Amber Scott Is Starting Over

by Ruth Saberton

Amber is a city girl through and through—now she must learn to cope with country life, in the hilarious new novel from the author of Katy Carter Wants a Hero

Amber Scott loves her city life—she has a terrific job working at a glossy magazine, and a fiancé, Ed, whom she's known since college. Even if Ed doesn't take her job seriously (as a solicitor, he doesn't have much time for women's magazines), it is Amber's dream job. So Ed's news that he has taken a job in the West Country turns Amber's world upside down. The new life in Cornwall does not get off to the best start. The huge house Ed was so into is, well, huge—what is Amber going to do with four acres?And when a handsome, if surly, man leads the local hunt over her land, it's more than Amber can stand. So how is it that, before long Amber is friends with the local eccentric Lady of the Manor, making love potions at her mother's recommendation, and answering the door naked to strangers?

Genres: Chick Lit, Romance, Fiction, Audiobook

320 pages, Paperback

Published April 12, 2012

About the author

Ruth Saberton is a bestselling British author with over 25 books written under her own and pen names. Her books feature romance and secrets and are set in beautiful Cornwall.
Her latest book THE LETTER is available now!

Amazon UK https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ruth-Saberto...
Amazon.com https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07...

Ruth loves to to talk to her readers. Interact with her on her website www.ruthsaberton.com on Twitter @ruthsaberton

www.facebook.com/ruthsabertonauthor

Reviews

[Gemma · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was hilarious. I laughed from start to finish.
While totally predictable, Ambers inability to see what is right in front of her added to her sweet nature and innocence. Some really lovely and memorable characters added to the charm of the book.
I loved the fact this book was set in Cornwall too, the description of places and cornish life brought back many memories of childhood holidays for me.

[Billee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amber. Oh my goodness, what a ride. From start to finish I was laughing, raging on her behalf, gasping and wanting the best for her. The author did a great job with the whole book and the dialogue. The narrator did a wonderful job bringing the characters to life and changing accents.

[Sarah Allen-Griffiths · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this one however I couldn't help but scream at the protagonist for ignoring the glaringly obvious...

[The Book Worm · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh, I had so much fun with this book! It lived for years (literally) on my reading list. It was one of the last paperbacks I bought before going digital and I just forgot about it for a long time. Now I totally regret it, because it accounted for some great laughs.

Amber is trying her best to succeed professionally and also to be the best (future) wife to Ed. Of course you can already see from the start how doomed her relationship with Ed is. Actually, half the fun is realizing how oblivious Amber is to something that should be totally obvious. Does that make her silly? Maybe. But how many times have you ignored the signs for something that should be clear as day just because you don't want to deal with the harsh reality of it?

Add to that Amber and Ed's eventful move from London to the countryside, Amber's totally lunatic mother and boyfriend, a dog with boundary issues and digestive problems, a village where drinking alcohol at 10 am is totally normal and where everyone knows they neighbor's darkest secrets, an aga with a mind of it's own and no ready meals in sight, and some weird love potions - and you have a recipe for disaster - or for a lot of fun, depending on the perspective.

I found the last part of the book a bit muddled - the ups and downs of the romance with Alex and the end of Amber and Ed's relationship were all a bit too complicated to grasp - hence the four stars rating. In addition, this is a thoroughly British book - if you're not British you'll probably miss (or have to look up) a few of the references to people and TV shows.

Other than that, Amber Scott is Starting Over is a book I would recommend to anyone in need of a couple of fun, no-strings attached reading hours and some good laughs.

[Ann]

I could have liked this book except for the supposedly professional woman who is a complete doormat for her fiance, who doesn't know her left from her right and who can't drive a car. So stereotypical! I have no patience for this type of protagonist.

[Jelena · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was an ok romance, but I had to fight to get through it. Characters aren't believable, their motivation makes no sense, FMC is so insecure that it hurts, many times plain stupid. Glad she got her happy ending, but boy, not sure she deserved it. Writing is lacking, often repeating same sentences.The narrator had a little too mature voice for the character.

[Erin Benci · Rating 2 out of 5]

A light, easy read for a palette cleanser.

Amber frustrated me to no end - she was oblivious to something that was obvious to the reader in the first few chapters. She infuriated me with her insisting on Alex/Charlie's situation - or lack thereof. Why is she so insistent that he has a romantic relationship with his cousin anyway?

It was predictable, but sometimes you need something lowstakes and predictable as a pick me up.

[Stella · Rating 4 out of 5]

✨This is a summary I use to record the crucial points of the book. May have some personal inputs✨

Before anything else, it really bothers me that this book is placed in England and the writer used the American measurement system. Miles and Pounds??? How about Kilometers and Kilograms??? Also in the Audible cover Amber is portrayed as brunette or even ginger, but she’s BLONDE on the book UGH, so annoying.

