Наследнички

by Louise Bagshawe

На война и в любовта всичко е позволено – особено когато залогът е огромно наследство.

Изисканата светска дама Юнона, ексцентричната й сестра Атина и техните красиви братовчедки – Диана и Венера, живеят безгрижно и охолно с парите от голям попечителски фонд. Щедрият им благодетел – техният чичо Клем, ги кани в имението си на Сейшелските острови, за да им представи годеницата си. Освен това той им съобщава, че ще закрие попечителския им фонд.

Племенничките на милиардера веднага съзират враг в лицето на младата Бей Линг. Те бързо трябва да предотвратят сватбата, за да не останат без наследство. За целта братовчедките измислят план как да убедят чичо си, че сексапилната тайландка не е подходящата за него съпруга. Но докато се опитват да си върнат благосклонността му, те трябва да се издържат сами.

Какво се случва, когато четири разглезени млади дами трябва да се справят сами в живота? Коя от тях ще успее и коя ще се провали?

Genres: Chick Lit, Fiction, Romance, Contemporary, London, Contemporary Romance, Family

416 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Louise Daphne Bagshawe was born on 28 June 1971 in England, UK. She attended local all-girls Catholic schools near her family home in Surrey, before going to Oxford University in 1989. After graduating with a degree in Anglo Saxon and Norse, she worked as press officer with EMI records and then as a marketing official with Sony Music. On her 22nd birthday, her passion for writing was realised with a major publishing deal as Louise Bagshawe. She is the author of more than fifteen novels, published in more than eight languages. She is sister of the also writer Tilly Bagshawe.

Louise married Anthony LoCicero, and they had three children, but since June 2011, she is married with her second husband Peter Mensch. She lives in Northamptonshire with her family, and has been the Parliamentary Candidate for Corby and East Northants since November 2006, and became the Member of Parliament for Corby after winning the seat at the 2010 general election.

Reviews

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the way this author writes, she really brings you into another world and I'm here for it.

Four stars.

[Siany · Rating 4 out of 5]

Louise Bagshawe has been one of my favourite authors for a few years.
Her books are lighthearted and don't required too much thinking, which I enjoy and I have always loved the good guys, bad guys, romance storyline angles.

It took me a while to get into this one though, I thought about giving up about 80 pages in, but decided to perserve. And I am glad I did and it turned out to be quite enjoyable.
I didnt particularly like any of the main characters to begin with, but they kinda grew on me after a while. And what I like about L Bagshawe's books is that they always feature strong women who get through what life throw at them.
Their Uncle Clem was completely sadistic and a total weirdo, but made for a really good bad guy. And Bai-Ling wasnt quite a predictible character as first thought, and actually felt quite sorry for her towards the end.

Although I did enjoy this, its definately not as good as her earlier work and if you have never read any of her books before I definately don't recommend starting with this one. My favourites are A Kept Woman, Tuesday's Child and Venus Envy. But if you are a fan of her work then you will probably enjoy this.

[Jade · Rating 3 out of 5]

Can't really give a chick lit more than a 3....but, after a dull start (why do these books go on and on about what chanel dress etc they're wearing!) the book was very fast moving. I actually found myslef...dare I say...really excited by it. The ending was like a classic rom com movie and gave me a spring in my step. Nothing original or worthy of a booker, but a really nice, enjoyable read. Definitely one to recommend if you need a little self absorbed pick me up.

[Nina Draganova · Rating 3 out of 5]

Сега , припомняйки си тези книги, ми се виждат много блудкави( някои от тях) . Тази е наръчник на модните марки. Благодарение на такива книги, понаучих преди години доста от тях. Всичко е по по най при авторката, по-малко от милиардери няма. И всичко се решава с магическа пръчка.

[Anubha (BooksFullOfLife, LifeFullOfBooks) · Rating 4 out of 5]

https://youtu.be/ii_JzYyGbpY

[Goddess Of Blah · Rating 1 out of 5]

DUMB. DUMB. DUMB. SO DUMB IT HURTS.

JUST SHUT UP. YOU'RE STUPID.

NO MORE PLEASE! YOU DUMB B****


As bad as her career as a Tory MP.

SNORE

IF I DIDN'T HAVE TO READ THESE BOOKS FOR MY JOB - I WOULDN'T. BETTER CHICK LIT OUT THERE

[Claire O'brien · Rating 1 out of 5]

Oh god this was bad! Nothing more to say!!

