once it was about skinny cappuccinos, cocktails and dynamic ad agency meetings. She wants her old life back, but can it ever be the same?
Emma and Rachel are two sisters who seem to have pretty good lives, at least on the outside. Oldest sister Rachel is happily married with three young children. She has a nice house, a great husband, and good friends. Only somewhere along the line things have started to seem not so great any more. A stay-at-home Mum, Rachel starts to miss her old job and feels as though her brain is turning to mush (there’s only so many episodes of Scooby Doo one can take, surely?) Then things start to get complicated when she has irrational fears that her husband, Steve, is having an affair. Then there’s her next door neighbour, Tom, who she has suddenly started to notice is actually quite good looking…
Then there’s Emma, who also starts to feel trapped in her life. She has just got engaged to Martin and has a great job in publishing. But suddenly Martin’s lack of interest in the up and coming nuptials start to grate on Emma, and why is he always playing football? And why does he never clean the bathroom? Frustrated and scared by the thought of having children just yet, Emma’s attentions are drawn to a hunky new author, Richard Bennett, whose book she’s editing. He seems to understand Emma so much more than Martin, and despite telling herself that his glamorous allure can only lead to trouble, Emma ponders over whether to follow her head or her heart, until the decision is made for her…
Not Quite Perfect is such a page turner and I am thrilled to have now discovered Annie Lyons writing thanks to the #NotQuitePerfectBut invite. I couldn’t put this book down and found myself crying with both laughter and sadness at this touching and thought-provoking story.
It really made me think about appreciating what you’ve got in life and how a few bad decisions and temptation can lead to your whole life being turned upside down, in the way that Rachel’s and Emma’s was.
It will make you take stock of what you have and wonder why we’re always wanting more from life. If you’re feeling low or a bit fed up then I can’t recommend this book enough, not only will it completely take your mind off your own problems and make you giggle, it will also show you how quickly things can change.
Beautifully observed there is a fantastic array of characters in Not Quite Perfect. Rachel and Emma make for brilliant leads; I guarantee you’ll relate to them in some way, whatever you situation. I must admit that my favourite character was Rachel’s daughter, Lily. With knowledge way beyond her years she is one of my favourite book characters EVER. I also really loved Rachel’s friend, Christa. She has the best one liners and I think I need a Christa in my life, she’s amazing. You can’t help but like the characters, despite the fact that none of them are perfect, but as the message of this book demonstrates – who is??
The story flows really well and I thoroughly enjoyed Annie Lyon’s style of writing, it’s realistic, humorous and heartbreaking all at the same time. This is definitely one of those reads that you can’t help but sail through and then feel a bit lost when it finishes.
It may only be July but nothing is going to stop me from downloading A Not Quite Perfect Christmas (which you can get hold of here) as I am desperate to read more about this loveable bunch of characters.
This story is the ultimate reminder that despite appearances, no one is perfect, but being ‘not quite perfect’ is still ok…
♥ A huge thanks to Candy for nominating me to read Not Quite Perfect, to Sara Veal, CarinaUK and Annie Lyons for leading to my discovery of this fabulous read. ♥
After leaving university, Annie Lyons decided that she ‘rather liked books’ and got a job as a bookseller on Charing Cross Road, London. Two years later she left the retail world and continued rather liking books during an eleven-year career in publishing. Following redundancy in 2009 she realised that she would rather like to write books and having undertaken a creative writing course, lots of reading and a bit of practice she produced Not Quite Perfect. She now realises that she loves writing as much as coffee, not as much as her children and a bit more than gardening. She has since written another novel and is about to start work on her third. She lives in a house in south-east London with her husband and two children. The garden is somewhat overgrown. One day she hopes to own a chocolate-brown Labrador named John and have tea with Mary Berry.Annie Lyons is the best-selling author of Not Quite Perfect (now available in paperback) and Not Quite Perfect Christmas (A Short Story). Her new novel Dear Lizzie is published by Carina and is available as an eBook.
http://www.carinauk.com/annie-lyons
Bookaholic Confessions 
Sounds right up my street 🙂 I’ll add it to my wish list x
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