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London Girls #2

Laura's Big Break

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An alternate cover edition of this ASIN B009N06KFC can be found here and here

Laura needs to interview the hero of the moment to keep her new job with a women's magazine. She'd rather stick a fork in her eye. Twelve years have passed since her disastrous one night stand with Charlie and they've barely exchanged two civil words in that time. She calls him the Neanderthal and he calls her The Iron Maiden. If it wasn't for the fact his sister was Laura's best friend, she wouldn't have anything at all to do with him.

Charlie has come back from a stint in Afghanistan with a souvenir - nightmares. After one afternoon arguing with Laura, Charlie makes a wonderful discovery: she's so irritating, she scares away his dreams. So Charlie agrees to give her an interview - at a price. She has to accompany him on a two week cycling holiday in Holland, that way he might actually get the rest he needs. He takes particular delight in the plan because he knows that Laura hates exercise, loathes the outdoors and despises him. It feels good to have the upper hand for a change.

Laura needs an interview. Charlie needs sleep. And they both need to grow up and get over the past. But not before Laura cycles into a canal, sets fire to a tent and posts nude pictures of Charlie on the internet - all with the hope of getting her story.

Mad Love tells the story of Charlie's sister.

** A note from the author **

This is the second romance I ever wrote, and it's based on my own time and escapades living in Holland. I hope you enjoy it!

*Winner of the 2013 RWA Gulf Coast, Silken Sands Star Award for contemporary romance*

180 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 6, 2012

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622 people want to read

About the author

Janet Elizabeth Henderson

51 books713 followers
Janet grew up in Scotland but now lives in New Zealand. Among other things, she’s been an artist, a teacher, a security guard at a castle, a magazine editor, and a cleaner in a drop in center for drug addicts (NOT the best job!). When she isn’t living in her head and writing about the people she finds there, she raises two kids, one husband, and several random animals. She survives on chocolate and caffeine.

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5 stars
150 (22%)
4 stars
227 (34%)
3 stars
206 (31%)
2 stars
49 (7%)
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23 (3%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 63 reviews
Profile Image for UniquelyMoi ~ BlithelyBookish.
1,097 reviews1,764 followers
November 22, 2015

Laura's Big Break is a steamy, quirky, funny, friends to lovers story. Okay, "friends" might be stretching it a bit. Laura and Charlie can hardly stand to be in the same room (or tent, or country) together.

I enjoyed this story and read it in a day. The author has such a great way with dialog and creating characters we can relate to. It's a bit on the shorter side and some of the relationship building suffered for the lesser page count, but all in all, a very entertaining read!

3.5/5 stars

Many thanks to Ms. Henderson for providing copies of this book to the members of the Happily Ever After Cafe who participated in our Group Read.
Profile Image for Lisa Kay.
924 reviews557 followers
July 18, 2013
★★★★☆ My first time reading this author and I really, really enjoyed it. (Extra "really" for Dhes and Pamela.) There may have been a few bumps, but some parts were perfect, too. I'll definitely pick one of hers up again.

I'll just post some pics from our "buddy read."

Charlie's tent? Sorry, I couldn't find one that was all black.


This is a good picture to show how the bikes are loaded/packed.


biking in Holland, canal


You can see how flat Holland is; that's why Laura chose it! LOL!






Photo by Ton le Jeune taken in Drente, Holland.


Delft blue plates



Giethoorn, Holland The town with no roads... everything is walking or biking paths, or waterways.


Holland Bike Shop


Typical Dutch 'grandma-bike' which is still the most popular bike for women in Holland.


Amsterdam is full of imprints like this...Could go on a bike ride with the kids, following a "map" of symbols, or making our own adventure!


Wooden shoes on a bike lane in Holland.


From Wiki: A dacquoise is a dessert cake made with layers of almond and hazelnut meringue and whipped cream or buttercream. It takes its name from the feminine form of the French word dacquois, meaning 'of Dax', a town in southwestern France. It is usually served chilled and accompanied by fruit. A particular form of the dacquoise is the marjolaine, which is long and rectangular and combines almond and hazelnut meringue layers with chocolate buttercream.

The term dacquoise can also refer to the nut meringue layer itself.







Profile Image for Pamela(AllHoney).
2,699 reviews376 followers
July 18, 2013
Laura Prentice is told by her boss to get an interview with hero, Charlie Lewis, or forget about having a job. But Laura's relationship with Charlie isn't ideal for said interview. Charlie is Laura's best friend Maddie's brother. And twelve years ago Laura managed to seduce Charlie but things didn't end well. Now Charlie is a doctor and was caught on camera saving a little girl's life in Afghanistan. But Laura's boss is serious and Laura will do what is needed to keep her job. So she ends up finding herself on a bike tour of Holland with Charlie.

