The Dr Pepper Prophecies/ Jennifer Gilby Roberts

Reviewed by: ?wazithinkin

Genre: Chick-Lit/ Romantic Comedy

Approximate word count: 80-85,000 words

Availability    

Kindle  US: YES  UK: YES  Nook: NO  Smashwords: NO  Paper: YES

Click on a YES above to go to appropriate page in Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Smashwords store

Author:

“Jennifer Gilby Roberts has a degree in physics and a postgraduate certificate in computing, so a career writing fiction was inevitable really. She was born and grew up in Surrey/Greater London, but now lives in Richmond, North Yorkshire with her husband, small daughter, two middle-aged cats and a lot of dust bunnies.

She can also be found getting red-faced at zumba class, reading historical porn (as her husband calls it - Regency romance to the rest of us) and humming nursery rhymes while going round Tesco. Her current obsessions include toffee crisp bars, Costa fruit coolers and the TV show 'Torchwood'.”

For more, visit her blog or Facebook page.

Description:

“25-year-old Mel Parker has a few tiny problems:

* Her job is terrible

* She's been dumped yet again

* Her ex is now her boss

* Her parents think she's a loser compared to her perfect younger sister

* All her efforts to improve her life seem doomed to failure

* There just isn't enough chocolate in the world to make up for the above.

The one good thing in her life has always been her best friend Will, who has seen her through every crisis from lost toys to pregnancy scares. But his girlfriend (who's prettier, better-dressed, more successful and secretly evil) is determined to replace Mel as the woman in his life and how is Mel supposed to compete?

So what do you do when you've pretty much given up on your own life? Help others, of course! After all, what's the worst that can happen? “

Appraisal:

In this contemporary Chick-Lit, Mel Parker, who we learn early on is a basket case, works in a dead-end job for an insurance claim office. Nothing seems to be going her way, so when she can’t fix her own life she decides perhaps she can help others find happiness. With a running theme of “What’s the worst that could happen?” Mel finds out the hard way. Bless her heart, she had the best intentions, but after a while I wanted to slap some sense into her. Especially where Will was concerned, her lifelong childhood friend she refuses to see as a boyfriend for fear it will ruin their friendship.

As we learn a little more about her dysfunctional family I was able to gain a little more understanding for her relentless behavior and need for acceptance. Throughout the hysterical situations Mel gets herself into she continues to believe that just because today is crap doesn’t mean tomorrow will be.

The characters, while perhaps a little out there, are not totally unrealistic and their dialogue is fun and engaging. This is a light-hearted read with some serious relationship themes. I think this would be the perfect summer beach read.

FYI:

Written in UK English

Format/Typo Issues:

I found no significant issues with editing or formatting.

Rating: **** Four stars