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Lost & Found
Her diary had never let her down, never told her it was too busy, never not been there for her. Unlike men!
Now the unthinkable had happened . . .
For high-flying London lawyer (and self-confessed control freak) Sam Washington, accidentally leaving her diary in a New York hotel room is a fate worse than death! Tormented by the idea of a stranger reading her innermost thoughts, she knows there's also a secret in her little black book that, in the wrong hands, would devastate her best friend and cause a tabloid sensation . . .
Alarm bells start ringing when TV producer Ben Fisher turns up on her doorstep -- fresh off the plane from New York . . . and desperately seeking Sam. They're complete strangers, yet he seems to know more than a little about her. Has he found her diary? Has he read it? Sam resolves to find out by getting closer to Ben -- who seems happy to oblige! Only, is his mind on kissing . . . or just telling?
Now the unthinkable had happened . . .
For high-flying London lawyer (and self-confessed control freak) Sam Washington, accidentally leaving her diary in a New York hotel room is a fate worse than death! Tormented by the idea of a stranger reading her innermost thoughts, she knows there's also a secret in her little black book that, in the wrong hands, would devastate her best friend and cause a tabloid sensation . . .
Alarm bells start ringing when TV producer Ben Fisher turns up on her doorstep -- fresh off the plane from New York . . . and desperately seeking Sam. They're complete strangers, yet he seems to know more than a little about her. Has he found her diary? Has he read it? Sam resolves to find out by getting closer to Ben -- who seems happy to oblige! Only, is his mind on kissing . . . or just telling?
352 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2004
5 people are currently reading
501 people want to read
About the author
Jane Sigaloff
17 books15 followersBorn in London, Jane Sigaloff has always been a city girl at heart. After studying history at Oxford University she entered the allegedly glamorous world of television, beginning her career as tea and coffee co-ordinator for Nickolodeon UK.
Progressing to researcher and then to assistanct producer, her contracts took her to MTV and finally to the BBC, where she worked for several years.
Since 2000 Jane has enjoyed a double life as a part-time PA which has given her more time to write and feel guilty about not going to the gym. Jane's novels include Lost and Found, Technical Hitch, Like Mother, Like Daughter and Confessions of an Agony Aunt.
Progressing to researcher and then to assistanct producer, her contracts took her to MTV and finally to the BBC, where she worked for several years.
Since 2000 Jane has enjoyed a double life as a part-time PA which has given her more time to write and feel guilty about not going to the gym. Jane's novels include Lost and Found, Technical Hitch, Like Mother, Like Daughter and Confessions of an Agony Aunt.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 45 reviews
June 11, 2008
This really is a cute little romantic comedy that is similar to Bridget Jones' Diary. The characters are very interesting and well written. The only real problem I had was with the character of Sam. She could be a nice person, but the way she dealt with Ben made me so frustrated. He was such a cute, lovable guy and she treated him poorly. I was glad for the cute little movie ending. It did put a smile on my face. If you are looking for a nice light read, this is really a best bet.
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December 4, 2008This is a really terrible book. (Note: I really did give it zero stars.) I only finished it to validate the fact that I predicted everything that would happen.
The main thing about this book that annoyed me was the crazy narrative shifts. Usually, if a book includes things from the perspectives of multiple characters, there is some little dohickey on the page or more spaces or something to indicate the shift. This author chose to just kind of seamlessly segue from one perspective to another, making it necessary to backtrack to figure out who is thinking what. Sometimes you get the thoughts of character A in one line and character B in the very next line! An odd choice, and one I'd hope a good editor would fix up.
It is also tries entirely too hard to be Bridget Jones' Diary Goes Missing. Breezy dialogue that appears very stilted, yet simultaneously too cutesy for its own good. And there are no really wacky situations! It lacks intensity - the main character all of a sudden starts thinking about Ben in a romantic way without really having had any reason to. There was a lot of potential to build some tension in that relationship, but it never quite got off the ground.
