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Spa Wars
When Emily Browns life and business is turned around by a surprise visit from Carina Lees, immaculately-groomed reality TV star and Z-list celebrity, she cant believe her luck.With just one other member of staff to help her out at her Essex salon The Beauty Spot, Emily is pushed for time as well as money, and so Carinas patronage and the subsequent financial success of the salon is more welcome than a sunbed session in December. But even with the assistance of skilled-yet-shabby new girl Natalie, things start to go mysteriously wrong, and it soon becomes clear that someones got it in for the salon. And with tactics dirtier than a gardeners fingernails, the battle of the beauticians commences. For under all the makeup and manicures, Carina is not who she seems, and although confronting the past can be more painful than a bikini wax, Emily eventually has to stare the truth in the face and realise its whats inside that really counts ...
310 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2008
3 people are currently reading
138 people want to read
About the author
Chris Manby
38 books122 followersThis author has also released books under the name Chrissie Manby.
Encouraged my by English teacher, Mrs. Pocock, I published my first short story in Just Seventeen when I was fourteen years old. The story was called ‘Whatever happened to the wonderful boy I fell in love with’ and I published it under the pseudonym ‘Carolyn Lane’ because it largely consisted of a transcript of an argument I’d had with my boyfriend. I bought a black denim jacket from C & A with the proceeds.
I continued to contribute short stories to Just Seventeen to help pay my way through university. I studied Experimental Psychology at St Edmund Hall in Oxford. Alas, I devoted rather too much time to my social life and staggered away with an unimpressive 2:2. In retrospect, that 2:2 saved my life. It meant that none of the graduate training schemes I had hoped to join would have me. I wouldn’t become an accountant after all. I moved to London and took a series of temp jobs to support myself. It was while I was working at Prelude Audio Books, a company which took erotic ‘classics’ and put them on tape, that I met my first real novelist: David Garnett.
David is a very well respected science fiction writer, who once dabbled with writing erotica under the name Angelique. Prelude was recording the Angelique novels. One afternoon, David spent a couple of hours sitting on my desk, waiting for my boss to come back from a very long publishing lunch to discuss some unpaid royalties. I told David I’d always wanted to be a writer. He dared me to write a novella like Angelique’s. A few weeks later, I handed him my first full-length manuscript. David cast his experienced eye over my scribblings, helped me tweak it and then passed it on to his editor at Little Brown. Incredibly, she made an offer on it. My dream of becoming a proper writer was reborn.
That first book was called ‘Inspiration’. It centred on the sexual shenanigans of a group of artists in St Ives. Wary of embarrassing my parents, I published ‘Inspiration’ as Stephanie Ash. Four more Stephanie Ash novellas followed, helping me to pay my rent and attract the attention of a literary agent. In 1997, I published my first Chris Manby novel, ‘Flatmates’…
Thirteen novels on the single life as Chris Manby later, I’ve just published ‘Getting Over Mr. Right’ as ‘Chrissie Manby’ (apparently too many people are under the impression that I am a bloke!).
I live in London and when I’m not writing (in fact, even when I’m supposed to be writing) I spend an awful lot of time on Twitter. Follow me on @chrissiemanby.
Encouraged my by English teacher, Mrs. Pocock, I published my first short story in Just Seventeen when I was fourteen years old. The story was called ‘Whatever happened to the wonderful boy I fell in love with’ and I published it under the pseudonym ‘Carolyn Lane’ because it largely consisted of a transcript of an argument I’d had with my boyfriend. I bought a black denim jacket from C & A with the proceeds.
I continued to contribute short stories to Just Seventeen to help pay my way through university. I studied Experimental Psychology at St Edmund Hall in Oxford. Alas, I devoted rather too much time to my social life and staggered away with an unimpressive 2:2. In retrospect, that 2:2 saved my life. It meant that none of the graduate training schemes I had hoped to join would have me. I wouldn’t become an accountant after all. I moved to London and took a series of temp jobs to support myself. It was while I was working at Prelude Audio Books, a company which took erotic ‘classics’ and put them on tape, that I met my first real novelist: David Garnett.
David is a very well respected science fiction writer, who once dabbled with writing erotica under the name Angelique. Prelude was recording the Angelique novels. One afternoon, David spent a couple of hours sitting on my desk, waiting for my boss to come back from a very long publishing lunch to discuss some unpaid royalties. I told David I’d always wanted to be a writer. He dared me to write a novella like Angelique’s. A few weeks later, I handed him my first full-length manuscript. David cast his experienced eye over my scribblings, helped me tweak it and then passed it on to his editor at Little Brown. Incredibly, she made an offer on it. My dream of becoming a proper writer was reborn.
That first book was called ‘Inspiration’. It centred on the sexual shenanigans of a group of artists in St Ives. Wary of embarrassing my parents, I published ‘Inspiration’ as Stephanie Ash. Four more Stephanie Ash novellas followed, helping me to pay my rent and attract the attention of a literary agent. In 1997, I published my first Chris Manby novel, ‘Flatmates’…
Thirteen novels on the single life as Chris Manby later, I’ve just published ‘Getting Over Mr. Right’ as ‘Chrissie Manby’ (apparently too many people are under the impression that I am a bloke!).