[Hayley Em · Rating 1 out of 5]

I lost a bet to read this book after finding it at a free library in a hotel on the Greek island of Crete. I read it as quickly as possible to get it over with. What I will say is that this book never tries to be anything but what the cover suggests. Don’t let the fact that it’s 500 pages: easily 200 of them are simply painstaking descriptions of designer outfits.

The plot is surprisingly not completely terrible, but the fact that the descriptions of the one Asian character are pretty racist and that the characters are exceptionally unrelatable and relatively unlikeable make this hard to stomach.

[Laini · Rating 3 out of 5]

Glitz is the story of 4 cousins, Juno and her sister Athena, and their cousins, Venus and her sister Diana. Very different girls, who had very different childhoods, they all now have one very important thing in common, they are rich, extremely rich, and famous because of their wealth. This fabulous lifestyle they lead is provided by their uncle Clem, a reclusive business man who lives on an island in the middle of nowhere. Their only duty in order to receive this money is to visit Clem for 2 weeks of the year, at Christmas, no exceptions, and no guests allowed, even Juno's husband must spend the time alone, while she vacations on the tropical island.

Everything changes however when Clem invites them unexpectedly to visit mid year, and announces that he is getting married to a much younger woman and he is giving them a year to get themselves sorted before he cuts off their trust funds. Naturally the girls are not happy about this, and must put aside their bickering to get rid of this interloper and try to save their extravagant lifestyles.

The fact that all the girls have such different personalities and traits meant that the reader has more of a chance to relate to at least one of these girls. Venus is a wannabe actress, she wants to be famous and star in top Hollywood movies, and thinks that her wealth and considerable fame will help her get there. Her sister Diana scorns the idea of "working" even as an actress and intends to spend her life being the IT girl on the social scene. Juno is married and very much a social climber, she's all about the grand and elegant parties and increasing her VIP contacts. Her sister Athena on the other hand is sort of considered the black sheep of the quartet. She comes across as very plain, she doesn't take as much care of her appearance as the rest of them and definitely doesn't care about clothes and designer labels. Her ambition is to become a research fellow in Oxford university, but her dreams are shattered when the position is awarded to a male candidate who received much lower marks than she did.

Since these girls were 16 they have never known anything else but money. Clem has made sure that wealth comes before everything else by letting them know they must sacrifice Christmas with their family to ensure his continued approval. The news that they will lose everything comes as a huge shock to them and understandably they have no idea how to handle the situation, they have never had to work or worry about money in any way. This means that characters who are snobby and selfish, end up arousing a lot of sympathy for their "plight". Even though we should scorn their lack of common sense and brattiness, we understand why they are the way they are and also that this is a very obvious ploy by Clem to make them completely dependent on him.

Clem is a very manipulative and scheming man. You get the impression early on that this marriage is almost a test for his nieces, an assessment in their loyalty, and an examination in how far they will go to ensure they stay rich.

The plot of the book is very enticing, it moves along at a nice pace and really manages to insert the reader into this fabulous world of parties and celebrities. One obvious way it does this is to describe every outfit the girls put on for every party or interview or meeting they attend. Frequently the girls' outfits are compared to one another. Juno comments on the appearances as they fly out to see Clem:
"Venus dressed sexy...Today she was wearing a Pucci halter-necked dress in patterned silk, teetering Manolos in flesh coloured leather - strappy sandals that laced halfway up her toned calves....Over it all, a crisp tailored coat by Joseph, snow white, picked out her tanned blondeness....Chanel sunglasses balanced on top of her head."
"Diana...was slightly less obvious. Prada handbag, to match her carry-on...Versace dress and jacket in tailored cream cotton with a daisy detail...Her shoes were chestnut, too, Christian Louboutin with the sassy red soles."
"She herself...wore a sheashell-pink dress and coat by Robinson Valentine, sedate YSL pumps in black leather, and carried a neat little Kate Spade handbag, black with jet and pink crystal detailing...with a large pair of Dior sunglasses perched on her forehead."
"But Athena! Mousy-brown hair, untouched by stylists...Low budget clothing. Ray-Bans, for heaven's sake. A necklace of crystals. At least she appeared to be wearing some decent Jimmy Choo flats, and her handbag was Gucci. But Juno's baby sister was a tousled, tumbled mess."
Frankly all that goes straight over my head, but I'm sure it's very impressive! I just wish that we didn't have to have a full fashion show every time the girls meet for a cup of coffee.

All in all, it was an enjoyable book. Not the most conversation-inspiring book I've ever read, but a nice quick read!

