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Frisky Business

by Clodagh Murphy (Goodreads Author)

3.79 of 5 stars 3.79 · rating details · 95 ratings · 21 reviews

Romy Fitzgerald always planned to go the conventional route: boyfriend, marriage, children. Motherhood via cupboard sex at a costume party with a stranger dressed as Darth Vader didn't feature on her to-do list. But when she gives birth to her son Luke nine months later, he turns out to be the best thing that ever happened to her. As Luke gets older however, Romy knows tha...more

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Published June 1st 2012 by Hachette Books Ireland

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Mar 01, 2013 Mary rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: chicklit, my-fav, e-book

Funny and sweet (without cheesy and corny business)

It's been a long time I don't read this kind of book, where everybody are happy, normal, kind, and sweet.
Romy got knock out after her first and only one night stand without knowing her partner in crime. She and her bestfriend had tried to find the father of her son, Luke, with no result.
Then she met Kit, her ex-boyfriend years ago in high school. Out of nowhere Kit asked her to be his fake girlfriend. She agreed to go for it although Kit never g...more

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Aug 08, 2012 Meredith rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, brits, chick-lit, contemporary-fiction, romance

Originally posted on The Librarian Next Door:

Romy Fitzgerald was the quintessential good girl. She was a good student in school, built up her on successful business and always figured marriage and children were in her future, someday. Then one Halloween, she has a fling with a guy in a Darth Vader costume and winds up giving birth to baby Luke nine months later. Though his arrival in the world was unconventional, Romy loves her son more than anything. She just wishes she could tell him more abou...more
Originally posted on The Librarian Next Door:

Romy Fitzgerald was the quintessential good girl. She was a good student in school, built up her on successful business and always figured marriage and children were in her future, someday. Then one Halloween, she has a fling with a guy in a Darth Vader costume and winds up giving birth to baby Luke nine months later. Though his arrival in the world was unconventional, Romy loves her son more than anything. She just wishes she could tell him more about his father. Then her old boyfriend, Kit Masterson, arrives back in town just as Romy undertakes a quest to find her mysterious Darth Vader. Kit has his own secrets to hide, but he – and Romy – are about to find out that secrets don’t stay hidden for very long.

She had me at “Darth Vader.” Seriously.

Frisky Business is Irish author Clodagh Murphy’s third book and definitely my favorite so far. By combining my enduring love of Star Wars (and, really, everything is better with Star Wars) with a sweet, laugh-aloud funny and entertaining contemporary romance, Murphy all but ensured that I would enjoy this novel. I first discovered Clodagh Murphy on a trip to Ireland three years ago and, ever since, I’ve gone out of my way to get my hands on her books. Sadly, they’re still not available in the U.S., but I firmly believe they’re worth paying the extra shipping to buy them from Amazon UK. With Frisky Business, you can tell Murphy is growing as an author. Her dialogue is quicker and wittier, her characterizations are sharper and the plots are tighter, with less extraneous material. As an author, she’s reminiscent of Sophie Kinsella, but with her own flair.

One of the highlights of Frisky Business is the great supporting characters who steal the spotlight. From Lesley and her “incident nook,” May and her wildly awkward sex lectures, and the sweet but dim Tank, these secondary characters feel every bit as important as the main characters. I especially Danny and Ethan, for being exactly who they were and not hiding any part of themselves.

Of course, it’s also easy to enjoy this novel because Romy is such a wonderful heroine. I mean, she sleeps with Darth Vader, then names her son Luke. How can you not love her? I loved how complete she was. Yes, she wanted a relationship and yes, she wanted to find Luke’s father, but she wasn’t wallowing in her life. She wasn’t sitting back and waiting for things to happen. She had a happy life all on her own, before a man ever enters the picture. And even though she seemed a bit too naive at times (I, for one, thought Kit’s secret was abundantly obvious from the start), she never let herself be a doormat. Romy is a genuinely nice person and, because of that, you root for her happy ending because she deserves it.

There were some parts of the novel that stretched credibility at times. Romy’s romantic relationships moved fairly quickly, which seemed a bit out of character for someone usually so cautious (then again, she did have sex with Darth Vader in a closet, so…) and it took the entire length of the book for me to come to like Kit. Still, Murphy manages to explore some “big” ideas (such as the idea of identity and who you are – especially in comparison to your family, and how people deal with the aftermath when life doesn’t turn out the way they plan), but she does so with a lighthearted touch, so it’s approachable and enjoyable.

