Happy Hour

by Anne Mitchell

When Jane Anderson catches her handsome garden designer husband having an affair she takes up her best friend Susie’s offer of a trip to New York. As soon as she arrives people look at her oddly, treat her like royalty and keep referring to her as Rosie Reynolds. She discovers that Rosie is the Big Apple’s favourite talk show host and after Rosie’s botched face-lift, Jane is offered the job of emergency stand-in on Happy Hour, the show that made Rosie famous. But here she meets Lou, a dangerously charming man who also happens to be Rosie’s husband...

Genres: Chick Lit, Romance, Fiction, New York

373 pages, Paperback

First published January 19, 2012

About the author

Anne Mitchell has been writing since the age of six, when she wrote a story about an elephant that won a national writing competition (still her best work, she feels). Anne lives in Hampshire with her family and writes contemporary romance stories with a strong emotional element and - always - a happy ever after!

Amazon author page: http://author.to/AnneMitchell
Happy Hour http://getbook.at/happyhournovel
Daydream Believer http://getbook.at/daydreambeliever
The First Rule of Fat Club and Other Stories http://mybook.to/1struleoffatclub

Twitter: (@AnneMitchell0)
Instagram: anne_mitchell_12

Reviews

[Kirsty McManus · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked the premise of this book (I've been a bit fussy with chick-lit lately) and I wasn't disappointed.

It was really well written, particularly for an independent debut author - and the story progressed quite nicely. All the characters played their roles well and I was very satisfied with how it all wrapped up.

Definitely recommend!

[Joan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Happy Hour was a very enjoyable read. The story was very well paced and the characters were well developed and interesting. This is a great chick-lit book.

[Kristen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a delightful, quick read! It’s exactly what it should be for chick-lit. Clever and well written. It had great pace, and even with a few (admittedly predictable) twists and turns, it was an enjoyable easy and fun read.

[Audrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the premise of this book! A forty-something woman flees to her best friend's place in New York when she discovers her husband is having an affair. But it isn't long before her life is turned upside down in ways she could never have predicted.
Jane Anderson is an ordinary wife and mother, living a simple (if rather unfulfilling) life in England. Discovering she's the doppelgänger of glamorous US TV host Rosie Reynolds is just one of many plot threads that grab the reader's attention and keeps them fully invested in what lies ahead. Can someone with no showbiz experience throw themselves into an alien world; one populated with people who may or may not have your best interests at heart?
There's tentative romance, evocative descriptions of the Big Apple and a strong sense of finding oneself in the face of adversity. And some great lines to boot:
He permitted himself a quick lizard-smile. I almost expected his tongue to flicker out and catch a passing fly.
…and everything we have not had the chance to say to each other… have fused seamlessly together in some vast furnace to become one smooth unbreakable wall of translucent glass…
Everything I've read so far by the author has impressed me greatly. Attention to detail, warmth and wit, all combined to make up stories to remember and characters you'll keep in your heart. Highly recommended.

[Vicky Coughlan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was actually a very nice book and I would’ve given it 4 stars if not for the fact that the pages weren’t numbered. I hate that with a passion! You’d think that after 4 editions they would’ve find the time to number the pages … but nooooo. And the cover art? The first edition with the yellow cover was what attracted me to this book but the next with that woman on the cover 🤮🤮🤮. The cover er is a very important part of the book but instead of improving it they made it worst. I suppose there’s tastes for everything and everyone. So, in short: good story line, lack of numbered pages and crappy new cover. Can’t win them all.

[Lynn McClelland · Rating 4 out of 5]

Crushed when her husband is unfaithful, Jane Anderson leaves her home in London and travels to New York to visit her old friend Susie. While there, a strange thing happens when people on the street seem to mistake her for someone else ... a celebrity. Check in to see if she takes advantage of this strange situation and makes a new life for herself or just licks her wounds and returns to her family.

[Val · Rating 3 out of 5]

When Jane Anderson goes to stay with her friend Susie in New York, she is caught up in a whirlwind in a short space of time. With looks that are uncannily like a prime time TV presenter, she finds herself embroiled in an unlikely plot to pass herself off as Rosie Reynolds. The drama continues back in England. Even though the plot is unlikely and somewhat obvious in its ending, it’s still quite an entertaining read.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually enjoyed this one more than I thought I would. I enjoyed Jane and her friend Susie. I can't believe she was willing to try and work it out with Paul. I would have shoved some plants up his bum and told him to get out.

[Isabelle D · Rating 5 out of 5]

An entertaining story about an ordinary woman who finds herself in a completely unexpected situation. I liked Jane and really enjoyed following her from London to New York and back.

[Julie McManamon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Funny and uplifting !

The characters are all different. The author manages to blend everything together and make the story interesting. Not boring at all.

[R. M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a nice, cozy read. The premise was an interesting one that didn't shy away from some of the difficulties that would arise by this slightly ridiculous scenario. A predictable plot and ending, but charming nonetheless.

[Natalie TBGWP · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a lovely little book. Proper old school chick lit it is, Full of little twists and turns and eye opening moments. Love and heartbreak, fear and unexpected surprises. Everything you want in a quick and easy read.