I only recommend this to someone who is hopelessly addicted to chick lit or who won't notice all the flaws.
The main thing about this book that annoyed me was the crazy narrative shifts. Usually, if a book includes things from the perspectives of multiple characters, there is some little dohickey on the page or more spaces or something to indicate the shift. This author chose to just kind of seamlessly segue from one perspective to another, making it necessary to backtrack to figure out who is thinking what. Sometimes you get the thoughts of character A in one line and character B in the very next line! An odd choice, and one I'd hope a good editor would fix up.
It is also tries entirely too hard to be Bridget Jones' Diary Goes Missing. Breezy dialogue that appears very stilted, yet simultaneously too cutesy for its own good. And there are no really wacky situations! It lacks intensity - the main character all of a sudden starts thinking about Ben in a romantic way without really having had any reason to. There was a lot of potential to build some tension in that relationship, but it never quite got off the ground.
I only recommend this to someone who is hopelessly addicted to chick lit or who won't notice all the flaws.
August 12, 2024
Workaholic Sam loses her diary and has it returned to her by single and attractive Ben. An okay story with likeable characters but it didn’t have any standout moments. This was published in the early 2000’s and it does have a great retro feel, I enjoyed the many references to newspapers, landlines, DVDs, and popular music of the time.
February 15, 2014
A cute, romantic comedy type book. It has stuck around as a favorite of mine after reading many different books in the genre. There's just something about this story that I love, and I've reread it a number of times.
September 6, 2007
I really enjoyed this book and have re-read it several times. Bought it in an airport on my departure trip and read it most of the way through on the plane.
October 16, 2009
A very cute quick read that I could so see becoming a movie. It is so classic Hollywood - girl loses diary - boy finds diary and reads it - boy returns diary - they fall in love!
December 5, 2022
Sam, a well-established lawyer, is in New York with her boss on business. She keeps a diary in which she writes cryptic entries about her life and some of her closest friends but when she's on a plane flying home, she realizes she left it in her hotel room. She's upset because she realizes some of her entries could very well cause embarrassment to herself and her friend if they fall into the wrong hands.
Ben is in New York with his elder sister and discovers Sam's diary in the hotel drawer. Intrigued, he starts to read it and when his sister discovers what he is doing, she is horrified. Ben had done something similar to her when she was younger and although he knows he should comply, he keeps reading. She insists he return the diary when they return back to London, but he knows he wants to meet Sam, there's something about her that fascinates him. When he shows up at Sam's flat, her flat mate and cousin, tells him, she is Sam.
I quite liked this book, it made me chuckle at the sarcastic responses Ben and Sam hurl at each other and who doesn't like humor in this day and age?
Ben is in New York with his elder sister and discovers Sam's diary in the hotel drawer. Intrigued, he starts to read it and when his sister discovers what he is doing, she is horrified. Ben had done something similar to her when she was younger and although he knows he should comply, he keeps reading. She insists he return the diary when they return back to London, but he knows he wants to meet Sam, there's something about her that fascinates him. When he shows up at Sam's flat, her flat mate and cousin, tells him, she is Sam.
I quite liked this book, it made me chuckle at the sarcastic responses Ben and Sam hurl at each other and who doesn't like humor in this day and age?
December 5, 2017
speravo in qualcosa di meglio. coinvolgimento emotivo pari a zero.
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September 1, 2022I couldn't finish it. No stars
December 27, 2022
nah man
March 6, 2024
The story was slow, confusing and not what I expected. Wasn’t the best book but not the worst.
February 22, 2010
I picked up a dog-eared copy of Lost & Found via a local BookCrossing meeting a few years ago. I liked the title and the premise.
Sam Washington on a flight home from a business trip to New York realizes she has lost her journal. It contains all sorts of personal and intimate information and she desperately wants it back. Back in New York, Ben Fisher, an American born TV producer who lives and works in London has found her journal and after reading it decides to return it and maybe hook up.
