Book Review: 'The Friend Zone' by Abby Jimenez

I have a confession to make – for someone who loves to read romance novels, I have not been doing a lot reading recently. I always find something more distractive – whether it’s a TV show that I’m watching for the nth time, or silly videos that unnecessary or just work because that does take a lot of my time. Whatever the reason may be, for I have not been reading a lot and so, I have not been writing a lot. Not good, I know.

So, with temporary quarantine on the cards because of the current unfortunate pandemic, I leapt to one of my many new unread books, this one called, ‘The Friend Zone’ by Abby Jimenez.

I found about the book on Book Depository while ordering a couple of other books, the story sounded interesting – but the title got my eye and cracked me up. I knew I had to get it.

Within three days I found myself at the end of the book, it’s not surprising – I do inhale books that intrigue me, but I haven’t done that in so long – it felt back to being myself again. Whatever that means.

Back to the book, just a little bit about it – the book has been written from two sides of the story – both the protagonist – the girl and the boy. Kristen and Josh. They met through their respective best friends who were getting married – as their maid of honor and best man. They hit it off soon – but Kristen had infertility issues that needed urgent medical care and Josh wanted a big family. But, they both wanted each other.

It’s interesting how the story progresses – especially knowing both sides of the story. Usually it’s a situation of OMG JUST TELL HER/HIM. But, that wasn’t often the case. They both knew exactly what the other wanted – eventually. But, it was all the hurdles that came along the way that they had to deal with together.

The book deals with some really honest infertility issues that most women deal with and the ordeal it becomes on their mental, physical and emotional selves. It is about love, but it’s also about friendship, crazy mothers and importance of ice cream sundaes and fries a the same time. It also proves a well-known theory that all firemen are really hot. Hehe.

It is well-written, witty, honest and easily relatable. I was shaking with laughter, giggling and blushing at the romance and crying – nah, weeping – at the sad parts.

I would definitely recommend reading it!

Get your copy here: https://www.bookdepository.com/Friend-Zone-Abby-Jimenez/9781538715604?ref=grid-view&qid=1584172846652&sr=1-2

Write Away

So, I have a friend who doesn’t think her writing is good enough. And another friend who thinks her writing isn’t good enough And another friend… well, you get the point. So, the purpose of this post is how to make you realise that your writing is less shitty than you think it is (because I have just been called a chill advice dispenser, and I take my duties seriously). Make sure you’ve got the ingredients right, and don’t be too harsh on yourself!

1. PRACTICE
See, practising writing all genres is extremely important. There is always room for improvement when you write, and if there are nitty-gritties in your writing that bother you, you can always resolve them through practice.

2. FEEL YOUR GENRE
I have friends who believe that practising writing engenders talent. I disagree. I feel like we’re all formed from our experiences and our writing styles reflect that. Some people are more comfortable writing humour, some are more inclined to write murder mysteries, some can write funny murder mysteries. Through practice, you need to figure out what your genre is (or are, if you have multiple genres that you can write).

 

3. RECONCILIATION
The genre you feel might not always correspond to what you’re interested in. For example, I am interested in psychological thrillers but I can’t write them–they’re not my genre. On the other hand, Indian marriage scene is not something I’m interested in, but I can write it well enough (I guess). So yeah, you need to find a way to reconcile what you’re interested in and the genre(s) you can write.

4. EUREKA MOMENTS
Writing is not always a thing you can do at will. It’s like food–if you force it too much, it comes out like crap. While I believe that writing is something that you have to work for, I also believe that there are moments of inspiration that you have that ease the process of writing (in the food metaphor, these moments of inspiration are like water).

5. START WITH THE BASICS
Strengthen your plot-making skills, characterization, descriptions, etc. to feel better about your writing.

6. STOP OVER-ANALYSING YOUR WRITING.

7. ASK FOR OTHER PEOPLE’S HONEST INPUT.
This will only make your writing better, even if your pride takes a thrashing. It hurts (a lot), but it helps you grow.

Happy writing!
(Also, if you guys want me to look over your writing, just message the page on Facebook!)

Book Review: ‘The Loveliest Chocolate Shop in Paris’ by Jenny Colgan

This book gave me legit diabetes. It was too sweet from the start to the finish, given it’s got a title that mentions ‘chocolate’.

The book has two protagonists, Anna and Claire- Claire used to be Anna’s French teacher- and Anna’s miserable accident landed her in the hospital, and for Claire, it was another chemo session. Claire encourages Anna (a chocolate taster, if you will), to go to Paris to work in the shop of an acquaintance. Anna, with no other options, actually ends up going.

That’s where the real story begins. The book delves a lot into flashbacks, which show us Claire in Paris as an 18-year-old- how it changed her and how she fell in love, more like who she fell in love with. What follows is a story that unfolds and builds as the plot thickens and bits start to make more sense.

There are delicious mentions of chocolate, and one very sexy man (Anna’s).

Without giving away too much of the plot, the book is about two women who fall love in with Paris and are never the same again. With a predictable plotline, I pretty much knew where the book was going and what was going to happen next. Although it had a few twists and turns, and one particular character change that I did not expect. Yet, what made me keep reading was the delicious descriptions of the chocolate and Paris. The story goes a bit flat in the middle and you’re just stuck reading and hoping this bit flies through quickly.

What made me keep reading was the delicious descriptions of the chocolate and Paris. The story goes a bit flat in the middle and you’re just stuck reading and hoping this bit flies through quickly.

It’s got several characters, all of whom who play some kind of an important role in pushing the story and forming the story line. My favourite has to be Claire’s ex-husband who was so kind and polite- and I would have loved to read and see his plot more.

The book, like fresh chocolate, is warm and delicious and leaves you happy and sad. Happy that you’ve devoured it, and sad that it’s already gone. It’s the perfect book to read on a long weekend.

You can order your copy on Book Depository!