Amber is interviewing for a job as art director at a big magazine in London, she gets the job and tries to inform her fiancé about it and she finds out he actually accepted a job as well. In another city. He’s a lawyer made partner at a small company apparently and he doesn’t accept that she doesn’t want to go and that she loves her job, that he makes fun of, at a famous magazine. Ed, her fiancé is a sexist man who thinks only his job is important and that Amber’s is futile and doesn’t appreciate the fact that she actually loves it and, to be honest, he gives off cheater vibes.

So she has a talk with her mom who’s a hippie who thinks can channel a spirit and said spirit says that she needs to move because the love of her life is elsewhere (it’s unclear whether she knew previously about the promotion or not), she also talks to her sister who despite thinking Ed is cheating on Amber, pushes her into considering moving because country living is best 🤔.

Ed is probably cheating because when he comes home with flowers and images of a hotel they’d be staying in Corwall for a visit, falls asleep while Amber puts on some lingerie.

They have a great time there and by the time they’re back, Amber has her decision. She’ll move. I think, as a reader that she’s making a mistake, but as someone who loves her boyfriend i understand the want in changing sceneries, maybe she thinks once they’re there and he has more time for her, things will get better. I know it won’t though.

Not all is lost, apparently Amber is super lucky because her friend Ali is going to work for a big newspaper and wants her to be a columnist. She’ll be talking about her new life in the country and the first thing she writes about is her hot neighbor who’s she rudely speaks to the first time.

Before the consequences of her column comes, Amber starts living as local, calls a vet to check on the dog she rescued, is visited by her crazy mother who suggests she makes a love potion in which she has to bathe in (surprisingly she does) and is busted naked waiting for Ed to come home and be affected by the potion, but instead it’s “Heathcliff” who appears giving back her dog who’s in love with his own. Heathcliff, who later we found is Virginias son Alex, is probably already fancying her but I bet she’ll believe it’s the freaking potion that’s supposed to work with the first man she sees. Then Ed does something weird, Amber receives a call from her previous coworker Lis, who she just found out has quit her job, which would be promoted to Ambers old job..that doesn’t make any senses UNLESS she’s also moving and I know where… Ed gets really freaked out by the call and turns off the call on the car console, and Amber recalls Ed and Lis never got along. And to a reader that’s all we need to know that Ed is cheating Amber with Lis.

After that, the consequences finally come. Ali edits Ambers column and publishes under her name, so now everyone in town knows it’s her writing about her new country life and what is worse is that she describes and DREW Alex in a very obvious way. But the story is a bit distorted for entertaining purposes so now it’s practically a scandal (Amber is practically married) and Alex is pretty mad about it.

She finally finds out who Alex is because Virginia wanted Amber to redesign and redecorate a mansion she wants to sell and she had to work with Alex, who’s the taking care of it. And she is mortified when she realizes he’s him.

Alex is a widower who nobody knows exactly how, and owns a lot of dogs and he hunts and that’s how firstly Amber got so irritated by him, he just crossed her garden like it was a road and she didn’t like that. Also, I suspect alex is her neighbor, but she hasn’t realized that year. She sees his light on every night but I still don’t know why the narrator comments on it so much.

They start working together and Alex is more friendly towards Amber and they practically kiss before her goat (yes, her mother dropped by again and brought her a goat and another love potion) recked the lavender garden Alex had for his late wife. The spell was broken and alex went to show Amber that Ken and his dog had puppies and Amber started apologizing which she does a lot to him because she really wreaks havoc in his life.

After that there’s a dinner at her house for Ed’s partners and Alex is invited by Ali who was visiting, and Alex drops by with the dress Amber was trying it on when they almost kissed at the house. His mom had given her permission to go though the vintage clothes that were at the house.

One thing that bothers me is that Alex is clearly fancying Amber but the story keeps forcing the love potions to be responsible on us and I don’t like it because Amber ends up accidentally putting the latest love potion on Alex’s drink and later that night he kisses her very passionately and she blames it later on that potion for fuck sake!!!!

Alex comes by to talk about the kiss but just like in all other romance novels, the woman won’t let the man speak and just assumes he’s there to say it was a mistake. It was though because she’s ENGAGED!!! Anyways, after that they grow apart, Alex keeps his distance and is always with his friend Charlotte who Amber is very much jealous of.