I had a number of problems with the novel. The first are the voices. The story is told from both Sam and Ben's points of view. Their voices though aren't different enough to quickly distinguish who is who and sometimes there's little or no segue between their points of view.
Sam lives and works in London; she should use British words and phrases. To some regard she does but it's inconsistent. For example, she's missing a personal journal which she calls a diary. Given that she's British and an extremely busy professional, my mind kept snapping "day planner" (which is called a diary in British English) instead of a journal (or diary in American English). If anyone was going to call her missing book a diary, it would be Ben but he seems to think in British English more so than Sam does.
Finally, there's the roommate, Gemma, who is only there to complicate things. Her one goal in the book seems to sleep with potential boyfriends before Sam does. She's there to slow down the plot and create unneeded tension. The tension is already there in the form of the secrets revealed in the journal and in Ben's desire to keep his knowledge of Sam quiet. Gemma needs to be kicked to the kerb to give Sam and Ben some time alone.
Sam Washington on a flight home from a business trip to New York realizes she has lost her journal. It contains all sorts of personal and intimate information and she desperately wants it back. Back in New York, Ben Fisher, an American born TV producer who lives and works in London has found her journal and after reading it decides to return it and maybe hook up.
I had a number of problems with the novel. The first are the voices. The story is told from both Sam and Ben's points of view. Their voices though aren't different enough to quickly distinguish who is who and sometimes there's little or no segue between their points of view.
Sam lives and works in London; she should use British words and phrases. To some regard she does but it's inconsistent. For example, she's missing a personal journal which she calls a diary. Given that she's British and an extremely busy professional, my mind kept snapping "day planner" (which is called a diary in British English) instead of a journal (or diary in American English). If anyone was going to call her missing book a diary, it would be Ben but he seems to think in British English more so than Sam does.
Finally, there's the roommate, Gemma, who is only there to complicate things. Her one goal in the book seems to sleep with potential boyfriends before Sam does. She's there to slow down the plot and create unneeded tension. The tension is already there in the form of the secrets revealed in the journal and in Ben's desire to keep his knowledge of Sam quiet. Gemma needs to be kicked to the kerb to give Sam and Ben some time alone.
December 23, 2021
Un petit récit Chick-lit, quand il est bien écrit, fait toujours plaisir à lire. En général, l'humour et les problèmes que rencontre l'héroïne nous font bien marrer.
Dans Personnel et confidentiel, nous suivons Samantha qui a égaré son journal intime dans sa chambre d'hôtel à New York et qui est effrayée à l'idée que quelqu'un tombe dessus. Non pas que sa vie soit tellement passionnante mais elle révèle le secret d'une de ses amies qui pourrait, s'il était découvert, causer un gros scandale. Lorsque Ben le trouve, il est fasciné par la jeune femme qu'il devine et décide de le lui remettre en mains propres. Pas facile d'approcher quelqu'un pour lui rendre son journal intime. Avec ses touches d'humour british et la relation père-fille difficile mais touchante, Jane Sigaloff nous offre une histoire bien sympathique.
Il est malheureusement un peu difficile de rentrer dans le livre à cause du récit à la troisième personne qui, certes, nous permet de suivre plusieurs protagonistes, mais nous empêche aussi de nous attacher aux héros et à s'intéresser à ce qui leur arrive. Mais passé les deux-trois premiers chapitres, on veut connaître la fin, on veut savoir comment Ben va réussir à séduire Sam. Vu comment leur histoire commence, on a quelques doutes quant à son succès. Malgré quelques longueurs à certains moments et le style de l'auteur un peu difficile à suivre ("qui parle là ?"), voilà une bonne petite histoire à lire pour se détendre. Elle mérite d'être lue rien que pour la scène finale, digne de toutes les fins de romances vues au cinéma (Coup de foudre à Nothing Hill notamment)
Dans Personnel et confidentiel, nous suivons Samantha qui a égaré son journal intime dans sa chambre d'hôtel à New York et qui est effrayée à l'idée que quelqu'un tombe dessus. Non pas que sa vie soit tellement passionnante mais elle révèle le secret d'une de ses amies qui pourrait, s'il était découvert, causer un gros scandale. Lorsque Ben le trouve, il est fasciné par la jeune femme qu'il devine et décide de le lui remettre en mains propres. Pas facile d'approcher quelqu'un pour lui rendre son journal intime. Avec ses touches d'humour british et la relation père-fille difficile mais touchante, Jane Sigaloff nous offre une histoire bien sympathique.
