Little White Lies

by Gemma Townley

WHAT’S ONE LITTLE WHITE LIE?

Okay, so it isn’t that little. It’s kind of a whopper. It’s just that when Natalie Raglan ups and quits her job at a Bath advertising firm, breaks up with her loser-ish boyfriend, and moves–to London! Things don’t quite turn out the way she planned. Having made the brave move to the Big City, the lifelong country mouse finds that living chic is still a long way off. Even Cressida, the girl who used to rent her tiny flat, still gets more phone calls and mail there than Nat does. Come to think of it, Cressida Langdon’s life looks pretty appealing–especially when an invitation to the posh, exclusive Soho House club arrives, addressed to Cressida.

Before she really knows what she’s done, Nat has opened Cressida’s mail . . . and taken up her life. Soon Nat’s dating a gorgeous investment banker named Simon, giving “reiki healing sessions,” wearing wonderful clothes, and partying with the A-list at Soho House. But the best part really is Simon. He’s everything Nat has ever wanted. The problem is he thinks she’s someone else. And as her life and her lies begin to spiral out of control, Nat can’t help but wonder: Will she be exposed as a liar and a fake–or be saved from ruin by simply claiming good intentions . . . .

Genres: Chick Lit, Fiction, Romance, British Literature, Adult Fiction, Contemporary, Humor

320 pages, Paperback

First published March 29, 2005

About the author

Gemma Townley launched her writing career at the age of sixteen with a book review in Harpers & Queen. At Reading University, unimpressed with the official university paper, Spark, she launched a satirical rival, Spank, which she edited for a year before taking over as deputy editor on Spark and features editor on South-East Student.

Gemma is currently head of communications at the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants. She is a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and is studying for an M.B.A. at Henley Management College.

She lives in West London with her husband, Mark and their son.

She is Sophie Kinsella's sister.

Reviews

[Lisa (Remarkablylisa) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Honestly such a hoot! I will definitely go back and reread when in Rome by Gemma because she's a fantastic chick-lit writer right after Sophie Kinsella! I loved this one and the romance that flourished.

[Leanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was in need of a romantic fix, so I picked up Gemma Townley’s Little White Lies. Townley and Shopaholic’s Sophie Kinsella (Madeleine Wickham) are actually sisters, and they both excel in the “Chick Lit” genre. Kinsella’s books have better-developed characters and plots than White Lies, but Townley has the formula down.

White Lies' Natalie Raglan moves to London and finds herself alone and lonely. She’s jealous of the mail and phone calls Cressida, who used to live in Natalie’s flat, still receives and starts opening the letters. In a drunken stupor, Natalie calls Simon—one of Cressida’s contacts—and passes herself off as Cressida.

Not surprisingly, I found Natalie’s lies and deceptions frustrating, painful, and completely unnecessary. Then again, I always thought white lies were telling a friend you like her top and not assuming someone else’s identity.

Ultimately, Natalie and Simon fall in love with lightening speed, but she risks that relationship with her lies and an obligatory, Three’s Company-like eavesdropping scene.

Of course, in fine generic tradition, despite Natalie’s deceptions and mistakes, she ends up on top both professionally and romantically. Little White Lies is far from a literary masterpiece, but it does give love junkies a nice romantic fix.

[Love Fool · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay, so it isn’t that little. It’s kind of a whopper. It’s just that when Natalie Raglan ups and quits her job at a Bath advertising firm, breaks up with her loser-ish boyfriend, and moves–to London! Things don’t quite turn out the way she planned. Having made the brave move to the Big City, the lifelong country mouse finds that living chic is still a long way off. Even Cressida, the girl who used to rent her tiny flat, still gets more phone calls and mail there than Nat does. Come to think of it, Cressida Langdon’s life looks pretty appealing–especially when an invitation to the posh, exclusive Soho House club arrives, addressed to Cressida.

I thought this book was so adorable and actually could totally understand how Natalie ends up in the situation that she does. We all told little white lies, to our boyfriend about our exes or how many people we slept with... for example.