This was a fun, humorous, entertaining read. It was not something that I would have picked on my own to read but I'm glad I did read it. I will more than likely more more by this author.
Profile Image for ↜ƈɦǟռ☂ɛℓℓɛ↝.
1,296 reviews140 followers
August 2, 2013
★★★★★Laura's Big Break by Janet Elizabeth Henderson

I was given this R2R in exchange for my honest opinion.

So after reading The Davina Code and Lingerie Wars, I wanted more from this author. So when I got a hold of Laura's Big Break I was thrilled. And I was not disappointed.

Laura is an aspiring journalist, stuck writing for a teen magazine. When she get's her big break, a position at a woman's magazine. The only problem, she must get an interview with the moron, neanderthal, screw up, Mr. Scared of Commitment, her first, her best friends brother, the cherry popper. Is the job really worth it?



Charlie, Doctor Hottie, is the complete opposite of Laura. He is wild, carefree, spontaneous, living his life to the fullest, looking for the next adventure. He has come back a war hero, has gone viral, and is scared of a 5'2 firecracker. She is not afraid to tell him what she thinks, how he needs to be stable, to grow up, and flat out intimidates him.



But together they are not oil and vinegar, no they are worse, electricity and water, and someone is getting hurt. So when his evil little plan to keep her away fails, he's stuck bicycling across Holland with her. So let the crazy begin.

And in true Ms. Henderson fashion, so creates hysterics, between the wacky characters and situations. The characters are never perfect, which I love. What fun would a character be if nothing ever went wrong. And believe me, they get the fair share of trouble.

This was a great, easy read, that keep me laughing throughout. A few spots left me shaking my head at all the crazy.

Thanks to the author for sharing the looniest bike ride ever. I had a blast.

Profile Image for Kari.
889 reviews85 followers
July 18, 2013
This is a fun, quirky romance between Laura aka The Iron Maiden and Charlie aka Neanderthal . Charlie and Laura were neighbors and she was also his sister's best friend. After a disastrous quickie, where Laura loses her virginity, they go their separate ways.
12 years later, Charlie has left the army and is considered a hero. Laura's new boss asks (commands) her to write up an interview with the hottie hero and Laura meets up with Charlie. Charlie agrees to help her out, but she must go with him on a 2-week holiday. They pack their bags and their bikes and off they go to Holland.

description

The story is funny and fast-paced. Laura and Charlie learn to find themselves as they reach out and reconnect with each other. They both have important personal issues that hold them back. They're also endearing, and their fighting and bantering feels very real. Most scenes are sweet, and the descriptions of Holland are great. Loved the ending!!

description

Profile Image for Akanksha❤ Søren♰.
654 reviews2,650 followers
December 8, 2012
Really enjoyed this book!
Laura was one balsy mad ass frank chick! Loved her, so very refreshing and nice her character was.
Liked Charlie's character too! Total hunk! Brave, hot, caring and an idiot!

The story was amazing, nicely written, the book was witty and had amazingly funny lines~
The book made me tingle throughout! :D I giggled, smiled and blushed.
Cute, small read.

Any minute now there would be violence - that was something she’d learnt from his sister. Hit first, ask questions later. LMFAO!

“I bought con­doms.”
He groaned.
“Green?”
“No,” she scoffed. “Se­ri­ously, what woman wants to look at a green penis?”
“Well that’s a re­lief.”
“Yep, they’re pur­ple and ribbed for my plea­sure.”


“I am in love with you, Char­lie Lewis,” she said.
Char­lie felt light headed and bent over to re­store the flow of blood.
“Great,” Laura said. “Some­one get the idiot a glass of water. I think he’s going to vomit.”
Char­lie wasn’t proud. He was sit­ting in the dirt hy­per­ven­ti­lat­ing look­ing up at the woman who said she loved him."

Profile Image for Kathy Davie.
4,876 reviews737 followers
April 26, 2015
A cute and reluctant romance.

My Take
This was great! A sweet read of two people discovering all that they didn't know about each other. I envy their trip around Holland, even if I don't lust for the bike/camping trip.
I loved this one, LOL: "Under the heading of 'other abilities' she could write 'scarier than armed conflict'."
Her boss does have a point about her being in the more adult leagues; I just can't agree with her moral decisions. It's one of those things I dislike about journalists. Yes, I am making a blanket judgment, but, as Claire says, next week the world will focus on something or someone else. In the meantime, the hatchet job a media outlet does on someone sticks to that person forever. It's not fair to force this on someone, especially when someone like Claire Douglas is going to twist it around simply to encourage her readership. Who cares how it hurts the guy? The general world will forget it, even if the people who know him will harass him about it for as long as their memory of it lasts.

