Review & Recommendation: The Vintage Guide to Love and Romance
The Vintage Guide to Love and Romance by Kirsty Greenwood
Since recording/uploading this video, I finished reading this book and I will include my review below.
I start talking about The Vintage Guide to Love and Romance from about 0:57.
4 stars (I really liked it) for The Vintage Guide
The Vintage Guide to Love and Romance has been one of my weekly obsessions and now I finished reading it and the time for a review has come!
I have been tossing and turning, trying to find the words to do this book justice in my review. I am hoping that I can put down at least a few lines that will be able to show how much I liked the book, because I really did, and that it will make you want to pick it up!
The Vintage Guide to Love and Romance will be out on the 9th of April.
Check it out on Amazon, the book depository (free shipping) or get it in your favourite bookshop.
I was lucky enough to win this book in a giveaway and got sent a proof copy of this book by the lovely Kirsty Greenwood, signed and all!
All I can say is that you know a book is going to be kick-ass when the first chapter cracks you up from its first sentence on.
We meet Jessica (Jess) Beam when everything in her life is either quite messy already or about to turn to shit anyway. She portrays some serious odd behaviour (we all are aware what alcohol can make a person do sometimes) and thus ruins whatever future prospects her and her friend Summer had in prospect. With everything going to ruins, it's almost no surprise that Jess finds herself jobless, homeless and friendless.
I for one was very suspicious of Summer from the beginning. Summer was (excuse the language) a total bitch with a capital B. She is the kind of friend that does anything for her own benefit. The kind of person you would want to get rid off as soon as possible. How Jess didn't manage to see through her sooner was a total mystery to me.
But!
Jess bounces back. She does this in a way that is very much like her. Without much elegance, very alcohol indulged and with little desire of emotionally bonding to anything. She looks up her grandma and waltzes into Matilda Beam's life without much warning.
That's when it all starts.
My 24-year old self looked at the 28-year old Jess with rolling eyes and thought 'grow up', though that same 24-year old also loved her free spirit and often bold behaviour.
The Beam ladies are starting up a little project. Jess will explore Matilda's 1950s Guides filled with tips on how to be the perfect woman. Their subject of the project is one man named Leo Frost and Jess will try to woo him in all her vintage glory.
Some big hair, neat make-up, pointy boobs, mini-waist, and an alter-ego known as Lucille Darling later, the project is in full bloom. We follow Jess as she partakes in an adventure where she'll find herself catapulted in old fashioned rules and new ways of engaging with other people.
But a wild spirit is hard to tame and not only has she secret sex dates with one very sexy doctor named Jamie, she also mildly corrupts her grandmother's help, Peach.
Jamie offers her the perfect distraction from everything she dislikes: old fashioned rules, Leo Frost and having feelings.
Peach couldn't be more different than Jess. She's shy, introvert and very eager to find herself a best friend. She is confident that Jess is that friend for her.
Where Jamie is a buffer for emotions to Jess, Peach could well be a buffer for her grandmother.
And when Jess finds out things about her mother, grandmother, Leo Frost, and herself, her world and everyone in it become a whirlwind of emotions. She'll find that some people aren't just buffers but might just be the support she needs.
Against all odds, I started to fall for Leo. At the start I was very wary of him and I routed for Jamie but Leo's charm caught me off guard, like it did with Jess and I was sold to him from then on.
Before I knew it I was at the last 100 pages and I couldn't even imagine that there were enough pages for everything that still needed to happen.
The Vintage Guide to Love and Romance is a great and fun read. The pages flow from one to another and you'll finish it before you know it. It's a very easy read and the pages flow as you get sucked into the story.
With a main character that is in desperate need of a reality check (and this coming from me, a person who would live in Disneyland if given the chance) and has some serious commitment issues, you might want to kick her throughout the first twenty chapters.
However, Kirsty Greenwood manages to constantly walk the line between wanting to kick her main character and finding her very charming. You'll end up liking Jess more and more throughout the book when you find the reasons behind her behaviours and see her change in front of your eyes, even before Jess herself is aware of it. And the more Jess grows as a person the more you'll grow fond of her and proud.
The Vintage Guide to Love and Romance will make you eager for more after finishing. But remember, A Good Woman never dwells in the past ;)
Since recording/uploading this video, I finished reading this book and I will include my review below.
I start talking about The Vintage Guide to Love and Romance from about 0:57.
4 stars (I really liked it) for The Vintage Guide
Jessica Beam is a girl who knows how to party. Only lately she's been forgetting to turn up for work on time. Or in clean clothes. Down on her luck, out of a job and homeless, Jess seeks the help of her long-lost grandmother.