Plus, how could Natalie not want to explore Cressida's life. It sounded appealing and when you are down about yourself anything seems better.

[Chanelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was so amazingly written and it teaches about how lying can make you feel good for only a few minutes but it comes back to bite you in the butt.

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I LOVEDLOVEDLOVED this book!!

The beginning grabbed me from the get-go and I was hooked until the very end!! Funny, witty and makes you just wish you had a best friend just like her!!

You know what she's doing is totally wrong and, not to mention, illegal but you find yourself making excuses for her and seeing the good in what she's doing!

A must for every girl.

[Leslie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked this book up at the airport and finished it on the plane I absolutely loved this book!

[Lynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a fast read and while I enjoyed the book I would not read it again. I found it to be too predictable and there just weren't enough cute moments to make me want to read it again.

[Monica Irvine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Slow to start, but once I started reading, I couldn't stop and was eager to find out what happened next. Comically funny.

[Kathy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wish I had read some reviews on this book before I bought it. This book is about a small town girl who moves to the city and takes on the identity of the woman who had lived in the apartment before her. I found the protagonist, Natalie Raglan, to be wimpy, ditsy, superficial, and extremely indecisive. She rambled on and on about what she was doing wrong but never did anything about it. She seemed to repeat the same sentence over and over again. Towards the middle of the book, I found myself just skimming through the pages just to get through it. I had a very hard time connecting with Natalie and understanding her decision making.

I gave this 2 stars because the storyline was cute and if it was better written or had a stronger protagonist, it could have been much much better.

I usually love books that are light and breezy, but that doesn't mean it has to be brainless.

[Jena · Rating 3 out of 5]

About what you would expect from the Shopaholic genre - absurdly complicated scenarios from a ditzy protagonist who should end up penniless living in a room in her parents house but instead comes out on top of the world due a couple of fortuitous chance meetings with random strangers. But all in all, not a bad beach book.

[Nida Kazi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really didn't like the beginning.. It was a major rant but it explained her life so it was necessary.. And honestly she tried not to read someone's mail (as it's shown in the book multiple times) but she did and then the story progresses to a better plot as Simon enters.. Liked it! Liked the scene where Julie makes Simon purchase that black dress for Natalie..er..Cressida.. ;)

[Urbandale Library · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the type of book that is hard to put down but easy enough to pick up during your kid's swim lesson! Some parts were predictable as with many summer reads but the main character makes some very unpredictable life decisions - the kind of decisions that make you wonder why you aren't a little more unpredictable.

[Jess · Rating 2 out of 5]

An interesting enough premise, but had some unanswered questions and plot holes. How did Natalie get off scot-free though she impersonated someone else for a few months? Why did no one ever question her identity? The ending seemed rushed and did not provide a satisfying close to the story.

[Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was leaning toward a 3, but near the end of the novel the story fell into the chick lit cliche of ridiculous misunderstanding. The main character Natalie is likeable enough, and at least the author provides a reason for her indecision and "gosh, I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings" attitude.

[Carolina Gonzalez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun book! kept me awake during the graveyard shift!!!

[Abi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Awwwww! I loved it! Carolina Gonzalez, thank you so much for lending this stressful-funny-chick flick of a book!

[Sheryl Sato · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cute and funny romantic comedy.

[Jonelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I want to give this a 3.5. It's cute. Let's be honest, I picked this up at Half Off Books because the cover was adorable. This is an example if a "chick lit" book from the early 2000s, the books that ruined love for me. You know the sweet romantic books where everything turns out perfectly in the end.

You know what I say. We all know what happens in the end, it's how they get there that counts.

Natalie moves from a small town to London looking for a better, more exciting life. She opens a letter meant for someone else. Someone who's life looks so much better than hers.

She ends up realizing her life isn't all that bad as long as she's just herself.