Okay, wait...how does Laura think she's gonna fix things by going ahead with this interview? Sure, she makes a good point about his needing to grow up; she also needs to do some growing up, as Charlie has pointed out.

Henderson did an interesting twist on her approach to this romance with a woman who is out there and the summerhouse-fling who avoids her (I do have to wonder about a guy who is still so hormonally driven at twenty-three and still doesn't have much control). It's not an earthshaking story with great tension, but it certainly tips the drama quotient with its insight into two very different people who don't want to be attracted to each other. A bet, a deal, and two "children" ragging on each other. Growing into each other with each getting what they never knew they wanted.
...she looked...like an evil fairy. …innocence personified. He knew better.
Humor abounds from Laura's losses of control to Charlie's bits of revenge to fellow cyclists who enjoy the Laura show. The wedding...oh, lordy.
Which campsite are you going to after this?" they wanted to know. "We don't want to miss what happens next.
Nice use of Laura's dysfunctional parents to bring a depth to Laura's issues. Laura's maneuver to first meet up with Charlie was brilliant if not actually practical in the real world. I definitely loved Henderson's resolution! Absolutely perfect and totally unexpected!

The Story
Ever since Charlie tore off after taking her virginity, Laura has really hated him. Now, she's going to be forced into his company. If she wants to keep that job she's struggled to achieve.

The Characters
Laura Prentice is a woman with whom you will always know where you stand, honest to a fault. No matter how painful or embarrassing. She's finally made it up to the adult audience magazines and she's determined to stay there!

Claire Douglas is her bitch of a new boss at Francine magazine. No morals and no consideration. Maggie is Claire's unhappy assistant.

Charlie Lewis, a.k.a., the Neanderthal, is her best friend's, Maddie's, brother. And a childhood neighbor. These days, he's Dr. Hottie at the Emergency Department (ED), suffering through a viral video of a rescue he did in Afghanistan. Frank is a friend and senior nurse at the ED. Mark Chambers is with Medicine International and looking for an on-call doctor.

The Cover
The cover is in the spirit of the story, even if it doesn't reflect the actual tale. It's all about taking a chance, letting it fly free just as Laura's flip-flop-clad feet are doing through the open window of that car.

No kidding! It truly is Laura's Big Break, in so many ways, LOL!
Profile Image for Paige  Bookdragon.
938 reviews645 followers
June 29, 2015
"I'm here because I love you."

The crowd gasped. Charlie felt sick.

"I am in love with you, Charlie Lewis." she said. Charlie felt light headed and bent over to restore the flow of blood.

"Great," Laura said." Someone get the idiot a glass of water. I think he's going to vomit.


You know what I'm thinking while I'm reading this book?

This:
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When I searched "romantic comedy" in Tumblr, this is what I found and I think it's safe to say that this gif and this book is perfect for each other.

A biking trip in Holland?Epic fail biking moments?Burning tents and a dive in a canal?

What more could you ask for?
Profile Image for Stacy.
114 reviews5 followers
January 26, 2013
This book was an easy read - perfect in-between book for when you've been reading a lot of serious novels! It's like MIND CANDY.
Laura Prentice just got her first big girl job with a women's magazine, and her first assignment is to interview philanthropist hottie doctor Charlie Lewis. Problem is, she and Charlie go waaaay back....and it wasn't exactly happy memories for either of them. Can she suck it up to get the interview and save her job, or will Dr Hottie refuse to play nice? I think we all know where the story ends, but it's still delicious good fun.
Profile Image for Izzie d.
4,305 reviews362 followers
March 27, 2019
It was funny.
The Hero and heroine are enemies.
Not too keen on the Hero and his attitude to relationships, she feels any woman that is available is okay with him.
No intimate scenes with anyone other than the Hero and heroine.
HEA.
21 reviews
March 10, 2013
5 stars!

"He was the source of her adventures and the strength that kept her safe"

Laura must interview Charlie, the hot YouTube hero sensation in order to keep her job. It isn't an easy task considering she thinks sleeping with Charlie was the biggest mistake of her life. Charlie wants no part of this interview but Laura agrees to do whatever it takes to get the story. Charlie decides it might be helpful along with entertaining to have her with him for the next 2 weeks. Now having to deal with each other may just be what Laura and Charlie missed 12 years ago.

