“I’ve always hated receipts. They remind me of little death certificates for the money you no longer have. “

Through doing my daily Twitter scroll a few days back, I stumbled across a post which instantly caught my eye. Author, Lacey London had Tweeted about a free digital copy of her bestselling Kindle book, Meet Clara Andrews. So me being me, always looking for something different to read, thought, “You know what, let’s give this a go.”

Now, I’ll be honest with you straight from the off. Rom-com books are totally not my thing. But seeing as one of my New Year’s Resolutions for 2018 was “Read more books!” I couldn’t really say no. After all, it’s now March and I’d still not completed a book until now. This resolution nearly went in the resolution bin, with all the ‘lose weight’ and ‘eat healthily’ objectives. I didn’t want that to happen! Thanks Lacey for giving me that kick up the bum I needed to get something read.

Straight away, I realise that from reading the first page of this book, it could go one of two ways. Number one, I could begin to read it and think, “This is totally not me, no thanks.” Number two, I could think, “This is not usually something I’d be interested in, but you know what? I’m going to read it anyway and give it the time of day.” I would like to point out that I’m really glad I chose the latter.

I got through Meet Clara Andrews in a couple of days, and not because I was rushing through it, wanting to get it finished. It’s simply a pleasure to read and it flows so nicely that you constantly get that ‘okay, one more chapter’ feel. It’s so easy to read, and not in a way that makes it incredibly boring either. It’s a book that’s laid out in short chapters, each filling you in with a snippet of Clara’s life and the hilarity she has to endure right from the off. You instantly get really attached to her, even feeling sorry for her or happy for her in parts, but feeling this way so early on in the book is amazing – Lacey really knows how to connect with her audience and I take my hat off to you for being able to do this so well!

Instead of just taking the topic into account when reading Meet Clara Andrews, I really picked it apart. I took note of the technique and tone used by the author. I noticed the way Lacey had described how her characters did certain actions, and the description she used actually made me stop in parts and think, “Yeah, that is good.” Certain parts also reminded me of my story in a way. I think the way the characters see the world is quite relatable and brand new ideas have already popped up inside my own head. It’s so strange, yet so satisfying how you get new and completely different ideas from reading other people’s work, even if what you’re reading is completely different to what you’re writing. Lovely!

One of the main points I really loved about Meet Clara Andrews was how we constantly feel Clara’s emotions. She goes through a bit of everything in the book, and you almost feel like you’re a part of her. Like some sort of strange conjoined twin, thinking her every thought. I found myself really wanting Clara to succeed in everything she did, and even though this wasn’t necessarily the case, I was even beginning to think of how I would react in her situations and how she should best solve her problems. You almost feel like you’re the protagonist here, and I find that simply incredible. The way we can immerse ourselves in a story and completely forget about the real world around us is something that will never fail to amaze me.

I have to really credit Lacey on certain snippets of text that are just so clever and beautifully written. I adore the phrase, “I’ve always hated receipts. They remind me of little death certificates for the money you no longer have.” I loved it that much, it obviously takes pride at the top of my blog post. That’s where all the best quotes hang out.

Each chapter has been well thought out in terms of language and it really is spot on. The humour of the story really shines through and I found myself smiling an awful lot when reading. The way Lacey describes things reminds me of my own sense of humour a lot!

After completing the book and now feeling rather attached to Clara’s story, I feel like I now need to continue with the series and see how her story develops. (I bet that sounds amazing to every author!) I feel rather inspired now, and will only feel more so if I keep up with Clara’s drama and shenanigans. Thank you very much Lacey, for giving your readers something they can not only relate to, but perhaps something they can learn from. It’s surprising how many people go through similar situations as Clara has done here, and they’ll definitely be able to relate to what she has endured.

If you’re like me and are usually only happy with some crime or adventure story, I urge you to expand on your chosen genres. Not expecting that I would ever find a rom-com entertaining, I picked up my Kindle, (expecting to read a few pages and feel unsatisfied) and thoroughly enjoyed getting lost in Clara’s world for a couple of evenings.

I also have to congratulate Lacey for providing me with my first read of 2018! I think reading the first installment of the series has given me the encouragement I needed to stick with that New Years Resolution and read more books. After all, you can never go on too many adventures 🙂

Do you have a favourite book you’re reading at the moment? Or, better still, are you writing your own book? 🙂