The story of this book in the series wasn't my favourite, but it's still good. I guess I thought it would be a little more, "Devil Wears Prada", but instead it felt a little more like, "The inbetweeners".
Whilst listening to this book, I thought it would be good to pair this with a book about Chanel, seeing as we're going to Paris and everything!
I thought "i heart Paris" was code for "i heart Fashion", but sadly that doesn't come across here. Not to worry, "i heart Hollywood" and "i heart Vegas", has some more inspiration for those fashionistas out there!
We are first introduced to Angela's Marc by Marc Jacobs bag in book 1. Angela comes across as never even experiencing fashion brand labels un her life, until she lands in America. As she was living a sheltered life, it's not unusual to find out that she finds herself out of her depth working for Belle; a fashion magazine. Nevertheless, I was still expecting Angela to be like the girl from "The Devil wears Prada", and come out looking drop dead gorgeous and fabulous by the end of it. I thought her new assistant lapdog was going to turn her into a stunning princess. But in a later book in the series, Kelk actually refers to this movie saying that real life isn't like "The Devil Wears Prada".
The reality is that fashion is a little different in France. For instance, French girls are a lot more casual and conservative, compared to American and even English ladies, as they tend to go about their day bare-faced and make-up free. My french husband was shocked when he first encountered his first dose of Essex girls in England. Not only was the orange mask frightening, but their behaviour was also a shocker. He couldn't believe how agressive they can be, and Kelk shows this feistiness through her writing.
But do not fear, Angie's fashionista spirit comes alive again in the following book after this. Just like Hollywood, Vegas is in need of stilettos and slutty outfits.
In Paris, there's a scene where they go to a grotty music festival. I say grotty, because it doesn't come across all punk-rock and sequins dresses. I thought there would be more scenes of laughter and random friendships here, perhaps meeting another new character like the actor James Jacobs.
Instead it's full of bitchiness and rivalry. Not just with the super hot ex girlfriend, but also with her other archenemy, Cici; the evil twin from hell. I can see how the drama would be good for a movie, but I guess, I wasn't expecting this in the beautiful and romantic city of Paris.
This book feels a little confusing. Angela is completely burnt out, running here and there. It made me feel exhausted just listening to all the bullshit she had to trudge through.
But it never started out that way. Well, to be fair Angela getting her foot in the door when she did in book 1 felt like a bit if a fluke and now she was being put to the test. This was make ir break it time. For every part of her life.
Angie begins as a girl boss, being flown away to a far off country for business. She's living it large, writing for one of the top magazines in the world. But then the crazy jealous bitches around her try to chew her up and spit her out. Her career feels like it's being slowly torn at the edges and burned from the inside. Angela doesn't know who to trust anymore, not Alex, not Jenny, not even Louisa or her mum.
From the end of book 1 and start of book 2, Alex and Angela looked like they had reached their "happily ever after" ending. It almost felt like they were practically married! But by the end of this book I was almost certain they were going to break up. All in all, this book was a little depressing and probably my least favourite from the i heart series.
Everything was going wrong for poor Angie. My favourite description was about her shoes being blown up. Aaah the drama!
If you are on the fence and wondering whether or not to carry on with this series, I can tell you that it does get better, and way funnier too. Kelk touches upon so many issues and fantasies women think about or come across throughout their life. This book is the filler episode; the bump in the road, part of the series, so whatever you do, don't stop here!
If this was a stand alone book, I would give it 3 stars, but because it's part of a series, it gets 4 stars, because it's Lindsey Kelk and you can't really skip it. It's part of who she is. And like the french say, "We must suffer in this life".