Il est malheureusement un peu difficile de rentrer dans le livre à cause du récit à la troisième personne qui, certes, nous permet de suivre plusieurs protagonistes, mais nous empêche aussi de nous attacher aux héros et à s'intéresser à ce qui leur arrive. Mais passé les deux-trois premiers chapitres, on veut connaître la fin, on veut savoir comment Ben va réussir à séduire Sam. Vu comment leur histoire commence, on a quelques doutes quant à son succès. Malgré quelques longueurs à certains moments et le style de l'auteur un peu difficile à suivre ("qui parle là ?"), voilà une bonne petite histoire à lire pour se détendre. Elle mérite d'être lue rien que pour la scène finale, digne de toutes les fins de romances vues au cinéma (Coup de foudre à Nothing Hill notamment)
August 21, 2014
Lost and found è il primo libro della collana Red Dress Ink che ho letto.
Si tratta di una commedia romantica dalla trama piuttosto lineare e prevedibile:
lei, bella e giovanissima, avvocato in carriera con amica coniugata, amica avvocato, coinquilina interinale e piuttosto facile, corteggiata dal capo sposato, ossessionata dalla linea, dimentica il suo diario in un cassetto di una stanza d'albergo.
Lui, che lavora per una emittente televisiva, gira documentari di dubbio gusto, indossa t-shirt di gusto ancor più dubbio, naturalmente trova il diario, naturalmente lo legge, ed ancor più naturalmente vola dagli Stati Uniti in Inghilterra spinto dalla curiosità di conoscerne la proprietaria.
Da qui una serie di malintesi, rifiuti, tira-e-molla, passando per un padre col cancro e un trasferimento oltreoceano, fino ad... una panchina in una strada affollata, dove non svelo cosa succede (e come si conclude la storia).
Benchè pecchi per una trama non proprio originale, Lost and Found non risulta un libro noioso, è ben scritto, ed abbastanza lungo da dare il giusto spazio a tutti i personaggi, così che anche quelli minori -come la sorella del protagonista o il padre della protagonista- possiedono coerenza e spessore.
http://iltesorodicarta.blogspot.it/
Si tratta di una commedia romantica dalla trama piuttosto lineare e prevedibile:
lei, bella e giovanissima, avvocato in carriera con amica coniugata, amica avvocato, coinquilina interinale e piuttosto facile, corteggiata dal capo sposato, ossessionata dalla linea, dimentica il suo diario in un cassetto di una stanza d'albergo.
Lui, che lavora per una emittente televisiva, gira documentari di dubbio gusto, indossa t-shirt di gusto ancor più dubbio, naturalmente trova il diario, naturalmente lo legge, ed ancor più naturalmente vola dagli Stati Uniti in Inghilterra spinto dalla curiosità di conoscerne la proprietaria.
Da qui una serie di malintesi, rifiuti, tira-e-molla, passando per un padre col cancro e un trasferimento oltreoceano, fino ad... una panchina in una strada affollata, dove non svelo cosa succede (e come si conclude la storia).