FINALLY Amber finds out she’s being cheated on but it took her a little while. First she receives a call about another house in Cornwall Ed has bought without her knowing and that a tenant is already living there. Then, when she’s out to the dinner Alex throws in sign of the opening of visitations for the house, she comes back feeling ill because of her mother,who definitely has powers, upsetting Alex telling him about Vanessa’s spirit in the house who wants to give Alex a message— arriving home Amber catches Ed and Liz talking on the sofa and she is SO FUCKING STUPID to the point where Liz is basically telling her she’s her fiancés lover and Amber doesn’t catch on. She even hugs the bitch.

The next day Amber wants to apologize to Alex but she ends up snooping his room and falls down the stairs spraining her ankle, Alex takes her to the hospital and when everything is calmer he almost says something regarding them both, I guess he was going to profess his love for her, when they get interrupted and when Amber leaves the hospital, Alex is nowhere in Cornwall, she gets upset and she realizes that she doesn’t love Ed at all anymore, because the person she misses the most is Alex.

Later on the stupid amber FINALLY finds out but the cheating when she goes to the office to see Ed and his secretary slips out about him leaving early for a scan appointment with his pregnant girlfriend, that’s when Amber finds out and that leads to her finally catching them and she having some sort of car accident with Ed’s car. Alex obviously is the one to rescue her since she was so upset she tried to talk to everyone, including her father who just showed up to meet the house and who she caught having sex with ALEX’S MOTHER!!!

In the car they kiss but as always they make up excuses as to why they can’t, and Amber stupidly says she’s with Ed and Alex is with Charlotte and they can’t go around kissing each other.

It really bothered me how dumb Amber is. Days went by and she hadn’t left the house and alex didn’t look for her and then she learns that Charlotte is getting married and she’s sure is to alex HER COUSIN????? and she is decided to move to London again and there’s all that suffering and pining and then she receives another gift from her mother that grants a wish and asked to everything be made right with Alex and on the same day she finds the jumper she borrowed from him and went to give it back and suddenly they are saying I love yours and now they’re together and so are their parents…this is just creepy and poorly finished ugh the whole book is just Amber being asinine.

[Agi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Actually 4,5 stars but I really enjoyed this book, so let's have 5:)
This book follows the same pattern as other Ruth's books: a nice girl, a bad boyfriend, naive girl, bully boyfriend but it's okay, I know what I can expect and I get this plus a very easy, funny and witty writing.
Amber is a very nice and warm person but her naivity just was overwhelming. Nonetheless, she has finally believed what kind of person her boyfriend is. I have actually knew it from the beginning, but for Amber better late than never:)
I have liked all of the characters, the village, the animals, Ken was a separate hero of this book as well, it was all so real and all so neighbourly, and I have actually had a smile on my lips reading every page of this book. And this is what I like:)
Waiting for the next Saberton's book. Impatiently:)

[Aileen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amber Scott is 29 years old and lives with her Fiancée Ed who she has known since University. Amber loves her job and loves London.
Ed announces he has a new job as a partner in a law firm in Cornwall can Amber give up her Career, M&S Finest and Starbucks for Cornwall?
I liked this book, it was hilarious at times, I felt a bit sorry for Amber as Ed was horrible to her at times, I would definitely recommend.

[Beth White · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a feel good book and perfect for the current world climate. Incredibly predictable and you do feel like screaming at the protagonist for missing the blatantly obvious from literally the first couple of chapters. But you know what? Still worth the 4 (3.5) stars for the simple rom-com nature of the book and overall enjoyment factor.

I literally couldn’t deal with Ed from the very beginning. I won’t lie, I kinda hated him just from the blurb and although I gave him a chance, nope, he remained the asshole he came across as unfortunately for him. Way to make a girl give up a career for your ego and the countryside even though you’re also cheating on her. I won’t even mark that as a spoiler since it is so incredibly evident from the first chapter. And yet!!! It’s still a great book! Amanda goes with him. She puts up with soooo much. And on paper I would hate this and the book for it. In reality I hate it but love the book for the journey and the comedy along the way because damn there’s a lot of that for sure. I won’t lie. I copied a lot of lines onto WhatsApp while laughing to share my amusement with my girls. A particularly memorable message quoted as: “she has just let her dog (not neutered if that’s the right word…) possibly impregnate a pure bred collie when he was not tied up properly…but it’s fine because in her words “they must be really in love” 😂”. Yep. Honestly it’s even funnier in person with the full context. In short. Just read it. If you’re looking for a light read with a few laughs you can’t go far wrong!

[Paula · Rating 4 out of 5]

Currently included in audiable 🎧

First, I've read/listened to this author, and I'm glad I did. It was good timing for me.

