Sophia Money-CouttsRecensioner

Stella needs a job and a new boyfriend. She becomes an assistant in a detective agency known for gathering information on affairs which is actually a good premise, and sets up some intriguing side plots. However, it never really teaches her how to find love as she falls for the wrong guy (again), ignoring the less flashy guy who is the one who is right for her. There were parts I really liked, but it was hard to like Stella.

I had read The Plus One from Sophie Money-Coutts and really enjoyed it and was so pleased that I was accepted to review her second book, What Happens Now?
It following Lil’s life from breaking up for a long term relationship and having her first date with Max, him ghosting her and then finding out she is pregnant and the following 9 months. It had me laughing out loud a lot of the time throughout the book. I love Sophie Money-Coutts writing, both her books have made me laugh but also have the emotion and rawness that is very real for most people too.
Absolutely brilliant!

The Plus One was really hard to put down I was hooked from early in. Polly was a likeable character; I warmed up to her very quickly. She felt real to me, a bit like Bridget Jones, in fact this is who she reminded me of quite a bit, especially with the humor and the journalist job and the bad luck with men. I am sure we have all been there at some point though.

Polly’s best friend Lex is getting married and Polly is on the lookout for a potential plus one, this is not an easy feat as she finds out.

She is asked to interview Jasper, Marquess of Milton and her colleague has dated him before, she is not interested at all, well that is what she told herself before interviewing him. He works his charms and before long they are dating. This leads to a will he be her plus one or not and we end up in a bit of a spiral wondering for a while.

But this is not all that happens in this book, there is just so much, comedy, sadness, sex, anger and joy. The ending was quite unexpected, but that is all I am saying.

A fantastically written debut and Sophia Money-Coutts is a brilliant author. I would definitely recommend it.

I really love Sophia Money-Coutts writing style. It’s so fun and relatable. She’s become a must read author for me. If you’ve enjoyed her previous books, you’ll love this.

A little unsatisfying in one area, but overall a fun read.

Polly, a magazine journalist is assigned a puff piece to spend the weekend hunting and dining with a much coveted bachelor at his family’s palatial estate. Polly never suspected the weekend would turn into a relationship, at thirty her dating life hasn’t been all that active and this guy is from a different world compared to Polly’s humble background. While Polly navigates her new tentative joy in having a plus one, she also deals with a health scare for her beloved mom, her best friend’s upcoming wedding, and contemplates a career change.

The romantic relationships were where this book fell a little short for me. One of Polly’s relationships is mostly sex with very little getting to know one another, the other relationship there’s definitely a connection between the two however very few of the sparks I craved. Polly aptly compares her relationships to Marianne’s in Sense and Sensibility which is a book I enjoyed yet much like The Plus One the romance in Sense and Sensibility also isn’t one of the things I most enjoyed about it.

All the bits between Polly and her ailing mother were my favorites in this book, I liked how humorous and warm they were with one another, their love shone through in a much more genuine and engaging fashion than the romances managed. Between that strong sense of their small family and the author’s breezy way with words, I’ll be interested in reading more from her.

I received this book through a giveaway.½

Polly is a grand character, though she thinks/shares things QUITE literally...and if overthinking was a sport, she should have been signed up for it since birth! Honestly, I loved the humor, even when it strayed into the "adult" realm of things, and found myself stopping rather often to share a scene or chuckle with those around me. Now some of it may not be shareable depending on your audience...remember I said she is VERY literal, so there is no dancing around things going on here...but still, I was laughing. Oh and should I ever need to get into a latex catsuit, I've been sufficiently schooled. (OMG. LOL!) Anywho...

The majority of the story is filled with Polly's adventures through singledom with the possibly reformed playboy Marquess, Jasper. We see the ups, the downs, the stolen moments, and trivial banter, all while this romance is blossoming. I mean, he's fab alright, and turns heads wherever he goes, but sometimes you have to call a spade a spade. As much as I wanted to believe the fairytale aspect of it, I just couldn't quite put my faith in him. Even his past connection with her bestie La had me on edge...not that I thought she'd necessarily do something, but one never knows with circumstances, and green-eyed monsters...so when things turn the way they did, I was only half surprised. Now the ending though, that actually took me places I didn't see coming. I mean, I enjoyed the "show" and the fallout was handled well, but it felt a bit off. It didn't seem, even looking back, like it was leading to that particular outcome...so I wasn't displeased, I was just off kilter.

In the end, it was definitely out there, off the wall, and typically British...but I enjoyed it, even with the slight misstep at book's end. The humor was spot on, the transparency between friends applause worthy, and the characters well worth knowing. Recommended for ADULT readers of Contemporary Romance who love a good helping of humor pointed at the everyday trials and tribulations of adult life.


**eARC received for review; opinions are my own

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I am so excited to be part of the Blog Tour for What Happens Now by Sophia Money-Coutts! Thank you to the team at HQ, for being so kind to send me a copy of this book!
Without further delays, let’s see what I thought…



What Happens Now by Sophia Money-Coutts is a wonderful story that features Lil, who is a normal lady, living a normal life. She thought she has found ”the one”, but after so many years, this fellow dumps her for a twenty-year old blonde girl.

Doing what everyone should do, she moves on, and tries to find a new match, choosing a dating app and swiping right. She finds a handsome man that seems to like her and arranges a date. She gets ready, meets this guy, has a few drinks and spends the night at his apartment.

What is the worse thing that can happen?

Well – firstly, he doesn’t seem to respond to her messages at all. And then, she discovers that he is, in fact, the famous mountaineer Max, who is currently out there somewhere, climbing a mountain and can’t actually see her messages, the Max who is possibly Prince William’s best friend. But on top of it all, after weeing on a stick, she discovers she is pregnant with his baby.

So now Lil is single, thirty-one and living in a small flat in London, and this is not how she expected to become a mum. But our lady Lil here is probably the bravest woman I have ever encountered in my books, and she decides to do this whole motherhood thing on her own. Yes – she really likes Max, and it would be amazing if he gets involved too, but she doesn’t need him really. She can do this!

Throughout this book I felt so empowered to read about Lil’s daily challenges and I was cheering for her all the way through. She, and all women in the world that had the courage to give birth to and raise a child on their own should be praised, and I can’t think of any words to describe how brave these people are and how much I admire them!

Lucky for Lil, she has her mother and her stepdad along her way throughout the whole journey, and these two people are the friendliest and kindest people in the world.

And then there’s Jess – Lil’s best friend, who is, by the way, THE BEST FRIEND anyone wants. She was EVERYTHING and I loved her so much! She was always there for Lil, giving the best advises in the world. We all need a Jess in our lives!

And to be honest, given my low opinion on Sophia’s first book, The Plus One, I didn’t have high expectations on this one, but I think she outdid herself and created a masterpiece! The writing style has improved so much, that you wouldn’t notice these two books have been written by the same author.

I loved reading about Lil’s journey – I truly did. The writing was gorgeous and I couldn’t put the book down. Very empowering, but at the same time a very light summer read. I recommend it to all of you – read What Happens Now? this summer, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

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What Happens Now? is a light, funny, thoroughly contemporary romance novel from Sophia Money-Coutts.

Thirty one year old private school teacher Lil is still raw from the end of an eight year relationship when her best friend, Jess, convinces her to use a dating app. Lil chooses mountaineer Max, who likes like ‘a cross between a Jane Austen hero, and Jack Sparrow’. and the evening goes well, so well in fact that Lil goes home with him. But Max is gone when Lil wakes up the next morning, preparing to mountain climb in Pakistan, and fails to respond to her carefully worded texts. Six weeks later Lil realises thrush isn’t the only souvenir from her one night stand with Max, she’s pregnant. Letting Max know is the right thing to do, but he is missing somewhere on Muchu Chhish, so what happens now?

Max obviously isn’t the greatest of communicators which continues to be issue throughout the book, but Money-Coutts ensures he’s not short on charm. I thought his reaction to the news of the pregnancy was pretty realistic, and once he commits to fatherhood, he is kind and generous with Lil.