[Bambi Kline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute read. Quick and light

[Jenn · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first pool book for the summer was just perfect! Silly early 2000s romance set in the UK, can’t get better than that.

[Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed the book. Need something light and amusing to read and this just hit the spot.

[Fraize O’Hallahan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed this a lot more than i thought i would 🥰

[Georgiana 1792 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lo sanno tutti che le bugie hanno le gambe corte e che non vanno lontano neanche quando le fasciamo con dei jeans griffati che le fanno sembrare chilometriche. Lo sa benissimo anche Natalie Raglan che, appena trasferitasi a Londra dalla noiosa Bath, dopo essersi lasciata col fidanzato di sempre, Pete, sta cercando di farsi una nuova vita ricominciando daccapo, con tutto l’entusiasmo di cui è capace.

Dopo un mese di serate solitarie davanti alla TV, però, anche se trascorse in un simpatico appartamento di Notting Hill con vicini trendy, Natalie non è più certa di aver fatto la scelta giusta, ma non è disposta a tornare con la coda tra le gambe nel Somerset, soprattutto quando questo significherebbe darla vinta a Pete, il fedifrago, che la attende al varco gongolante.

E, per completare il quadro di desolazione, tutta la posta e tutte le chiamate nella segreteria telefonica non sono per lei, ma per la precedente inquilina dell’appartamento, Cressida Langton, che sicuramente conduceva il genere di vita glamour che Natalie avrebbe sperato di vivere una volta a Londra. La curiosità di scoprire cosa contengano quelle buste color crema con l’indirizzo vergato elegantemente a mano e quei cataloghi raffinati è enorme e Natalie non solo cederà all’impulso di aprire la posta di Cressida, ma arriverà a spacciarsi per lei a un appuntamento galante. In realtà, la ragazza andrà nel famoso ristorante dell’incontro con l’intenzione di rivelare a Simon che Cressida non ci sarebbe potuta essere, ma poi…

Una bugia dietro l’altra, il castello di carte si fa sempre più alto e sempre più pericolante, soprattutto se si aggiunge una datrice di lavoro strega, due colleghe peperine, l’ambiente delle boutique d’alta moda, un simpatico vecchietto che crede che Natalie sia una terapeuta Reiki, l’amica del cuore a cui ha rifilato un mare di panzane perché le riferisse a Pete e, soprattutto, l’amore… E dire che a Natalie le persone manipolatrici non piacciono affatto, come pensa di Becky Sharp mentre cerca di terminare La fiera delle vanità, il libro preferito della madre.

In realtà le bugie sono piuttosto innocue, white lies, come si dice in inglese, e infatti quando Natalie rivelerà la trama che ha ingarbugliato quasi senza volerlo, le persone di cui si è presa gioco reagiranno con intelligenza, senza dare alle frottole più peso di quanto non ne meritino, perché in realtà «Che cosa c’è in un nome? Ciò che noi chiamiamo con il nome di rosa, anche se lo chiamassimo con un altro nome, serberebbe pur sempre lo stesso dolce profumo.» (William Shakespeare, Romeo e Giulietta: atto II, scena II)

E sembra di tornare indietro agli anni Ottanta, quando Carlo Verdone si spacciava per il playboy Manuel Fantoni per uscire dai panni del banale Sergio Benvenuti e dalla sua vita monotona e priva di ambizioni in Borotalco.

Oltre che ammonire del pericolo di raccontare menzogne più o meno innocue, con Le piccole bugie del cuore Gemma Townley vuole spronare le lettrici ad avere il coraggio di cambiare, di affrontare le difficoltà sul cammino per realizzare i propri sogni, anche quando la strada della consuetudine è molto comoda e facile da percorrere, perché nulla è più gratificante che raggiungere un obiettivo dopo aver trovato degli ostacoli sul percorso.