I live in London and when I’m not writing (in fact, even when I’m supposed to be writing) I spend an awful lot of time on Twitter. Follow me on @chrissiemanby.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
December 29, 2014
My friend who gave me this book to read warned me that it was terrible and that I had to see it first hand, but I had no way of knowing how awful it would really be. This book is the holy grail of terrible books and by far the worst book I've ever read in my life. Not only did it need another editor (or five) because the spelling mistakes and continuity errors throughout the book are egregious [at one point, one of the leads in the book had hazel eyes and - I'm not exaggerating for emphasis - A PAGE AND A HALF LATER, her eyes were suddenly blue; and I know I read the sentence "He very worked hard." at some point in the first 20 pages -- not a good place for your editor to get tired, if there ever was one] but on top of all the mistakes, the book also had the trifecta of awfulness:
- INCREDIBLY unlikeable characters
- fake sexual harrassment charges
- a lot of women who hate each other's guts and lots of bullying
And because this may not accurately convey how terrible this book was, here's my summary of events.
I hate myself a little bit for actually finishing this book, but that's the curse of not abandoning books. I also wish there was a 0 stars option, because 'didn't like it' does not accurately convey the hatred I feel for this book.
(I think I do feel kind of bad for leaving a terrible review like that, I swear I'm usually nowhere near this negative, but this book actually had everything I hate about stories neatly compiled into one novel and I am very unhappy with it.)
- INCREDIBLY unlikeable characters
- fake sexual harrassment charges
- a lot of women who hate each other's guts and lots of bullying
And because this may not accurately convey how terrible this book was, here's my summary of events.
I hate myself a little bit for actually finishing this book, but that's the curse of not abandoning books. I also wish there was a 0 stars option, because 'didn't like it' does not accurately convey the hatred I feel for this book.
(I think I do feel kind of bad for leaving a terrible review like that, I swear I'm usually nowhere near this negative, but this book actually had everything I hate about stories neatly compiled into one novel and I am very unhappy with it.)
July 19, 2017
Incredibly stupid :D The most annoying thing, besides at least 100 utterly plain twists of fate, was that the author obviously lost track of what she wrote several times in the course of this book... brown eyes with green sparkles magically turn into blue eyes 2 pages later ... easy to read, but definitely not worth it!
July 28, 2022
In this hectic schedule, I just finished the book and trust me it was a delight reading it everyday. I think there are very few writers who can write happy stories with happy endings Chris Manby is one of them.
Spa Wars is a light, entertaining read that takes you away from your day’s stress.
Spa Wars is a light, entertaining read that takes you away from your day’s stress.
November 22, 2023
Potěš, to byla ptákovina. Člověk doufal, marně ale stejně, že to bude mít nějakou aspoň malinko zajímavou zápletku (detektivní jsem vzdala při prvni stránce), ale to bylo tak trapné, že se mi chtělo brečet. A prvoplánové. Inu i knihobudka se někdy se svou nabídkou sekne😆😅
November 2, 2018
not a terrible book not as bad as the other reviews make out a happy ending, and not too much to think about, there are worse books out there
March 3, 2019
Bloody brilliant am now searching for more books from this author.
Couldn’t put this down another up and down with emotions both happy and sad but a truly great ending!
Couldn’t put this down another up and down with emotions both happy and sad but a truly great ending!
September 3, 2019
Can't lie it's a good chick lit.. even though I don't read chick books this story was entertaining
June 1, 2021
Very good light read. Really sheds light on judging a book by its cover.
A few unexpected turns but with a remarkable ending
A few unexpected turns but with a remarkable ending
May 10, 2022
ksiazka byla okej, poruszyla tez duzo fajngch tematow to wiadomo np. temat toksycznych ludzi,ale tez przyjazn,milosc
May 31, 2011
Spa Wars by Chris Manby follows the lives of Emily Brown and Carina Lees. Both ladies have somewhat different lives but we find in this story their two worlds meet. The story tells of Emily Brown who is a Beauty Therapist who has taken the plunge and made her dream come true by opening her own salon The Beauty Spot. The business is struggling financially and she needs to get more clients through the door.
Carina Lee is a z-list celebrity who has just come out of a reality show and is now taking on different rolls to stay in the lime light. One evening when she is due to go to an awards evening she breaks a nail and in search to find a salon who will repair it for her at such a late our her driver comes across The Beauty Spot salon where Carina and Emily's worlds come together. Emily repairs her nail and is grateful when she watches the awards show on television that night, when Carina mentions The Beauty Spot. The Beauty Spot is soon buzzing with new clients thanks to Carina but are things starting to pick up or are they really going downhill? Will Emily and Carina be friends after this or is all not quite as it seems!!
I liked the way that this book felt like two stories in one which then joins together. I did find that I warmed more to Emily's character than with Carina as Emily is warm and caring and ambitious whereas Carina is your typical celeb who is attention seeking, selfish and very vain.
I really enjoyed this book although it was predictable. I was drawn to the title of the book as I myself am a beauty therapist with my own salon so I was interested in reading this book as I have never read a fiction book about my industry. It was the title and cover of the book that took my eye I didn't notice the author until I came home and picked it up to read that I noticed the author was Chris Manby who I hadn't read any books by her until earlier in the week when I read Getting Over Mr Right which I enjoyed very much and in my review I said I couldn't wait to read another book by her so it was a pure coincidence that I was attracted to a book by the same author.
I feel this still had the same style of writing as Getting over Mr Right, it was an easy read your typical chick-lit style of book which would be ideal for a beach read as it doesn't disappoint. I didn't find the Beauty/spa side of the book was too mind blowing it was true to form but it didn't take over the story. I did find myself at points in the book wanting to give advice to the lovely Emily as certain things she was going through I found myself going through at the beginning of my business. I think I enjoyed this book more so because I felt I could relate very well to Emily's character.
I would defiantly recommend this book, actually I already have to my employees one of which who has already started reading it and she is not a reader! It is a chick-lit style book which is not too challenging but is very enjoyable. I think the only thing which lets it down is there is no humour in this book at all which is a shame and it would have made it even more of a great read
Carina Lee is a z-list celebrity who has just come out of a reality show and is now taking on different rolls to stay in the lime light. One evening when she is due to go to an awards evening she breaks a nail and in search to find a salon who will repair it for her at such a late our her driver comes across The Beauty Spot salon where Carina and Emily's worlds come together. Emily repairs her nail and is grateful when she watches the awards show on television that night, when Carina mentions The Beauty Spot. The Beauty Spot is soon buzzing with new clients thanks to Carina but are things starting to pick up or are they really going downhill? Will Emily and Carina be friends after this or is all not quite as it seems!!
I liked the way that this book felt like two stories in one which then joins together. I did find that I warmed more to Emily's character than with Carina as Emily is warm and caring and ambitious whereas Carina is your typical celeb who is attention seeking, selfish and very vain.
I really enjoyed this book although it was predictable. I was drawn to the title of the book as I myself am a beauty therapist with my own salon so I was interested in reading this book as I have never read a fiction book about my industry. It was the title and cover of the book that took my eye I didn't notice the author until I came home and picked it up to read that I noticed the author was Chris Manby who I hadn't read any books by her until earlier in the week when I read Getting Over Mr Right which I enjoyed very much and in my review I said I couldn't wait to read another book by her so it was a pure coincidence that I was attracted to a book by the same author.
I feel this still had the same style of writing as Getting over Mr Right, it was an easy read your typical chick-lit style of book which would be ideal for a beach read as it doesn't disappoint. I didn't find the Beauty/spa side of the book was too mind blowing it was true to form but it didn't take over the story. I did find myself at points in the book wanting to give advice to the lovely Emily as certain things she was going through I found myself going through at the beginning of my business. I think I enjoyed this book more so because I felt I could relate very well to Emily's character.
I would defiantly recommend this book, actually I already have to my employees one of which who has already started reading it and she is not a reader! It is a chick-lit style book which is not too challenging but is very enjoyable. I think the only thing which lets it down is there is no humour in this book at all which is a shame and it would have made it even more of a great read
July 12, 2013
Fabulous chick lit. You can't help but like Emily the owner of the beauty spot. When things start going wrong for her you can smell the rat. Horrible Natalie! How could she do that!? And why I understood why Carina wanted revenge on Emily, it was still petty. It happened years ago. Carina is a z list celeb who rises and then falls from fame. And her fall is pretty car crash. The media are cruel but then I guess you can't expect anything else if your famous for nothing. Overall this is a great read if you love chick lit but you won't be to impressed if you don't.
December 13, 2013
Entertaining. Kept me reading and was nice and light. It wasn't perfect, but I don't think it was anywhere near as bad as some of the reviews would have you believe. But then I have always quite liked Chris Manby's books.
June 29, 2019
Já jsem moc nečekala, no vlastně jsem nečekala skoro nic, ale tahle kniha sakra příjemně překvapila, dokonce měla i hůř odhalitelnou zápletku a docela sympatické a realistické postavy... A ta obálka :3 Palec nahoru :)
July 17, 2018
I couldnt get into this at all, i just couldnt get into the story line or relate to the characters.
October 9, 2012
Good quick read, story flowed well and I enjoyed the characters.
May 22, 2013
Nice simple plot that does not get you confused at any point of the story. An easy read.
February 23, 2015
Typical, easy going chick lit.
March 1, 2021
Overall story was entertaining. A good book as chick lit but I'm not fan of women drama.
August 19, 2012
was a very easy book ..perfect for the summer
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews