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Kissing Mr Wrong
Lu Edwards believes in travelling light. All she needs is a Mr Right to slip into her streamlined life, and Marcus fits the bill to perfection – if only he wasn’t moving to Minneapolis. Lu’s grandmother is also looking for a man, a First World War soldier from her past, but there’s only a photo to go on.
Lu turns for help to Nick, a WW I expert with more baggage than Heathrow. He is, on paper, everything she doesn’t want in a man. But as he helps Lu trace her family history, she finds herself falling for his chaotic charms. Why, when she should be looking for Mr Right, is she getting so hung up on Mr Couldn’t-be-more-wrong?
Lu turns for help to Nick, a WW I expert with more baggage than Heathrow. He is, on paper, everything she doesn’t want in a man. But as he helps Lu trace her family history, she finds herself falling for his chaotic charms. Why, when she should be looking for Mr Right, is she getting so hung up on Mr Couldn’t-be-more-wrong?
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First published January 1, 2010
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
April 13, 2020
Although Lu writes and illustrated books for children, she has no great love for them. She is damant she doesn’t want children of her own. But she does want to meet Mr Right. So when she meets the good looking Marcus, she thinks he could be a good candidate. And then she meets Nick. Nick is in so many ways Mr Wrong. Even though they he and Lu along well and seem to click, Nick has an ex-wife and children. Two boys, Ben and Tom. No way does Lu want to become involved with someone like that! She also wants to move away from the cycle of flat fee illustrations about animated peas and fairies to do something more significant with her work. But it doesn’t seem to be forthcoming. Meanwhile her beloved grandmother Delia, who was adopted as a child, sets Lu a task. Given a photograph of her father Jack, taken during the time of World War 1, and two names Delia hopes Lu will be able to find out what happened to her both parents. Nick who is a World War 1 expert is helpful in pointing her in the right direction with her research. As she traces the family history, Lu finds life takes a different turn than she expected.
I thought this would be a nice light piece of chick lit, and for a fair proportion of the book I was quite interested, as Lu started to research her ancestors. I liked her grandmother Delia, who is in her 90s. Lu’s mother Pixie, with her flighty ways and tarot cards and so forth, came across as an annoying caricature. As for Lu, the longer the story went on the more aggravated with her I became. Possibly at other times I might have given up on this book, but given the paucity of books to read with the libraries closed I persisted, even though I had a fair idea where the book was heading.
In the end it was a pleasant enough read, though there were time I could have bopped Lu for her selfishness and I got both bored and annoyed with Pixie. I did think Nick and his two boys came across as realistic, well-drawn characters. It’s light but enjoyable enough, without being an overly deep and involving read. Those that appreciate chick lit may like it more than I did.
I thought this would be a nice light piece of chick lit, and for a fair proportion of the book I was quite interested, as Lu started to research her ancestors. I liked her grandmother Delia, who is in her 90s. Lu’s mother Pixie, with her flighty ways and tarot cards and so forth, came across as an annoying caricature. As for Lu, the longer the story went on the more aggravated with her I became. Possibly at other times I might have given up on this book, but given the paucity of books to read with the libraries closed I persisted, even though I had a fair idea where the book was heading.
In the end it was a pleasant enough read, though there were time I could have bopped Lu for her selfishness and I got both bored and annoyed with Pixie. I did think Nick and his two boys came across as realistic, well-drawn characters. It’s light but enjoyable enough, without being an overly deep and involving read. Those that appreciate chick lit may like it more than I did.
November 1, 2010
Sarah Duncan is a good chick lit author. She does NOT write fluff and can be relied on NOT to follow fairytales and clichés.
Lu is looking for Mr Right but meets Nick a dad of two. Lu doesn't want children and uses this as an excuse to not get involved. She does however, meet a the gorgeous, tall, dark handsome and wealthy Mr Right aka Marcus and who could resist such a chick lit cliché..? (I won't spoil it by revealing more).
The great thing about this book is that most books that feature a single dad or single mum portray that the children are never (or rarely) a problem with their new romance/squeeze.
Most authors in fact allow liberties for the new "romance" to get to know the kids without any thought about safety or precautions that ought to be taken when introducing a kid to a stranger.
They portray that these single people with kids get involved with singles (that don't have "baggage") and find that suddenly Mr Right or Ms Right have fallen in love with their kid as well as with themselves
This book shatters this chick lit preconception
Its pathetic how some authors write about single mum and dads meeting other singles (who have no children) and who can easily accept these children in their life, being second best or having a permanent reminder of a previous relationship and be totally ok with it. The "new love" even easily takes the role of new mum or dad easily without a fuss from either the kids, the "other parent" or the man/woman him/herself. This book does not follow that theme (thank goodness!!).
The only thing that was a bit annoying was Pixie. I think her character was exaggerated. Her "spiritualism", "fashion" sense, young boyfriend etc was a bit OTT. Her part kind of dragged so I skipped pages as it was not interesting. But I did feel sorry for Lu's father. Having recently read about child custody battles and how its difficult for men to gain any custody I can understand why he did what he did. But Pixie on the other hand was just a tad irritating.
Lu is looking for Mr Right but meets Nick a dad of two. Lu doesn't want children and uses this as an excuse to not get involved. She does however, meet a the gorgeous, tall, dark handsome and wealthy Mr Right aka Marcus and who could resist such a chick lit cliché..? (I won't spoil it by revealing more).