L’atmosfera della Londra glamour, di Notting Hill e Portobello Road e delle boutique griffate si respirano per tutto il romanzo, ma Natalie rimane sempre con i piedi per terra – una ragazza provinciale sino in fondo, forse – fino a rendersi conto che anche nella grande Londra, a trovare la giusta cerchia di amici, ci si può sentire più a proprio agio che nella cittadina di provincia in cui si è trascorsa una vita intera.

Mi sa che nella vita non c’è solo il bianco e il nero, in fondo. Io pensavo che Londra fosse una città straordinariamente cool; Simon pensava che fosse piena di gente snob. Poi quando le cose sono andate storte, ho pensato che Bath fosse sicura e Londra pericolosa. Ma non è assolutamente vero. Londra ha un sacco di piccole comunità con persone fantastiche: basta trovarle.

Il racconto in prima persona come da manuale del chick-lit, di cui la Townley è un’esponente di spicco, da brava sorella di Madleine Wickham (aka Sophie Kinsella), manca tuttavia della verve necessaria a rendere il materiale a disposizione – che di per sé avrebbe un ottimo potenziale – esplosivo. Molte scene fanno sorridere, è vero, ma avrebbero potuto essere esilaranti se narrate con una dose più massiccia di ironia.

Un romanzo divertente e scorrevole, senza pretese, un chick-lit da una penna infallibile in questo genere tipicamente femminile, che sta vivendo un nuovo periodo aureo che ci fa cercare nella lettura sempre nuovi modi di evadere dalla realtà quotidiana.

Potete leggere la recensione completa QUI:

http://diariodipensieripersi.it/picco...

[Nicoletta · Rating 3 out of 5]

http://labibliotecasegreta.blogspot.it/

"Le piccole bugie del cuore" è il primo libro che leggo di Gemma Townley.
Nello scorrere le uscite di marzo 2014, questo rientra nel gruppo delle copertine che hanno attirato la mia attenzione, sia per il titolo che per l'immagine. Non son riuscita a fermare i miei ricordi d'infanzia, ad un altro paio di scarpette dello stesso colore, quelle della strega dell'Est nel Mago di Oz.
Questa è la storia di Natalie Raglan, una ragazza nata e cresciuta nella provincia di Bath, che cerca di realizzare il suo grande sogno nella città di Londra.
Un negozio di abbigliamento glamour tutto suo, una cerchia di amici con cui divertirsi e perchè no, un amore vero e passionale come quello che non è mai riuscito ad avere per colpa di un ex buono a nulla.
Ma la realtà è molto diversa dai suoi propositi.
Dopo quasi un mese ancora non è uscita una sola volta, il suo capo la detesta e il suo telefono, come anche la cassetta delle lettere, sono ad esclusivo uso dell'ex inquilina del suo appartamento, Cressida, che sembra abbia avuto una vita talmente movimentata da suscitare la gelosia e la rabbia di Natalie sebbene non la conoscesse proprio.
L'inizio del libro è un pò lento, anche se non mancano continue battutine ironiche che la protagonista rivolge al proprio riflesso, per la sua incapacità di successo.
E' una ragazza abituata ad accontentarsi di quel poco che ha.
La sua vita è stata un susseguirsi di fatti che lei ha accettato solo perchè crede di non poter avere di meglio, come potrebbe essere il non mollare mai il suo eterno fidanzato, sebbene continui a tradirla.
La svolta si ha quando una sera, raggiunto il massimo livello di sconforto, ubriaca, decide di aprire una lettera di Cressida e scopre che la ragazza oltre ad essere socia di uno dei club più esclusivi di Londra, ha un incontro combinato con un uomo, Simon.
Il giorno dopo non ha la minima idea del pasticcio in cui si è cacciata durante la notte, ma fatto sta che riceve un invito a cena proprio da Simon, convinto di rivolgersi a Cressida.
Da qui, l' inizio di una serie di fatti che porteranno la nostra protagonista a vivere una vita parallela, fatta di menzogne e comportamenti assurdi.
Io non sono una persona bugiarda di natura, quindi ho fatto molta fatica ad interagire col personaggio.
Preferisco una verità cruda e scomoda ad un mucchio di paroline fantasiose.
Come dice il proverbio: Le bugie han le gambe corte, ma in questo caso, direi, che si sono allungate parecchio prima di esser scoperte.
Dopo la prima menzogna, Natalie ha fatto sempre più fatica a destreggiarsi sia con Simon che con i suoi amici. Vani sono stati i suoi propositi di dire la verità, perchè ogni momento buono era sempre messo da parte per paura di perdere quel poco che aveva conquistato.
Ma lei stessa durante uno dei suoi esami di coscienza afferma:
" Ce l'avevo.
E non ce l'avevo al tempo stesso.
Era tutto un mucchio di bugie.
Non sapevo più chi ero"
Di qui le mie continue imprecazioni.
Ma a prò di ché? E' normale che più una bugia è ripetuta ed arricchita di "Frottole", più sarà difficile da perdonare, quindi meglio togliersi il molare subito che continuare a soffrire nel tempo, non credete?
Ma Natalie non ci prova nemmeno a redimersi e si ritroverà, di fronte al precipizio, nel peggiore dei modi e la sua unica via di salvezza da un'umiliazione sarà la fuga.
Il libro non è stato molto coinvolgente. Non capisco però se a causa mia e dell'incapacità di mentire al 90% o per una questione di ripetività delle scene.
Continui monologhi su come dire la verità e su quanto non si meriti nulla.
Dopo tanto tempo mi son ritrovata a leggere un libro dove il protagonista dei raggiri è una donna e non sempre l'opposto.
Mi è dispiaciuto tantissimo per Simon. Si comprende sin dalle prime sue battute che avrebbe gettato al vento il nome di Cressida, con tutta la sua vita mondana, per Natalie,se lei si fosse decisa a dire la verità.
Lo prova quando afferma:
" Come potevi pensare che non volessi più vederti?
Sei la donna più folle, esasperante e imprevedibile che abbia mai conosciuto.
Ma mi fai sentire vivo"
E mi son dispiaciuta di più quando per apparire scintillanti, si perdono valori così importanti come l'amicizia di una vita con la tua migliore amica.
Ma da buon romanzo rosa, non poteva concludersi con un finale altrettanto zuccheroso.
Meravigliosi invece sono stati i personaggi di contorno o secondari come volete chiamarli voi, che han dato quello sprint in più, rallegrando le giornate di Natalie con le loro mille e più pazzie.