Benchè pecchi per una trama non proprio originale, Lost and Found non risulta un libro noioso, è ben scritto, ed abbastanza lungo da dare il giusto spazio a tutti i personaggi, così che anche quelli minori -come la sorella del protagonista o il padre della protagonista- possiedono coerenza e spessore.
http://iltesorodicarta.blogspot.it/
May 10, 2010
Clearly not a literary marvel. It was entertaining though, especially for the people like me, who frequently watch mediocre chick flicks! There were quite a few F-words sprinkled throughout the book--not so many that I had to quit reading, but enough to bother me.
I also want to add that it was, at times, quite confusing to follow. Sometimes it was difficult to know who was talking (there are no "Sam said's" or such). Also, it was difficult initially to figure out where, when, etc. things were taking place...eventually I could figure it out, but it would have been much easier to follow if it would have been written a little differently.
I also want to add that it was, at times, quite confusing to follow. Sometimes it was difficult to know who was talking (there are no "Sam said's" or such). Also, it was difficult initially to figure out where, when, etc. things were taking place...eventually I could figure it out, but it would have been much easier to follow if it would have been written a little differently.
December 4, 2008
Do you keep a diary?
I do, so to put it shortly..I know how it Sam felt when she lost her diary. I would also be freak out although not as much as Sam did :D
Okay, the first several pages: kind a dragging, so it made the book's kind a boring...
The middle of the book: well..okay, but not too exciting.
The last pages: take several turns and made the book have its own little twist..although the writer seemed to squeeze the ending to be like that.
Overall? hmmm, okay as a light reading.
I do, so to put it shortly..I know how it Sam felt when she lost her diary. I would also be freak out although not as much as Sam did :D
Okay, the first several pages: kind a dragging, so it made the book's kind a boring...
The middle of the book: well..okay, but not too exciting.
The last pages: take several turns and made the book have its own little twist..although the writer seemed to squeeze the ending to be like that.
Overall? hmmm, okay as a light reading.
February 3, 2009
I really did not like this book too much at all. I found it confusing and hard to read. I don't think I'm a fan of British authors, though, so at least I found that out early. It seemed to jump around a lot, so that you couldn't tell who was speaking when, etc. Then sometimes you were completely unaware that one character was even involved in a conversation until they spoke up. I've heard her other book is much better, but I can't see myself giving it a chance.
April 2, 2008
I liked the New York-London links in this books, for obvious reasons, and thought the writing was pretty well executed. The premise was a bit far-fetched but cute, and the tension between the two main characters was mostly well done, if a little overdone toward the end of the book.
January 25, 2009
Ummmm....Bridget Jones Diary wanna-be? Sex in the City....wanna-be? Not very oringinal, but a light, good read if you want to get your mind off of the freezing cold weather, Masters classes....and you high school students. :)
August 24, 2009
One of my favorite chick lits. Although of course you know what is coming in the end, I found that Sigaloff is great at making her characters believable and likeable. The relationship that developed was plausible, and the actions of the characters fit with their personalities. Fun and fast read.
June 14, 2007
A good concept, but a somewhat cheesy delivery. I found most of this book to be predictable. It was good overall.
July 31, 2007
Enjoyable, though maybe not as fluffy as the usual Red Dress faire. It's trying to be a bit too literary for it's own good, and steps on its own toes here and there.
January 17, 2008
Just what I've come to expect from the Red Dress Ink books. Quick read, likeable characters and a fun book overall. I liked this one!
January 21, 2008
I'm glad I got this book at a booksale, because I really couldn't get into it. It was one of those that I finally read out of pure boredom.
July 2, 2008
Tried to get into the book but it seemed to be yet another self-centered professional woman who enjoys gossip and sleeping about with others. Not my cup of tea this summer.
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July 5, 2008Help! I need to get more book access. I'm resorting to my roommate's romance novels out of desperation.
October 22, 2008
Oddly omniscient perspective... This book annoyed me and yet I continued to read it. Blech.
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January 18, 2010boring
September 9, 2010
An enjoyable read. Great escapist novel - nothing that is going to rock the literary world, but a fun read none the less. Loved all the pop culture references.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 45 reviews