Debby Holt

The cover of this was super glizy with gold stars, fancy writing and an enticing title "Annie May's Black Book' and it even started off well enough. The story is a flimsy one and not well-told. Every single cliched situation that fit the story line was included: man in coma expected to die makes a full recovery, shy, plain jane trumps over her more-beautiful rival by a display of great talent, annoying stepchild tries to break up family, lady with heart broken once resolves never to fall in love again... And the black book - funny, but the story wouldn't have been better or worse without it. The last few events that lead up to the climax of the story were perhaps the worst cliches of all. The fact that the book is populated with a vast cast of scarcely-differentiated determinedly middle-class English characters with names like Cressida, Fizzie, Bella and Clement who live in rooms with flowing curtains and always drink good wines with their meals was not well-written enough to add anything other than confusion to the story. It made me wonder if the author really has no original thoughts in her head or if it was written on a dare - to include as many literary cliches as possible and still come out with a publishable book. That's how it reads anyway.

I didn't hate it and I did finish it, which is why it gets two stars and not one.… (mer)

When this book arrived My wife branded it 'chick lit' and I never know if that is good or bad, after all she claims 'Con Air' is a 'chick flick'. She had already read a book by Debby Holt and said she enjoyed it so I settled down to read it.
I was surprised to find myself quickly getting into the story of Alberta and her family and their many varied personalities. Life is ticking along very casually for Alberta and Tony who are living together and have for many years until the sudden death of Alberta's father in strange circumstances. The repercussions of his death continue to grow affecting more and more of her family and an estrangement from Tony. However life goes on and everything ends for the best for everyone in her family.

I have read many books that cover these subjects recently and being somewhat a prude I can end up getting really angry about them, but this book didn't do that to me and I found myself enjoying the story more and more.
It is difficult to conceive of ANYONE taking any offence at any part of this book, although Tony and Daniel do take the mick from people of certain musical tastes (or lack of taste as they see it).

As lighthearted, fairy tale reading it was an excellent book and I would recommend it to anyone looking for something light and fun to read. If you want deep and complex then this isn't the book for you.… (mer)