I liked Lil, her apprehension on finding out she was pregnant felt natural, and I admired her general equanimity once she’d made the decision keep the baby, with or without Max. I really enjoyed her interactions at the school where she teaches, especially with her small charges.

I enjoyed the friendships too. Lil’s bestie Jess, and her twin brother Clem are amusing, and the glimpses of Lil’s flatmates and work colleagues are fun. I also liked how sweet and supportive Lil’s parents are.

I appreciated the honesty with which the author described several scenes in the story, particularly how awkward it is to pee on a pregnancy test stick, and the delicate answers needed to satisfy the curiosity of five year olds (I fielded similar questions when I was pregnant and teaching). I could have done with a few less details about a particular act in the sex scene though.

I’m too old fashioned to not to be at least a little uncomfortable about the failure of Max and Lil to use a condom, especially during a casual encounter (with the knowledge that two of my children were conceived while I was on the pill and STD’s are still a thing people!).

That point aside, I was engaged by the wit and warmth of What Happens Now? An entertaining read.

I’ve been reading some fairly serious books recently and I was looking for a change of pace. Something that yelled fun before I’d even opened to the first page. What Happens Now? grabbed my attention from the book stacks. Plus, the cover is the same colour as my footy team, so I couldn’t go wrong. This novel ticks all my boxes and earns extra credit for being a deliciously fun and hilarious read. It’s real with a heroine that hasn’t quite got it together and doesn’t look like achieving it soon. The quirks were original and the characters memorable.

From a brief glance, you might wonder what makes What Happens Now? so unique. The story of a one-night stand ending in pregnancy isn’t an original one, but the details and camaraderie between the characters make it stand out. Lil has been dumped by her long-term boyfriend for a younger model. Encouraged by friends to swipe right, she meets Max in a pub and sparks fly. Max ticks all the boxes for a fling – not obviously a weirdo and hot. It’s all good that night but the morning after it starts to get weird with Max not answering Lil’s painstakingly thought out texts. Then Lil discovers she’s pregnant thanks to a dodgy curry and nerves. Lil reckons she can do it on her own (maybe) but it would be nice if Max would answer her instead of trekking up mountains and leaving his ex to fill the tabloids.

The details in What Happens Now? make the story extra special. I was just as invested in Lil’s work life as I was in her love life. She’s a teacher at a very exclusive school and the stories of her students, their parents and the extravagances and demands were hilarious. Lil’s mum and stepfather are also well crafted with individual quirks that make them even more lovable. Lil’s best friend Jess is also a riot – she’s incredibly kind and has the most entertaining banter with her twin Clem. (I would love to see Jess get a story of her own, if only for the insults she can throw at Clem, well deserved or otherwise). Clem and Jess are quirky, yet the most loyal friends Lil could want. Even Lil’s flatmates and fellow teachers are cleverly constructed for ultimate friendship and laughs.

What Happens Now? also stands head and shoulders above the pack because of its raw honesty. Even during the sex scenes, Lil is giving the reader a running commentary of what’s running through her mind (hint: it’s very rarely sexy, rather the kind of cringy things you wouldn’t confess to). Lil is blunt, but in a good way on many topics – not knowing her birth father, opinions on Max’s family and the bodily changes during pregnancy. While one of the main threads of the novel is romance (or lack of it), this book celebrates female friendship and girl power at any age. (Lil’s mum would set you straight on that).

Sophia Money-Coutts is definitely an author to watch if you enjoy romcoms with unforgettable characters that truly do make you laugh out loud. I’m looking forward to her next novel, but in the meantime I’ll entertain myself with her debut The Plus One.