[Jana Heinzelmann · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was actually the first book I‘ve ever read written by Gemma Townley. I did not even know about her existence before I stumbled over a blog post by A Woman Reading who wrote about her. Gemma Townley is the sister of Sophie Kinsella and also writes Chick Lit. Since I love Sophie Kinsella books I definitely wanted to try out a book written by her sister. I chose Little White Lies because it is about a girl moving from a smaller city to London and tries to find her way through life. I liked the idea because I also just moved to London.

When you first move to London, you have all these great expectations about how life in this metropolis would be like. You feel sophisticated and cosmopolitan. But as it turns out, even people living in London are just normal people like you and me. Living in the city is different from living in the country but both have their positive and negative sides.

This is basically what happens to Natalie, the main character of the book. She moves to London and expects a fabulous life. She quit her job in advertising in her home town but the only job she can find in London is a working in a cloth store being bullied by her boss all the time. In the beginning she is not even going out. She spends her evenings alone in her tiny Notting Hill apartment dreaming of a better life. She told all her friends and family back home how great life in London is going to be and now they start asking about it. Feeling too proud to tell the truth, Natalie makes up stories about her great new job and her fantastic social and party life. While telling all these lies she forgets about the possibility that the people from home might come to London to be a part of this gorgeous new life she supposedly has. This leads to Natalie making up new lies trying to support her old ones. And it gets even worse when she falls in love with Simon while pretending to be someone else.