After reading the prologue, I was immediately hooked. The scene Janet Elizabeth Henderson played out was perfect for setting up what happened between Laura and Charlie 12 years ago. That's when I knew what type of girl Laura was. Sassy with guts! While reading the book I was never annoyed with Laura or Charlie. There personalities complimented each other. Sensible Laura and carefree Charlie. I honestly didn't even care about the secondary characters because I was so involved with Laura and Charlie. Neither seemed childish. Laura was never over the top with her quirkiness and Charlie was always level headed even when he was starting to admit that he was falling for Laura. I didn't want this book to end that's for sure. It was short but very romantic and definitely not over the top.
Profile Image for Suzanne Williams.
Author 162 books95 followers
December 2, 2012
I LOVED this story. The blunt, crass humor captured me from the first page and kept me laughing. Charlie and Laura's love/hate relationship was priceless and precious at the same time. But more than that was how much they needed each other. That is what made this a love story I will not forget. The heartbreaking story of Charlies time in the service was a touching bonus. A super, fun read that brightened my day. Story does have sexual innuendo and situations.
Profile Image for Gisela.
364 reviews
July 19, 2013
The humor didn't work for me it felt contrived and over-the-top. Both main characters do things that left me scratching my head wondering Do sane people really do that?! If one of my brothers was in a relationship with someone resembling the main characters I'd probably tell him to run! If you enjoy slapstick humor in your romances or are in the mood for a silly romance, give this one a try otherwise skip it, there are better books out there.
Profile Image for Luisa Rivas.
2,193 reviews36 followers
December 6, 2012
This book is a riot! So funny and entertaining. Laura and Charlie leave on a cycling trip to Holland where Laura hopes to get an interview from Charlie about his Afghanistan war experience. So many funny things happen that you laugh out loud and can't help but love Laura's feistiness. Hugely entertaining!
30 reviews
November 21, 2012
I did did regret even the small amount of money I paid for it on amazon. The characters felt very stupid and the author over-explained every insignificant thought and doubt and immature worries of the characters.
Profile Image for Maggie Le Page.
Author 4 books60 followers
March 29, 2013
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was laugh out loud funny, and kept me turning the pages right to the last, desperate for Laura to have her happy ending. I can't wait to read more from this author. :)
Profile Image for Lara.
1,597 reviews
June 25, 2013
This book was very, very funny and a quick read. Laura is a frank and straightforward young woman who can really bear a grudge. Her hijinks and stubbornness lead to some very funny situations. The sex takes place "off scree" as it were, so it is all about the interaction between the two leads.
57 reviews
March 18, 2019
I had high expectations getting into the book but it quickly became apparent that they were not going to be met. The blurb promises a hilarious ride but, in my opinion, it wasn't funny at all. Most of the situational comedy was clichéd and too over the top.
Coming to the romance part, I couldn't connect with the characters or feel the chemistry between them.
Over all it was an average read that served to while away time
451 reviews
January 3, 2021
Another Great book in the London Girls series

I teally enjoyed reading this book because it contained action, romance, and comedy. Both of the main characters had flaws, like everypone else in the 'real world'. As they worked it out, you could really feel the emotions they both were experiencing, but I'll stop there before I say too much.😁
50 reviews
September 27, 2021
Hilarious and funny

Entertaining until the very end. Laura and Charlie are long time frenemies that go on a two week holiday bike trip through Holland. Laura is trying to get a story out of Charlie about how he saved a little girls life in Afghanistan. Will he give her the story at the end of their two week trip and what happens during their trip. You have to read to find out
Profile Image for Jennifer Johnson.
436 reviews10 followers
March 30, 2019
An addictive read

Once I started I couldn't stop reading. This story just keeps you hooked wanting to find out what's going to happen next. I loved it and anyone who loves a good romance should definitely read this book as well as all of Janet Elizabeth Henderson's books.
Profile Image for Alyson Buxey.
613 reviews2 followers
September 28, 2022
I did enjoy it, a quick fun read but Charlie didn’t really redeem himself for me and the fade black feels like you are missing some insights into them that might have helped explained how they got to their HEA
Profile Image for Eva.
748 reviews5 followers
July 7, 2017
This book is one of the funniest books I have ever read. It was almost impossible not to laugh loudly during the reading. Especially sports muffles will come at their expense :).
944 reviews
March 30, 2021
Cute and funny. More believable than the first. Not that fiction has to be totally believable but it’s nice when the characters have depth and facets and the story isn’t just to get them into bed.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 63 reviews

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