Thank you to Harlequin for the ARC of this book. My review is honest.

http://samstillreading.wordpress.com

A very fast, slightly humorous, and sometimes frustrating read.
If you have read Bridget Jones's Diary then you have read this book -with a few changes! A little heavy on the sex, and what should have been a surprise twist at the end really wasn't...a little obvious for my taste.
*ARC supplied by the publisher

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I love romance, and chick-literature. I love fast reads, and enjoyable nonsense. The cover looked so cute, and when I got approved the ARC on The Plus One from Sophia Money-Coutts on Netgalley, I was excited to read it. And then, it all started going downhill…

The Plus One is a book about Polly Spencer. She is thirty, single and works for Posh! Magazine. I didn’t like the Poly Spencer of now, and I thought, this might be a book where the main character is a lady with no self-respect, gets dumped, doesn’t have any ambition in life, and that’s okay.

People learn, people change, or if people don’t change, they start to be happy in their own world, without bothering what others think about it.

But Polly - she is all of these things, and on top of that she is not a happy bunny. She keeps complaining about things without trying to act on it, and her day consists of her checking if the phone has a message of her ‘crush’, and asking herself eighty-six times whether to send a message first or not.



I usually love these types of books, but not in cases where the character is just so… I don’t even have the words to explain.

And the book is full of words used too often (Shenanigans is such a lovely word, and Sophia destroyed it for me), lame pick up lines (‘I carry farm animals. I can manage you.’ - WHO SAYS THAT?), dialogues and useless waste of pages with people deciding what to eat:

‘So let’s get some onion bhajis to start. And then I’m going to have a butter chicken. And it comes with popadoms, right?’
‘Yes’ - I said, taking the menu from him.
‘And I’ll get the chicken jalfrezi. And plain rice. Mums, do we have any chutney?’
And it goes on…

At 42%, I decided to store this is my DNF stack. I really wish I had loved it, and I am so sad I didn't.

But life is too short to read the books you don’t like...

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I love romance, and chick-literature. I love fast reads, and enjoyable nonsense. The cover looked so cute, and when I got approved the ARC on The Plus One from Sophia Money-Coutts on Netgalley, I was excited to read it. And then, it all started going downhill…

The Plus One is a book about Polly Spencer. She is thirty, single and works for Posh! Magazine. I didn’t like the Poly Spencer of now, and I thought, this might be a book where the main character is a lady with no self-respect, gets dumped, doesn’t have any ambition in life, and that’s okay.

People learn, people change, or if people don’t change, they start to be happy in their own world, without bothering what others think about it.

But Polly - she is all of these things, and on top of that she is not a happy bunny. She keeps complaining about things without trying to act on it, and her day consists of her checking if the phone has a message of her ‘crush’, and asking herself eighty-six times whether to send a message first or not.



I usually love these types of books, but not in cases where the character is just so… I don’t even have the words to explain.

And the book is full of words used too often (Shenanigans is such a lovely word, and Sophia destroyed it for me), lame pick up lines (‘I carry farm animals. I can manage you.’ - WHO SAYS THAT?), dialogues and useless waste of pages with people deciding what to eat:

‘So let’s get some onion bhajis to start. And then I’m going to have a butter chicken. And it comes with popadoms, right?’
‘Yes’ - I said, taking the menu from him.
‘And I’ll get the chicken jalfrezi. And plain rice. Mums, do we have any chutney?’
And it goes on…

At 42%, I decided to store this is my DNF stack. I really wish I had loved it, and I am so sad I didn't.

But life is too short to read the books you don’t like...

I was intrigued by the synopsis of ‘The Plus One’ as I love a great chic-lit book and was curious to find out where the author Sophia Money-Coutts would take Polly’s story given it sounded quite Bridget Jones-esque.

It was a light, entertaining read with a number of humorous moments and had all the elements of a great romantic comedy. Though it started out strong, my interest waned towards the last third of the book as I found things became repetitive or perhaps because I couldn’t shake the similarities with Bridget Jones, the story became predictable. Had I not had the Bridget Jones’s story hanging over my read, I would have likely rated ‘The Plus One’ higher as the writing was great with a good pace.

I am keen to see what new offerings Sophia Money-Coutts releases in the future and will definitely give her books another chance.

Thank you Beauty and Lace Book Club and Harlequin Australia for the opportunity to review The Plus One.