Review: Very good contemporary romance
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 02 13, 2014
I really enjoyed this book, set in Australia,and the first I've read by this author. The story was well written and well edited with a cast of interesting characters and a good storyline. The main heroine, Samantha (Sam), ends up a very likeable person who undergoes huge changes in her life because of one night in her life. As she deals with the fallout of her decision and goes into self imposed hiding, she finds out a lot about herself and does some real soul searching for what is meaningful to her with some surprising results. Throughout the book, her best friends have her back, and there are some really humorous moments and some really touching ones. The three friends started out as a bit shallow, more focused on themselves, having a good time and having nice things. But when Sam had trouble, or Lizzie was heartbroken, they grew up and rallied around to offer complete loyalty and support. By the end of the story, they were different people altogether, well almost : ).Sam was out at a friend's bar and was introduced to a few of their friends. She hit it off with one of the men, Alistair, and they talked for hours until the bar closed. They ended up going back to her apartment and sleeping together. Two days later, Sam is besieged by the paparazzi and press for interviews because the man she brought home was the married captain of the national soccer team who has two children and a pregnant wife. She had no idea! Of course she knew the name, but not what he looked like, because she never watched sports. He wasn't wearing a wedding ring and why would she have expected to meet some famous footballer at her friend's bar? She's demonized in the press as a "home wrecker", "the other woman", "a prostitute". She's followed to work, the gym, home, everywhere. Meanwhile, Alistair's wife is going around giving all kinds of interviews about her pain and anguish. Sam gives one interview to try and set the record straight but the story gets totally skewed. Only one television show lets her tell her side of the story.  She has to try to manage her successful career as an advertising campaign executive from home, which doesn't work. In danger of losing her career, trapped in her apartment by the circling paparazzi, she's desperate for an escape. Her friends Lizzie and Manda arrange it all.....This was a solid story about how life can change in an instant in unexpected ways, and it looks at it with a good dose of humor and irony. The Australian slang was occasionally a little tough for this American reader, but funny, nonetheless. There are sexual scenes and some profanity in this story.Heat factor moderate.