[3min45secs · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clement Chambers is the ancient billionaire uncle of Diana, Juno, Athena and Venus, all aptly named after Goddesses. Four cousins, two pairs of sisters, who have been blessed when their rich uncle who decided to give each girl £500,000 a year from being a teenager. Venus and Diana are orphaned as children after their parents die in a drink driving accident and are sent to boarding school where Juno and Athena attend after Uncle Clem kindly pays for all of their educations. There are conditions or Uncle Clement's money, these conditions are the girls have to come to the Caribean alone to spend Christmas with him. The girls, now in their late twenties and early thirties, were more than happy to accept his money and to spend the Christmas with him.

The girls lived a lavish lifestyle, attending the best parties, socialising with royalty, aristocrats, Lords and Ladies amongst other people of high society. The Chambers girls are notorious, everyone knows their name, they just have to say their surname and restaurant reservations appear, hotels, holidays all become available to them. The girls love it. Venus believes she has a career as she is an actress, not a very good one, but she has had very small parts. Juno is more than happy to live off Uncle Clem's money. She is married to Jack who wants her to stand on her own two feet, but Juno wants Jack to earn more to keep her the way she is accustomed too whilst she can throw the most lavish parties. Diana is the famous "It girl", people are demanding her to attend premieres, parties, openings all to have her name associated with them. Finally, Athena is an Oxford lecturer who is applying for tenure. Athena is seen as the frumpy boring Chamber's girl who wants a career herself. Each girl is appropriately named reflecting their lifestyle, Venus is unlucky in love and can be seen as promiscuous. Juno is the only one who is married. Diana likes to do her own thing and be independent. Finally, Athena is using her wisdom and creating a name for herself academically.

The girls are self-centred, they dislike each other and they tolerate their ancient Uncle. They only see him once a year when they are summoned to see him. The girls don't speak to each other during the year unless it is to discuss their Uncle. Until each girl receives a telegram, asking them to come back to the Carribean as Uncle Clem needs to speak to them and it has to be in person. The girls don't know why they have been asked to attend, considering it has only been two weeks since Christmas. They arrive on the island and are ushered to Clem's house to be greeted by Clement and Bai-Ling, Uncle Clem's new Thai fiancee. The girls do not like her. They see Bai-Ling as a threat and want to know what her ulterior motives are and why a very young lady would want to marry a man in his 80s. Money. Bai-Ling has to go, and so starts a series of ideas and actions to try and get rid of Clement's fiancee in any way possible.

Bai-Ling and the Chamber's girls start a slagging match between themselves, they are polite and considerate to each other but they are planning and plotting against each other in the background whilst trying to keep the worries and stresses of their own lives under control at the same time. Who will win, Bai-Ling or the Chambers girls? Or will Uncle Clem see sense? Only time will tell.

The characters are well written, they drew me in and I liked Athena and Diana the best. Each character had a personality, feelings and emotions that I could relate too. They all instilled an emotion in me. I was able to feel something for them all. I thought I knew the characters well, I thought I knew where the story was going, I was so wrong! There were twists and turns and characters revealed their true colours which I did not expect. In my personal opinion, I thought Uncle Clem started to show autistic traits. He definitely has control issues and has to have things in a certain way that he depicts. He also struggles to show his emotions and to show empathy for others. He was definitely a character who changed my opinion throughout.

Rating: 8/10

10-Word-Review: Interesting, great read, money brings out the worst in people.

If you would like to read other reviews check out my blog at http://threeminutesfortyfiveseconds.b...

[Lilanthi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Leaving out the detailed descriptions of the branded clothes, shoes, accessories and furniture, (even at highly emotional moments) the actual story was very interesting.
Diana, Venus, Athena and Juno are living it up in the highest society circles, thanks to a trust fund established by their reclusive uncle Clement in the Seychelles, whose life moral is to prove to the world that money comes before family obligations.
They are suddenly summoned to a family meeting to discover to their horror, that uncle Clement has decided to get married to Bai Ling, a much younger foreigner and their trust fund is at stake.
The girls who could barely stand each other’s company, rally around to break up the marriage and find that standing on their own feet is much more rewarding. Bai Ling works to claim all of the old man’s riches and disinherit his nieces.
Who will succeed? Will the girls plan to trip up Bai Ling work out? Will they be able to survive without the millions of money they are used to? Will the control freak Uncle have the last laugh?
The story ends with an unexpected twist that leaves you with a smile of satisfaction.