But as the saying goes, lies don‘t travel far: First there is just one lie, then another one based on the first one and in the end it is a whole bunch of lies and a complete new story arises. It can become pretty hard to keep up with all the lies that are being told. Natalie has to remember all of them and everything new she tells has to fit into the whole imagined story.

Even though I could not really understand why she was lying in several situations when it was so obvious to the reader that telling the truth would have been the less painful choice, I could still feel with her and it really made me laugh how she always found her way out of one lie through creating an even more absurd story…

Throughout the whole book I was asking myself how Natalie would ever get out of the story she created. I do not want to give away the details for people who are interested in reading the book but I can say that I liked her way of dealing with things. What can be learned from this story is “that you have to make things happen, not wait for them to happen to you.”

For this novel, Gemma Townley seemed to be inspired by the movie “Notting Hill” even though it is a complete different story. I could sense some similarities like the scene in the end when Natalie talks to Simon in his classroom in front of all his pupils as if she was one of them. This reminded me of the last scene in Notting Hill in which William Thacker pretends to be a journalists asking questions to movie star Anna Scott. The movie is one of my most favourite movies. I‘ve seen it so many times and it was nice being reminded of it by this great book. In the end I felt like going to Notting Hill and enjoying the little streets with the nice little houses and the cute little shops, maybe stopping by in the Travel Bookstore and at Tina T‘s…

I really enjoyed reading Little White Lies and I don‘t quite understand why Gemma Townley isn‘t more popular. In my opinion she can definitely compete with her sister! I am going to read more of her books for sure…

If you want to read more of my book reviews, have a look on my blog: http://booksaroundtheworld.wordpress.com

[Camille · Rating 4 out of 5]

Little White Lies by Gemma Townley


Little White Lies is the story of Natalie, who has just moved to London from the countryside. She got cheated on by her ex and is ready to start a whole new life in a new town. So, she quits her job, packs up, and moves to London.

Unfortunately for Natalie, life in London does not pick up as quickly as she would hope. She finds herself in a downgraded job (she now works retail, before she worked in marketing), with no friends, and staying in every Friday and Saturday night.

To top things off, the woman who lived in the apartment before her, Cressida, is constantly receiving phone calls and letters that sound and look fabulous! It makes Natalie feel even more depressed about the state of her life.

Slightly drunk one night, Natalie decides to open a few of the letters addressed to Cressida. She finds one that looks like a matchmaking letter, telling her to call a man named Simon. The other is from the fabulous and exclusive club, the Soho House. While still slightly drunk, she decides to give Simon a call because it just seems like kind of a good idea.

That is, until the next day. Simon returns her call and suddenly Natalie finds herself pretending to be Cressida and trying to balance her life as Natalie with her life as Cressida while trying to ensure that her two lives never cross paths with one another.

The lies started out harmless enough, or so Natalie thought, but things keep escalating until she finds herself pretending to be a Reiki healer, constantly lying to her best friend, and feeling guilty over lying to Simon who she is quickly falling for...

When Simon takes her home for the weekend to visit his parents, she finds herself forced to face her lies when the woman who set her and Simon up comes to visit. She knows as soon as Leonora sees her, she will know that Natalie is not Cressida...

What will happen when Natalie tells the truth? Will she lose Simon because of all the lies she has told? Will her best friend turn her back on Natalie as well due to all the lying? And how will Natalie get herself out of the mess and keep her life moving forward?

Read Little White Lies to find out!

I am a sucker for a cute chick lit book. Gemma Townley reminds me very much of Sophie Kinsella (author of Confessions of a Shopaholic). If you like Sophie Kinsella, I think you'll like Gemma Townley.

While predictable at times, it was a quick, funny read that was thoroughly enjoyable.

I will throw out that there is a little bit of adult language, but it is very sparse, so probably a PG rating just because of that.

I would say 4 out of 5 stars.

Pick it up if you want a cute chick lit book!

[Erin Polo · Rating 4 out of 5]

i really enjoyed this book i read it in like one day and it was very well thought out

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Little White Lies: A Novel of Love and Good Intentions by Gemma Townley tells the story of Natalie Raglan, a 20-something just looking for adventure. When Natalie quits her job in Bath, England for a more exciting life in the big city of London, she realizes that sometimes adventure isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

Natalie gets an apartment in London and a job at a high-end clothing shop in town. She doesn’t have much of a social life and is disappointed by her new life in the big city. Natalie’s new life is so pathetic that she doesn’t even get her own mail delivered to her house; she receives letters addressed to the previous tenant Cressida Langdon. After several boring nights in, Natalie goes out with co-workers, gets hammered and comes home and opens one of Cressida’s letters. Intrigued by the letter with a phone number for a man named Simon Rutherford, Natalie, in a drunken stupor calls the number.

With good intentions to tell Simon who she really is, Natalie goes on a few dates. The right time to tell Simon never arises, so Natalie continues to live a fake life as Cressida Langdon, Reiki healer and socialite extraordinaire.

Having just discovered Gemma Towney this summer, I’ve been excited to read more of her books, so I’ve been picking up as many as I can.

I do love Gemma Townley’s writing, but Little White Lies wasn’t one of my favorites. The story had a slow start, but eventually picked up.

I found the book a bit predictable, as the theme of ‘pretending to be someone else’ has definitely been done in books and movies before. It was easy to see where the story was going, but I still wanted to read on just to make sure.

The book has a very happy ending with a few unexpected turns.

Natalie is absolutely charming as a main character…she does some silly things and you will definitely laugh out loud while reading!

[Katiuscia · Rating 2 out of 5]

La mia recensione completa la trovate qua
http://katiusciarigogliosi.blogspot.i...

Natalie si trasferisce dalla piccola cittadina di Bath a Londra: lascia famiglia, ex fidanzato, amica e lavoro in una società pubblicitaria per iniziare una nuova vita andando a fare la commessa in una rinomata boutique.
A causa di un disguido postale, si vede recapitare a casa la posta dell'ex inquilina del nuovo appartamento: buste profumate, scritte a mano e, soprattutto, inviti ad eventi di famosi locali.
Cose c'è di male quindi se, per una volta, Natalie decide di indossare i panni della precedente affittuaria per andare a qualche festa? In teoria nulla. In pratica darà il via ad un susseguirsi di fraintendimenti, di bugie, di messe in scena, di pasticci che solo la verità potrà rimettere a posto.

Dovrebbe essere un chick-lit questo romanzo, ovvero una di quelle storielle d'amore o di pseudo-sentimenti che creano buoni pensieri nella testa di chi legge.
A me ha scatenato solo istinti omicidi, verso la protagonista.

Io odio le menzogne. Le bugie, i sotterfugi, le cose inventate .. non fanno per me.
Ci stanno se sono uno scherzo, se tutto finisce in pochi attimi, in poco tempo.
Ma quando queste menzogne prendono il sopravvento tanto da non sapere più da che parte girarsi per non far uscire la verità .. ecco, in quei casi mi prudono le mani.

A Natalie poi, che di frottole ne spara parecchie, va anche tutto bene!
Finale da e vissero tutti felici e contenti, tutti che la amano, tutti che la perdonano, tutti che la capiscono.
A mazzate in testa la capirei io!

Bocciato, senza opportunità di rivalsa.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is about Natalie Raglan, who has left her smaller town of Bath, England for the big town of London. Things aren't really working out how Natalie though they would, she is at home every night, not making friends, and working in a dress shop with the boss from Hell. The past tenant of her apartment gets more phone calls and mail than Natalie does. One night after finally making progress with a social life, going out with co workers to the bar, Natalie does something and opens the past tenants mail. She then ends up mixed up with Cressida, the past tenant, and suddenly is finding herself with an amazing boyfriend and more active social life. Can Natalie keep up her little white lies of letting of living both as Natalie and Cressida and what happens when the lives crash together.

I enjoyed this book. I think it is by the same author who wrote the book behind the new movie When In Rome