Things aren't going well for Matilda Beam, either. Her 1950s Good Woman guide books are out of print, her mortgage repayments are staggering and her granddaughter wears neon Wonderbras.
When a lifeline from a London publisher arrives, the pair have an opportunity to secure the roof over their heads - by invigorating the Good Woman guides and transforming modern, rebellious Jess into a demure vintage lady.
The true test of their make-over will be to capture the heart of notorious London playboy Leo Frost and prove that Matilda's guides still work. It's going to take commitment, nerves of steel and one seriously pointy bra to pull this off . . .
Source: Amazon
The Vintage Guide to Love and Romance has been one of my weekly obsessions and now I finished reading it and the time for a review has come!
I have been tossing and turning, trying to find the words to do this book justice in my review. I am hoping that I can put down at least a few lines that will be able to show how much I liked the book, because I really did, and that it will make you want to pick it up!
The Vintage Guide to Love and Romance will be out on the 9th of April.
Check it out on Amazon, the book depository (free shipping) or get it in your favourite bookshop.
I was lucky enough to win this book in a giveaway and got sent a proof copy of this book by the lovely Kirsty Greenwood, signed and all!
All I can say is that you know a book is going to be kick-ass when the first chapter cracks you up from its first sentence on.
We meet Jessica (Jess) Beam when everything in her life is either quite messy already or about to turn to shit anyway. She portrays some serious odd behaviour (we all are aware what alcohol can make a person do sometimes) and thus ruins whatever future prospects her and her friend Summer had in prospect. With everything going to ruins, it's almost no surprise that Jess finds herself jobless, homeless and friendless.
I for one was very suspicious of Summer from the beginning. Summer was (excuse the language) a total bitch with a capital B. She is the kind of friend that does anything for her own benefit. The kind of person you would want to get rid off as soon as possible. How Jess didn't manage to see through her sooner was a total mystery to me.
But!
Jess bounces back. She does this in a way that is very much like her. Without much elegance, very alcohol indulged and with little desire of emotionally bonding to anything. She looks up her grandma and waltzes into Matilda Beam's life without much warning.
That's when it all starts.
My 24-year old self looked at the 28-year old Jess with rolling eyes and thought 'grow up', though that same 24-year old also loved her free spirit and often bold behaviour.
The Beam ladies are starting up a little project. Jess will explore Matilda's 1950s Guides filled with tips on how to be the perfect woman. Their subject of the project is one man named Leo Frost and Jess will try to woo him in all her vintage glory.
Some big hair, neat make-up, pointy boobs, mini-waist, and an alter-ego known as Lucille Darling later, the project is in full bloom. We follow Jess as she partakes in an adventure where she'll find herself catapulted in old fashioned rules and new ways of engaging with other people.
But a wild spirit is hard to tame and not only has she secret sex dates with one very sexy doctor named Jamie, she also mildly corrupts her grandmother's help, Peach.
Jamie offers her the perfect distraction from everything she dislikes: old fashioned rules, Leo Frost and having feelings.
Peach couldn't be more different than Jess. She's shy, introvert and very eager to find herself a best friend. She is confident that Jess is that friend for her.
Where Jamie is a buffer for emotions to Jess, Peach could well be a buffer for her grandmother.
And when Jess finds out things about her mother, grandmother, Leo Frost, and herself, her world and everyone in it become a whirlwind of emotions. She'll find that some people aren't just buffers but might just be the support she needs.
Against all odds, I started to fall for Leo. At the start I was very wary of him and I routed for Jamie but Leo's charm caught me off guard, like it did with Jess and I was sold to him from then on.
Before I knew it I was at the last 100 pages and I couldn't even imagine that there were enough pages for everything that still needed to happen.
The Vintage Guide to Love and Romance is a great and fun read. The pages flow from one to another and you'll finish it before you know it. It's a very easy read and the pages flow as you get sucked into the story.
With a main character that is in desperate need of a reality check (and this coming from me, a person who would live in Disneyland if given the chance) and has some serious commitment issues, you might want to kick her throughout the first twenty chapters.
However, Kirsty Greenwood manages to constantly walk the line between wanting to kick her main character and finding her very charming. You'll end up liking Jess more and more throughout the book when you find the reasons behind her behaviours and see her change in front of your eyes, even before Jess herself is aware of it. And the more Jess grows as a person the more you'll grow fond of her and proud.
The Vintage Guide to Love and Romance will make you eager for more after finishing. But remember, A Good Woman never dwells in the past ;)
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