Book Review: The Retail Therapist by Colette Kebell

The Retail Therapist by Colette Kebell
Release Date: 23rd June 2015
Publisher: Skittish Endeavours
Buy: Kindle
Rating:

“Window shopping! Don’t you just hate the term?
It is like going into a sweet shop and not being able to buy anything, or not knowing what to buy first. That is exactly my line of business, helping people make the right choice.
I’m one of those fashion consultants that are so popular nowadays amongst the upper crust, although I started ages ago. Choosing the right clothes for the right occasion is not an easy task: the dress has to match your personality and, if it can, enhance it.
This story is about how I abandoned the rat race, spending days in a legal office, and followed my dream of becoming a fashion consultant. I believe I’m something more though, I’m a Retail Therapist and I’m sure you are itching to know the story about how I started and how I helped my clients look fabulous! So, what are you waiting for? Hurry up, click that “buy” button up there and be prepared to enter the mysterious world of a Berkshire Retail Therapist girl.”

 

After loving every minute of Blue and Green Should Never Be Seen (Or So Mother Says) I was massively excited about reading its prequel, The Retail Therapist.

GiGi ranks amongst some of my all-time favourite fictional characters and I couldn’t wait to become re-acquainted with her and her shopping addiction, only this time we are going back in time see how it all started off for GiGi before she became the successful fashion consultant that she is today.
The novella kicks off with GiGi indulging in a little window shopping in Ted Baker. Not that GiGi is a big fan of window shopping…it’s just that she is currently living at her best friend Ritchie’s place after abandoning her less than glittering legal secretarial career and she is trying her best to save for a rainy day…
However, when Ritchie loses his job one thing leads to another – and before you know it GiGi decides that Ritchie would be the perfect partner for her own personal shopping business…The rest is history.

I was relieved to see that GiGi is still exactly the same fashion-addicted, fun-loving girl who can sniff out a bargain at fifty paces as she was in Blue and Green Should Never Be Seen. I now like to think of GiGi as a personal friend (we have so much in common after all!) that re-visiting this character was exactly the same as bumping into a good friend in real life. You forget how much you love them and suddenly realise just how much you’ve missed them…I felt exactly the same about GiGi.

I can’t imagine how difficult it must be to write a prequel and there’s always the worry that things won’t sit right or characters traits will be altered. However nothing could be further from the truth in the case of The Retail Therapist. Colette Kebell ensures that the story glides back in time seamlessly and it was absolutely fantastic to get a better insight into GiGi and Ritchie’s past. So many things were explained and you feel as though you understand a lot better as to why they are like they are when we meet them in Blue and Green Should Never Be Seen. It’s almost like being given the opportunity to dig just that little bit deeper into your characters personalities when you can understand what makes them…well...them. There’s also a real tear-jerker side to this story which gives it a bit of an edge.

Colette Kebell easily matches the brilliance of her full length novel in the form of The Retail Therapist and I really hope we get to hear more from GiGi and Ritchie in the future as I feel as though they are characters who have a whole lot more to give. I would happily read about these two all day – I just love them. They make me smile, big time.

Full of fun, shopping and friendship, The Retail Therapist is a must-read if you’re a fan of Colette’s first novel…In fact, it’s a must-read even if you haven’t yet been introduced to the wonder that is GiGi…

A huge thank you to Colette Kebell for giving me the opportunity to read and review The Retail Therapist. ♥

 

After being a Legal Secretary for about 10 years, I was on the hunt to find something else that I would find just as challenging. I found that in writing and I hope you like what you read.

♥Colette Kebell♥  | Website | Twitter | Goodreads |

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