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A Pinch of Sugar
Eve has always tried to please the men in her life. Then an invitation to spend Christmas in Australia with Bill McMahon, a man she has been corresponding with over the Internet, tempts her to please herself for a change. But her holiday gets off to an unpromising start when she receives a frosty reception from Bill's daughter, Chloe, who knew nothing about her... As Eve and Bill struggle to communicate face to face, all appears lost. They must weather misunderstandings and a disagreement before Bill finally realizes what Eve means to him. But is he too late?
224 pages, Hardcover
First published February 12, 2015
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March 16, 2015
From my 'Notes'
Location 955 -Eve speaking here.
'I'm forty-three, I have never told you any different. And you are forty-seven, not an old man at all. Anyone, at any age, can break their ankle.'
Okay - so Eve is 43 and the guy she is talking to (Bill) is 47. (Remember those details: there will be a test on them later.....)
Location 1557 Eve again. (who is English)
Eve couldn't resist a soothing, 'Cheer up - it may never happen.' When she added, 'You look as if you have lost a dollar and found ten cents,' Chloe snarled. 'What on earth is that supposed to mean?'
(Please note that is an accurate copy complete with lack of paragraphs and punctuation as in the original)
Seen it yet? Eve is English. She would have said. 'lost a shilling and found a sixpence' or perhaps - 'Lost a pound and found ten pence.' She would not use dollars.
Location 1164 (still remember Eve's age??)
'But I told you my age...' Eve protested. 'I haven't made any secret of it - ever. I am thirty-nine.'
'Ah yes - the longest ten years of a woman's life, between thirty-nine and forty.'
'Don't you believe me?'
'I believe you - of course I do. That was just a feeble joke that slipped out.' Bill immediately apologised.
Eve smiled ruefully. 'Well it was true then, when we first got to know each other, but I have to come clean and admit I have had a birthday since then and have hit that big Four-Oh.'
And then we have this... a few pages on... (talking about a character called Adam who is 35)
'And as far as age goes, he (Adam) was five years younger than me. You are five years older; by my reckoning that is about equal/'
Oh god, my head hurts. Is Eve 43, 39, 40..? Is Bill 47 or 45? Is this all a dastardly plot to make my brain explode?
I honestly have no idea what this story is trying to be - chick-lit? An exploration of a mid-life crisis? It seemed to have no real purpose other than a meandering plot loosely based on Eve in Australia and unable to make up her mind about who she liked. There was a moment when I thought it might become a crime/horror story
There were numerous other 'notes' but it all came down to one thing. A decent editor would have picked up on those points, would have trimmed out the long, long info-dumps and the utterly pointless 'travel guide to being in Australia' sections, and maybe managed to make Eve and indeed most of the other characters to be a lot more likeable.
I mean.. how can anyone like a woman who leaves her new-born grandson and goes away to spend Christmas with a stranger who she has only talked to on the internet and who does not even know when her birthday and has not told his daughter that a strange woman is coming to spend Christmas with them?
And then I read Eve's comments about her daughter: 'She thought of her spoilt, selfish daughter and pompous righteous son-in-law and indignation welled within her....'
Hmm.. Spoilt selfish daughter?? More a case of the pot calling the kettle black.
Location 955 -Eve speaking here.
'I'm forty-three, I have never told you any different. And you are forty-seven, not an old man at all. Anyone, at any age, can break their ankle.'
Okay - so Eve is 43 and the guy she is talking to (Bill) is 47. (Remember those details: there will be a test on them later.....)
Location 1557 Eve again. (who is English)
Eve couldn't resist a soothing, 'Cheer up - it may never happen.' When she added, 'You look as if you have lost a dollar and found ten cents,' Chloe snarled. 'What on earth is that supposed to mean?'
(Please note that is an accurate copy complete with lack of paragraphs and punctuation as in the original)
Seen it yet? Eve is English. She would have said. 'lost a shilling and found a sixpence' or perhaps - 'Lost a pound and found ten pence.' She would not use dollars.
Location 1164 (still remember Eve's age??)
'But I told you my age...' Eve protested. 'I haven't made any secret of it - ever. I am thirty-nine.'
'Ah yes - the longest ten years of a woman's life, between thirty-nine and forty.'
'Don't you believe me?'
'I believe you - of course I do. That was just a feeble joke that slipped out.' Bill immediately apologised.
Eve smiled ruefully. 'Well it was true then, when we first got to know each other, but I have to come clean and admit I have had a birthday since then and have hit that big Four-Oh.'
And then we have this... a few pages on... (talking about a character called Adam who is 35)
'And as far as age goes, he (Adam) was five years younger than me. You are five years older; by my reckoning that is about equal/'
Oh god, my head hurts. Is Eve 43, 39, 40..? Is Bill 47 or 45? Is this all a dastardly plot to make my brain explode?
I honestly have no idea what this story is trying to be - chick-lit? An exploration of a mid-life crisis? It seemed to have no real purpose other than a meandering plot loosely based on Eve in Australia and unable to make up her mind about who she liked. There was a moment when I thought it might become a crime/horror story
There were numerous other 'notes' but it all came down to one thing. A decent editor would have picked up on those points, would have trimmed out the long, long info-dumps and the utterly pointless 'travel guide to being in Australia' sections, and maybe managed to make Eve and indeed most of the other characters to be a lot more likeable.
I mean.. how can anyone like a woman who leaves her new-born grandson and goes away to spend Christmas with a stranger who she has only talked to on the internet and who does not even know when her birthday and has not told his daughter that a strange woman is coming to spend Christmas with them?
And then I read Eve's comments about her daughter: 'She thought of her spoilt, selfish daughter and pompous righteous son-in-law and indignation welled within her....'
Hmm.. Spoilt selfish daughter?? More a case of the pot calling the kettle black.
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