Lighthearted funny and very cosy country vibes audiobook based in the beautiful Cornwall. Amber goes from city living to country living really having to change her ways to adapt to a new way of life this audiobook told mainly from Amber's pov is really quite amusing. As a listener, you can envisage so much of qhar is being described in how it feels like a oh gosh, not one of these days, type of feeling happening over and over 🙈🤣

However also there are also friendships, family, bereavement, work life, and more that fill this story and just make it an easy listen with a predictable happy ending 🫶🏼

Definitely makes the country dream even more interesting life goal after this although not sure I am at a stage of needing the happy ending with an Alex in my life think I will take the turret for 1 please 😂

[Lindsay Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an easy listen (on audiobook) that didn't need much effort to follow along. I really liked Amber Scott, and I wanted the best for her at all times.

I did feel the descriptions of country living were a bit naive, such as I'll just go to the next village to get my shopping, when in reality that's probably really far away. Also the fact that. she walks everywhere in the country, when that's probably not feasible due to high hedges and low visibility for traffic.

However I enjoyed Amber and her innocent outlook on life. I wanted her to take action way way before she did. I'm glad everything turned out well in the end.

[Katy Cameron · Rating 1 out of 5]

I had to give this up after 3 hours. I initially thought it would get better, but alas, no, it got worse. Amber spent time whining about her fiancé's predilection for '50s housewives with the little woman treated as beneath him, while rolling over and letting him treat her exactly like that. We also visited every single lazy stereotype that I thought had gone out with the ark, such as a size 12 being hugely fat (although the woman on the cover is stick thin), the man welded to the TV remote, the lawyer that was boring and addicted to the news etc. I realise the original book came out 12 years ago, but even so, none of that was acceptable then either!

[Kirsty Barrett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny and witty this book can be, and the love issues are a great storyline.
The downside is the authors issue with her characters weight issues implying that they are overweight and fat. A uk size 12 is simply not. Whilst body issues exist I dont feel the author is getting the balance right here.
This issue is where the book loses points for me, and after 3 books all implying the same issue, I am sad to say I wont be picking up her books again as funny as they may be. The dis-service has put me off sadly.

[Eva Hnizdo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, it is my fault. I didn't have to finish it. I listen to audiobooks when I exercise or do housework. It reminds me why I avoid chick lit. There is nothing wrong with escapism, but it doesn't work for me. This was witty enough, but totally predictable - all aspects of the plot and characters. While I was OK with Bridget Jones and novels of Jilly Cooper, because the authors don't take them seriously, this was too much. No more chick lit for me.

[Kristin Jensen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hilarious read. A little longer than I'm used to for a rom-com, but I liked the feeling of the days that pass. I enjoyed being quite deep into Amber's whole thought process and the way she tries to justify and understand everything : it gives a great insight of the main character and therefore you bond with her.
I loved the romance, and loved to hate the over-the-top a-hole (I mean, he really takes the cherry on the cake)...
Well-done, well-written and well-paced romance!

[Elle David · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved, loved, LOVED this!
Absolutely incredible start to finish.
Yes, I agree with the other reviewers, it was transparent at times, but this book isn’t meant to be a whodunnit thriller. It’s a romance novel.
I loved the cast of characters. I found it funny, heart warming, sad. It was incredible in my opinion.

[Vicky Jennings · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually listened to this on audible and throughly enjoyed it. Close to 5 stars but only got 4 as its a story I've read and listened to quite often with these type of books. Still a great listen or read though and I do recommend it

[Goldie · Rating 5 out of 5]

An enjoyable story with lovable characters which will have you shouting at the pages or device for them to wake up and smell the coffee but this in itself keeps you gripped ....I'm glad to have read this

[Becky · Rating 3 out of 5]

A predictable, lighthearted read that's very repetitive but somewhat enjoyable.
After about three quarters of the way through, I was glad it was coming to an end.
An easy read to get you back in the mood for reading though.

[Eli Kej · Rating 2 out of 5]

Amber really grown on me but this is such an easy read, than everything was so predictable to happen ...

[Harriet · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was fine but very predictable.

[Frances · Rating 4 out of 5]

4+ Stars

I really enjoyed this, ... funny entertaining story
Great narration

[Lin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easy read, did enjoy it!

[Leanne Hunt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Refreshingly funny with beautiful descriptions of the countryside. I found the story heart-warming and a tonic for difficult times.

[Amk256 King · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed this one! Amusing story!!

[Dana Pechackova · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was good at first but honestly the main character is so unbelievably dumb and naive the more it goes on.

[Morgan Donald-Munro · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the perfect book for some escapism. Would make a great book to read on holiday.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy read. Quite enjoyable. Main character frustrating at times. But overall I enjoyed