The great thing about this book is that most books that feature a single dad or single mum portray that the children are never (or rarely) a problem with their new romance/squeeze.
Most authors in fact allow liberties for the new "romance" to get to know the kids without any thought about safety or precautions that ought to be taken when introducing a kid to a stranger.
They portray that these single people with kids get involved with singles (that don't have "baggage") and find that suddenly Mr Right or Ms Right have fallen in love with their kid as well as with themselves
This book shatters this chick lit preconception
Its pathetic how some authors write about single mum and dads meeting other singles (who have no children) and who can easily accept these children in their life, being second best or having a permanent reminder of a previous relationship and be totally ok with it. The "new love" even easily takes the role of new mum or dad easily without a fuss from either the kids, the "other parent" or the man/woman him/herself. This book does not follow that theme (thank goodness!!).
The only thing that was a bit annoying was Pixie. I think her character was exaggerated. Her "spiritualism", "fashion" sense, young boyfriend etc was a bit OTT. Her part kind of dragged so I skipped pages as it was not interesting. But I did feel sorry for Lu's father. Having recently read about child custody battles and how its difficult for men to gain any custody I can understand why he did what he did. But Pixie on the other hand was just a tad irritating.
February 6, 2011
I adored "Single To Rome", and I'm delighted to say this new one by Sarah Duncan is every bit as good. The cover blurb really doesn't do it justice at all, this book's a lot more than that. The heroine, Lu, is a very real thirties singleton who finds life has rather passed her by, illustrating books about animated vegetables for a flat fee. Nick is a struggling father, with two young boys who exhibit all the hostility any of us will have experienced when we try to take on a ready made family. Marcus, the dish - well, we've all come across his type too. There's light relief in Lu's mother, Pixie: and there's a substantial story line involving her wartime family history and her 92 year old grandmother. Lu turns out to have some pretty substantial baggage of her own, and the emotions involved are really well drawn - this is chick lit with depth, interest and integrity. And - for all animal lovers out there - her gran's dog Scottie plays a big role in the story and you'll just love him. Highly recommended to anyone who enjoys a really well-written light read.... must get some of her back catalogue off my shelves too...
August 1, 2010
Beautifully written but I couldn't empathise with the heroine
February 14, 2013
pure girlie escapism but a great read all the same
February 12, 2018
This is OK chick lit, less formulaic than most. I liked that it avoided too much unlikely drama and misunderstanding - people mostly say what they mean when they mean it, and there was a sober heart to the story.
It was slightly odd how it spent so much time on the heroine being miserable before the inevitable ending. Less suspense, and more plain waiting.
It was slightly odd how it spent so much time on the heroine being miserable before the inevitable ending. Less suspense, and more plain waiting.
October 25, 2015
Although I've marked this as a "like", I nearly gave up on it in the early chapters because they were strange.
After a nice opening scene where we learn about Lu's perfectionism and relationship issues from the action, the writing suddenly changed, becoming clunky and heavy-handed. It annoyed me so much I was about to put the book down - when just as suddenly, it changed again, back to the smooth easy-reading style I enjoyed so much in A Single To Rome.
I was left feeling that the strange passage was an afterthought. Perhaps the editor felt Lu's character and motivations weren't clear enough from the action, and insisted the author spell it all out before the real story unfolds - so she grudgingly wrote that clunky section? Whatever, a lot of it was unnecessary, as the same points (her abandonment issues, relationship history, perfectionism etc) were all clearly revealed again as the story progressed.
The plot is a good one but most of the text concentrates on Lu's relationship with Nick. The details didn't always work for me - I found it hard to believe that a starving illustrator wouldn't have already acquainted herself with a packet of sausages, for instance, or that her grandmother would never have told her a few home truths about her father, and I found some of her reactions very childish - but this is not serious literature after all, it's an easy holiday read, so I shouldn't be too picky!
After a nice opening scene where we learn about Lu's perfectionism and relationship issues from the action, the writing suddenly changed, becoming clunky and heavy-handed. It annoyed me so much I was about to put the book down - when just as suddenly, it changed again, back to the smooth easy-reading style I enjoyed so much in A Single To Rome.
I was left feeling that the strange passage was an afterthought. Perhaps the editor felt Lu's character and motivations weren't clear enough from the action, and insisted the author spell it all out before the real story unfolds - so she grudgingly wrote that clunky section? Whatever, a lot of it was unnecessary, as the same points (her abandonment issues, relationship history, perfectionism etc) were all clearly revealed again as the story progressed.
The plot is a good one but most of the text concentrates on Lu's relationship with Nick. The details didn't always work for me - I found it hard to believe that a starving illustrator wouldn't have already acquainted herself with a packet of sausages, for instance, or that her grandmother would never have told her a few home truths about her father, and I found some of her reactions very childish - but this is not serious literature after all, it's an easy holiday read, so I shouldn't be too picky!
October 13, 2011
I knew when I picked this up that it wasn't going to be a literary classic, but I guess I've proven to myself that I've had enough of chick lit. To be fair, I was listening to the audio & the narrator's voice was childlike & annoying, which probably put me off more than reading the book. I stopped 50% through, which is very unlike me, as I wanted something with more substance. Not my cup of tea, but I'm sure it would still appeal if you're looking for a light read.
July 3, 2010
Very enjoyable read. Loved the mystery of Jack entertwinted with the protagonist's own struggle in the present day.
July 18, 2010
I didn't like this as much as "A Single to Rome" but it was an enjoyable and easy read all the same.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews