Little White Lies

by Bernadette Strachan

Jilted bride Billie Baskerville is summoned by her Aunt Barbara to remotest Sussex. Aunt Babs is going to Australia on a OAP-GAP year, and needs Billie to take over running her shop...her wedding dress shop. Putting a cynical, groom-hating, wedding-loathing, bride-detesting girl in charge of such a shop might seem a little hasty, but before long Billie can't help but get swept away with the romance of the whole thing, and with village life. She gives the shop a much-needed makeover, reunites lovers, not to mention long-lost relatives, and also starts rebuilding her own life again.

It's all starting to look up - even if her family is crazy, her gay best friend is converting every man in the village, and Billie is still emailing her ex.

But then, enter stage left, a very handsome firefighter...

Genres: Chick Lit, Fiction

358 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Bernadette Strachan isn't sure whether she writes romantic books with funny bits or funny books with romantic bits. She was born in Fulham, London into an Irish Catholic family. Before becoming an author she ran a wool shop, produced radio commercials, and was a voice-over agent representing quite a lot of famous people.

She is starting her seventh book and working on a new stage musical with her husband, Matthew. They have one daughter, Niamh and a spaniel called Mavis.

Reviews

[Gaze · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ve been jumping from genre to genre lately, as opposed to my burning same genre books for the past years (as my yearly reading patterns reflected). The winds of change is welcomed and refreshing. Moving on, the story revolves around a woman tasked by her great-aunt to run a bridal shop. The irony? She happens to hate white dresses and weddings, brought by her failed attempt with her own wedding. With a fresh start in mind, she accepted the challenge and round revolves the story.
All I can say is: this is not a fairy tale. Life is not a fairy tale. Crises such as having your heart broken, failed marriages, unclear career paths, and facing life despite being shattered into pieces and dealing it head on is reality reflected. Plucking out a theme, it revolves around love. Love in its many forms. Mainly, is the relationship you have with yourself. Some people seem to deny themselves, dragging other hapless people in their misery. Another is the relationship you have between your significant other. Despite each of your imperfections, there is an innate desire to be understood and understand the other. And the list that love governs spans on. Frankly, the story explains the complexities of living a life and being brave on finding love, which I think may be cliché to some, but really, if you look at life in a bird’s eye view, you might find that it is what matters the most. You can’t rewrite your life, all you can do is make the best of it.

[Priya Trivedi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Billie Baskerville hates weddings and this all comes from her own wedding. She was getting married to her boyfriend James and he abandons her on the wedding day. Ever since then she had hated everything about it. One fine day she receives a letter her great aunty babs who wanted Billie to look after her shop of wedding dresses as she was planning on going to Australia to meet her friend. Billie finds this as her safe escape to move on from the tragedy of her life and moves to a new town Sole Bay to look after the wedding shop. From making the shop a true success in the town to becoming a wedding planner herself Billie goes through a series of events . She no longer despises women who like weddings . She falls in love with the town. And then one fine day she marries someone too ! I can’t tell you who she marries! You must read the book and find out . You will love the ending.

[Katie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This took a while to read and I hate books like that the story was meh it would start getting good then standards would drop in my opinion in the end I just wanted to finish it not the best book I’m afraid

[Dani · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my comfortable favourites!

[Sophie Houston · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant. Extremely funny, and if you don't cry on page 310 then you have no soul!

[Karen Broughton · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very enjoyable read, loved the rag tag team of characters, totally immersed in the story. Fab twist i did not see at the end.

[PrettyFlamingo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book, the subtle humour and deeper layers of psychology. I thought it a great read with a fabulous cover, some curious characters and interesting and witty dialogue and narrative. Billie Baskerville (great name) has taken over the running of her great aunt’s bridal shop in a small seaside town, and has plans to drag it into the 21st century. It’s such an antique that the kitchen is “home to a selection of tannin-streaked mugs given away by a stationery company and a tea towel that had last been rinsed when Billie was a virgin”. The thing is, though, Billie doesn’t like weddings. She very nearly had one herself but now it’s time to get on with life, and she does this by meeting new friends, upgrading the shop, getting involved with local life (and firemen!) and moving into a beach hut.

Some amusing characters here; gay best friend, Vicky Pollard the wedding shop Saturday girl, a control freak, Zelda next door and James, the fiancé that got away. Oh and don’t forget Spartakiss, absolute classic. Plus some horrific and some sweet brides-to-be coming through the doors all make for a fascinating story that I was very involved with.

There is a twist in the tale towards the end that pulls everything together and which you didn’t see coming as we are led in a different direction throughout the book. I loved the story with the right blend of humour and drama and excellent writing.

[MissNYix · Rating 3 out of 5]

I quite like this book as it is interesting in a way, however to tell you the truth it is also one of the wishy-washy books. This book is about a girl named Billie who needs to take over a bridal shop from her aunt. This means the character's main objective is to run a run-down shop into a success. Typically, the main character Billie would have to dislike the thought of running a bridal shop (her allergy to weddings and marriage), as she does not think to in-depth about "normal white dresses". In this story, Billie the main charcter meets new people as she has the objective to search the right wedding gown for future brides in "town."

It's like girl meets intersting people, town and have some-what a "perfect" life with the exception of her "social life". It is also girl meets "begger-who-is-actually-rich," and a firefighter. She also have a history of "turning down her fiance." Who would she really end up with? *Spoiler* here goes...James. Anyway, what disgusts me was, on how the author described about the "ingredients" used to paint. Which readers would know what I am talking about.

[MissNYix · Rating 3 out of 5]

I quite like this book as it is interesting in a way, however to tell you the truth it is also one of the wishy-washy books. This book is about a girl named Billie who needs to take over a bridal shop from her aunt. This means the character's main objective is to run a run-down shop into a success. Typically, the main character Billie would have to dislike the thought of running a bridal shop (her allergy to weddings and marriage), as she does not think to in-depth about "normal white dresses". In this story, Billie the main charcter meets new people as she has the objective to search the right wedding gown for future brides in "town." It's like girl meets intersting people, town and have some-what a "perfect" life with the exception of her "social life". It is also girl meets "begger-who-is-actually-rich," and a firefighter. She also have a history of "turning down her fiance." Who would she really end up with? *Spoiler* here goes...James. Anyway, what disgusts me was, on how the author described about the "ingredients" used to paint. Which readers would know what I am talking about.

[Grace · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was one of the many books I bought in a charity shop around 3 years ago... and there it has sat in my pile of books I fully intend to read... and honestly it was okay, not incredible, not that great but okay... It had a twist or two at the end but i wouldn’t suggest buying it unless it was a pound from a charity shop...

[Hazel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can't recommend Bernadette Strachan's books enough! They are a really good read. they are light, sometimes touching and always very funny. The author has a great way with similes and paints very colourful scenes for the reader.

[Rocialle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Little white lies has elements of subtlety, and has many good aspects. Although there felt to be too many charactures, to get the full understanding of which charactures did what... It took me a little longer to finish than I would have liked =]

[Felicity · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was probably my least favorite of the Bernadette Strachan books. The "girl-swears-off-boys-then-falls-in-love" formula just fell really flat here. Kind of dull. The heroine just didn't have the pizzazz of previous Strachan heroines.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the huge sea of chick lit, Bernadette Strachan is a beautiful, colourful tropical fish. As funny and touching as her previous books. Highly recommended.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like Bernadettes books, they arent meant to be real but somehow the way they are written invariably means that I can`t do anything else until I read the whole book - very enjoyable

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easy reading feel good book. The perfect book to get lost in. Lots of entertaining situations, and characters of which we can all relate to.
Perfect escape for a cosy duvet day.

[Madelaine · Rating 1 out of 5]

My only excuse for finishing this drivel was an air traffic control failure

[Tara Ford · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great book by Bernadette Strachan.

[Tilly · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read this as an easy read but didn't really enjoy it. Annoying characters and boring plot.

[Hera · Rating 2 out of 5]

I feel like the equivalent of this book is a 18-episode season of 45'-long episodes, where I would much rather had completed the story in a nice and neat 190'-minute long movie. It kept me good company at the beach and during lazy summer nights.