Series: Third Time Lucky #1Publisher: Neville House Publishing
Genres: Chicklit, Women's Fiction, Adult
Format: Paperback, review copy
Source: The author in exchange for an honest review
Pages: 232
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A fast moving witty chick lit drama that will take you on a
journey of laughter and revelations.
Good friends Sarah a sensible simple soul, Laura bitchy
complicated, Beth a ‘too cool for school’ high school teacher, and Jess a funky
hairdresser, decide to honey trap Jess's new American boyfriend Richard. How
could such a simple plan go wrong? Just add Jess’s new flat mate, hot sexy
Elise to the mix, a few glasses of wine and you have a cocktail fit for
disaster – especially when Elise honey traps the wrong boyfriend! Good friends
are all Sarah needs when her uncomplicated life is jettisoned into chaos.
Dan, Sarah’s boyfriend makes some shady life choices. But
who is friend and who is foe?
Wealthy bachelor Lee Preston sets his sights on Sarah and
all Lee wants is to make her happy. Life could be fantastic when money is no
object and your closet is filled with designer shoes, Oh, and his with secrets.
I was definitely intrigued from the beginning! The first paragraph is so poetic and beautiful that I had to pause for a minute and just breathe. I love when books begin with something beautiful and this did anything but disappoint. If you want to read it for yourself, you're free to do so right here.
Already before writing this I had a hard time voicing my thoughts about this book. I had a problem with the characters and even though I liked the story something was missing and I'm still not sure why. With that said, I enjoyed the novel and I hope the next one is better!
I definitely like Victoria's writing style; it's easy breezy and I just enjoy reading her books. I think she could write about anything and I'd probably read it!
In my review of Gut Feeling I mentioned how I loved her introductions of her characters and I really do. She also introduced each character with a whole background story and key details in this one and I really love that! It makes you feel like you know each character personally. I don't think I've ever known characters like that, I just love that we know the characters like friends instead of just characters in a book!
Story
Usually I talk about the characters first, but to mix it up; we'll start with the story this time!Sarah has been together with Dan for some years and she's only just finding out that maybe being with him isn't what's best for her.
Just as in Gut Feeling by Victoria, friendship plays an important role. The friendship part of the story is actually more prominent than the love / relationship part and I loved that! Not only are the friendships important, they take up so much space and I really enjoyed seeing how the characters cared for each other in Third Time Lucky - The Honey Trap.
There is so much going on in this book with friendships, relationships and career stuff but somehow nothing feels forced and it's not even that fast paced. It's not often I come across books with that much going on where I still feel like I can take my time with the book and read it slowly. I read this book in a matter of hours but it's not actually as if it's a page turner - I just enjoyed reading the story.
I really like those books where the only thing that makes you keep reading is the fact that you just like the story and not because the pace is fast or you need to know what happens next!
I was quite surprised with the turn of events in Third Time Lucky - The Honey Trap there was a lot of things I didn't see coming and the things I did see coming was somehow twisted from what I'd expected. I like being surprised and I definitely enjoyed the surprises in this book!
Characters
Our main character is Sarah is in her twenties and working in a furniture store with her friend Laura. Before we get into it I think I should admit that even though I liked Sarah in the beginning I felt myself disliking her more and more throughout the story. She's an okay character but I definitely preferred Beth, another friend of hers, to any other character!Laura is a bitch, there I said it, no matter how hard I tried I couldn't get myself to like her. She's mean to her friends, is anything but faithful and she's just irritating and annoying. I have a feeling that's how the author wanted to portray her and if that really is the case then she hit a homerun!
Beth, as aforementioned, is the character I liked the most in this book. She's so cool, sweet and confident! Even though she's a teacher she's so sassy and playful and a really good friend! I wish I meet someone like Beth someday!
When it comes to men or guys in this novel there's some but I didn't really like any of them. Dan, Sarah's boyfriend, is a bastard - I'd seen what was happening miles away because that's just the sort of person Dan is.
Lee I really liked in the beginning, I felt like he was just what Sarah needed and deserved and it actually surprised me that I was wrong with him.
I really don't know what else to say. It's a good book, the characters are okay - except for Beth, she's awesome - and the story is definitely intriguing. Reading the book was a pleasure and I'm definitely continuing the series but it felt like something was missing from the story.
The friendships is probably why I've given it 4 out of 5 instead of 3 out of 5. I definitely recommend it for the chick lit fans out there!
Aside from the book beginning I also have an excerpt of Third Time Lucky - The Honey Trap which you can read here. And if you're interested in her other works I also have a review and excerpt of Gut Feeling on the blog.