Story follows Jane Anderson a full-time mum to 12 year old Jeremy, and full-time skivvy to her husband Paul and their or should I say his gardening business. With Jeremy home from Boarding school one weekend he happens to come across his father and one of his female clients in what can only be described as a very intimate business encounter on her kitchen table! Poor kid. After telling his mum, Jane goes for a mini break to New York to visit her oldest friend Susie. This is where her life changes drastically! From the minute she hits US ground she is spun into a world full of lies, deceit, fake identity, blackmail, lust & celebrity status!

I really enjoyed this book I did. It was very easy to read had loads of little gritty bits to keep me wanting more and had a good selection of characters and personalities. A really good honest if not tricky love story. One word for it, Lovely there no other way to describe it.
​
I'd recommend this book if you are looking on a quick, charming and lovely read.

[Wolfkin · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's a lot about Rosie I think perhaps I wouldn't like. I think she's a bit silly, maybe flighty at points. When it comes down to brass tacks, however, when she has to make serious and financial decisions. She tends to be very respectable. I don't mean proper and socially correct. I mean she makes decisions I respect, and considering the genre I never really expected that.

At the end of the book I don't have any really complaints about the writing. There was one recap scene that felt tedious and unnecessary. It was thankfully neither long-lived nor repeated.

Happy Hour wasn't an emotional book. I didn't feel like crying at the end but I was invested in the characters. Rosie genuinely feels like a real person. The story was compelling the setting was slightly unique (in literature at least)

I received the book for free through Goodreads First Reads.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cute little novel. Premise requires you to accept a number of incredible leaps. The book follows Jane, a frumpy British housewife, on a trip to New York as she is discovered to be a look-alike for one of the most famous women in the US. Even Susie, her BFF who has been in NYC for 20 years, is surprised to realize that Jane looks just like an uber-famous person. But Jane is such a dead ringer for this celeb she is able to star in her television show with no-one noticing the difference?! The story moves quickly, the main characters are sweet and interesting. The dissolving marriage between our heroine and her atrocious garden designer husband was not interesting and detracted from the frothy fun in NYC. Would like to read more from this author.

[CK · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the premise of a wife who has always been in the background, getting dumped by her husband, running to her best friend and getting caught up in the famous lifestyle of a popular TV host. This was really surprising to me as it actually hand a lot more depth then I was expecting for a chick-lit novel. Jane really has to discover who she is on her own, without her husband and even her son, and where you draw the line on what you will do and not. This is a well written story and even though I can't say this is a keeper that I will read again and again it was definitely one that was worth the time so give it a go!

[Melissa · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Happy Hour" was an entertaining and mindless read. Every once and awhile it's good to read something that is completely unrealistic and far fetched. I liked Jane but found her incredibly weak and naive. Although, I could relate to her in many ways. Jane was always trying to find the good in people, do what was best for everyone, and try to do what was right. She tended to give the benefit of a doubt to Paul and Lou far too often. The editing for this story was atrocious. I probably would have given "Happy Hour" 3 stars if the editing was better.

[Lynda · Rating 1 out of 5]

what a silly pile of wasted words. Total crap. I borrowed this from the amazon lending library and returned without even finishing it. My intelligence has been insulted- not because it's not a smart book but because it has wasted my time by having such a stupid, pointless story line. I love junk food books and even apparently like 'tween books (read the Hunger Game trilogy twice so far) so you don't have to be a Rhodes scholar to write something good but come on. Don't waste your time. Learn from my mistake. BOO!

[Terah Edun · Rating 2 out of 5]

An entertainng read but so very frustrating. I made it through 59% of the book before giving up. How Jane could put up with that idiot Lou's antics is beyond me. He constantly walked all over her (at one point embarassing her in front of an audience of thousands), apologized briefly (no gifts included!) and she accepted him back with open arms.

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found myself enjoying it throughly i couldn't put it down, at the end if got a bit predictable but i really thought the story was well written and has brought me to an author that i have never read before.

[Joo · Rating 4 out of 5]

A decent enough chick-lit story

[Sheryl · Rating 2 out of 5]

a bit short, thin plot but the characters pulled the storyline through.

[Nancy]

so, so

[Stevie · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a good easy read, if you can believe a few lofty leaps. Also, there's not really any chemistry between Lou and Jane, so that's a bummer.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

http://www.chicklitcentral.com/2012/0...

[Danielle Sabbagh · Rating 3 out of 5]

The plot was extremely predictable, however it was hard to put down at certain points. Overall it wasn't terrible, but certainly not the best.

[Abby Matisse · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this one. Fun premise and a nice ending. I also thought the non-perfect hero was interesting.

[Merin · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book was remotely exciting. But it was really predictable. But there were a few surprises. Overall, a good book, but I wish it was little shorter. :)

[Veronica · Rating 5 out of 5]

A light chic lit and a very enjoyable easy read.

[Nessa · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was an ok read. The start & middle of the story was entertaining but then it got a bit slow come the end. Good characters.

A sweet easy story nevertheless.

[October Pixie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Combination of predictable and surprising instances appearing intermittently. Read without expecting a lot.