[Louisa Eggleton · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. I've discovered that chick-lit is definately my thing! I loved the characters in this story and have felt it very hard to say goodbye to them now the book is finished. This book has taught me to cherish the ability to make it on your own, and be proud of your successes. And that you don't need much money to have a ton of class, but sometimes people can have a ton of money and not much class! At the end of the day, handouts are cursed money....it's the money you earn yourself that get's you ahead.
Great story and I'm looking forward to reading more of her books one day.

[Jes Jester · Rating 3 out of 5]

Every once in awhile I like to stray from my usual genres and read a glorious bit of brain candy (chick-lit). I knew that everything would work out in the end. Everyone would be beautiful, rich and completely in love. Not too many shockers in this one, but a good read for anyone looking for a break from their life. I enjoyed it but have had my chick-lit fill for the next while, so in that sense, it accomplished what I hoped it would.

[Reene's Library · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this cover.

"Glitz " by #louisebagshawe

This was a great read, I must say it dose teach you some of life's greatest struggles and how to accomplish them.

It kept me very intrigued until the end of the book, I did share some tears reading this but was a great read.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

@reenes_library

#bookstagram #book #books #reading
#louisebagshawebooks
#newread #bookworm🐛📖 #booklover #bookstagram #books #bookrecommendations #bookinsta #bookinstagram

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not normally the type of book I buy as I've got older. However I bought it from a charity shop, and thought I'd give it ago. I enjoyed it it's fun. A little silly and far fetched, but again that's why it was a fun sunshine, uncomplicated read. It's like a American soap opera, glamour, glitz, money and power.

[Sana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well written, good character development but the plot was a bit too unrealistic and shallow for my taste. It's a quick read though and a good time-killer.

[Caprice · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't know what more this book had to offer considering the blurb detailed the whole plot. However, you know that a story is good when you reach for this in the morning before looking at your phone. I really enjoyed the idea of this story, I loved the plot and the way the story unfolded. I also enjoyed the character development that seems so lacking in modern-day romance. I also love the way the author describes everything, even down to the makeup the girls are wearing, as you can develop a vivid image of the characters in your head. I also enjoyed the message of the importance of independence, working together, and finding your own path. I also like how the girls didn't punish Bai'ling or Uncle Clem for their behaviour but showed understanding and were prepared to critique their own behaviour. I would definitely read this story again as it was so heartwarming.

[What to read next ....... · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Total Chick Flick , entertaining but not the best 🙁

Four beautiful Chambers girls are rolling In money 💰, thanks to the trust fund set up by their reclusive, super rich uncle Clem.
But when he summons his nieces to his mansion in the Seychelles to announce his engagement to Bai-Ling , a woman young enough to be their baby sister , the girls know the party could be over .


The storyline was entertaining, but the writing style, was rushed , and found no connection with the characters.

[Sarah Coetzee · Rating 2 out of 5]

A light and mindless read. But her characters were as plastic as the world they represented. Very disappointed by the traditional 'woman needs a man to be happy' motif. Annoyed by Bagshawe's need to describe every outfit they wore - that probably took up half the pages. Most annoying, however, was her reference to the Seychelles being in the Pacific Ocean. If you're going to make a place central to your story, you owe it to your readers to find out where it is.

[Alexandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book may look like your regular name-dropping chicklit about the rich and shameless but it's so much more. You just have to get to the end. I very rarely cry at books, movies or songs but I did cry at the end of this book. You probably will roll your eyes at the countless name droppings but it's absolutely worth it when you get to the ending.

[Fracesca Dignan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Bad just so so so bad

Any book that casually mentions heavy Weinstein as a nice person has to be bad , this is a sexist , racist load of white with no character redemption arc and is just so utterly dumb and degrading . I will NEVER read Louise Bagshaw books vegetarian !

[Irene Marston · Rating 2 out of 5]

too sad

[Carol Green · Rating 3 out of 5]

A rather predictable and mostly annoying chicklet but just what I wanted for some light relief.

[C · Rating 1 out of 5]

Was not feeling it.

https://clavie.co/2019/03/06/edit-boo...

[Bernard Campbell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute story not my usual but a fun read all the same

[Chris Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Slow to get into but enjoyed reading how spoilt rich women changed using their skills to establish themselves.

[Gail · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dire!

[DrAnjali Annadurai · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful climax

[Emily Sæther · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was really loving the beginning and was binge reading…until it seemed super stereotyped and gave up

[Tanya Curran · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this one! Huge fan of Louise Bagshawe and this didn’t disappoint. Kept me intrigued until the end but I must say I was. A little over all the name dropping of every single thing they wore