Sometimes I feel like a one-woman American evangelist for Clodagh Murphy, but that’s a label I am more than willing to take on. Even if you don’t live in the U.K. or Ireland, I still strongly suggest you find a way to track down Murphy’s novels. Heck, I’ll even let you borrow my copies (and I rarely let people borrow my books, for fear that I will never see them again). If you’ve liked Sophie Kinsella or Marian Keyes, if you enjoy fun, summertime beach books, and especially if you love seeing Star Wars woven into a contemporary romance, Frisky Business is the book for you.(less)

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Jun 23, 2012 Jennifer rated it 4 of 5 stars

This hilarious story is brought to us by Clodagh Murphy, a relatively new writer on the scene, this is her third book. While beginning this book I had my doubts that I would be stepping into a cheesy tongue in cheek typically chick litty book but boy was I surprised. It was so funny from the get go I instantly fell in love. Clodagh Murphy has taken a huge risk in delving into the world of sex with this one and I congratulate her on a risk worth taking.
Romy Fitzgerald is a newly single mother af...more
This hilarious story is brought to us by Clodagh Murphy, a relatively new writer on the scene, this is her third book. While beginning this book I had my doubts that I would be stepping into a cheesy tongue in cheek typically chick litty book but boy was I surprised. It was so funny from the get go I instantly fell in love. Clodagh Murphy has taken a huge risk in delving into the world of sex with this one and I congratulate her on a risk worth taking.
Romy Fitzgerald is a newly single mother after a one night stand at a Halloween party with Darth Vadar, real identity unknown. Keeping in style of the hilarity of the book Romy decides to call her son Luke feeling it is quite fitting given the circumstances. Romy has taken to motherhood like a boat to water and it is truly the best thing that has ever happened to her.
When Kit arrives back from New York after the recession has dragged yet another company down he feels like he is starting from scratch. After some convincing from his mother he decides to track down his first love Romy but all is not as it seems.
Romy is a property developer and is currently living in one of her renovated houses with tenants due to the current property climate. One of her tenants being May, a wonderfully kooky older woman who is determined to investigate every sexual taboo she possible, in fact she keeps a blog and even runs workshops.
This book kept me laughing and smiling the whole way through, at one point I was convinced I had worked the entire thing out but of course I was happily mistaken. It was filled with humour reminding us that maybe we shouldn’t take sex so seriously and remember it is supposed to be fun too. Here in Ireland especially, sex is still seen as somewhat of a no go area , a hush hush topic and so I admire Clodagh’s courage to write a story like this. I truly enjoyed this book and I feel it would also make a great movie. I feel like it is a little bit of a guilty pleasure as it is filled to the brim with taboo. It is also important to say that sex is really the back drop and there are important plot lines in this story, sex is the foundation which once you finish the book makes complete sense.
It is laugh out loud funny, slightly outrageous and I have to say there were times when I had no idea what sexual stuff Miss Clodagh was referring to so keep a dictionary on stand by, this is a fun filled guilty pleasure for me and I loved it.
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Jun 08, 2012 Ellen rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: contemporary, romance

This was absolutely hilarious. I laughed so hard.
All the characters are well characters. Lesley is brilliant and I hope she one day gets her own story. From her searching for Vader to the BDSM/Vanilla/Elton thing in her incident nook and her support for Romy the whole way through the story. She was great.

May, Danny, Kit, Ethan, Laura, Colm, Hannah, Tank, Wedgie I could go on naming the awesome characters but it would take forever.

My only complaint is I wasn't really sure that Kit wasn't the hero...more

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Mar 13, 2013 ɑƨħŵɑɡ rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2013-reads, chick-lit, meh-couldve-been-better, rrrc2013

Romy Fitzgerald gets knocked up after a one-night-stand with Darth Vader. Not THE Darth Vader of course but a guy wearing his custom in a Halloween party. Romy always thought that David, the guy who was throwing the party and who was married, would leave his wife for her. Until this hook-up happened. Nine months later, She gives birth to a boy she names as Luke (nice Clodagh *wink*). She wonders who this father might be.

Featuring on this story is Kit Masterson, who is Romy's HS boyfriend.

idk wha...more

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Jun 10, 2012 TrishM rated it 5 of 5 stars

Is there ever an upside to a cold, wet holdiay weekend? Defintiely if, like me, you spent it reading Frisky Business, Clodagh Murphy's latest romantic comedy. I loved her previous two books but I have to say this one has become my favourite.
All the things I liked about her previous books are here. She has a real flair for writing dialogue and it's as funny, clever and sparky as ever in here. There's laugh out loud comedy, mystery, romance and even a comic take on BDSM, plus another brilliant cas...more

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Jul 20, 2012 Sharon rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Having read Clodagh Murphy's previous two books I was eagerly awaiting frisky business to come out. Well it was well worth the wait I was not disappointed. This book has a bit of everything in it. Humour, mystery, romance, all rolled in to a wonderful warm imaginative story that Clodagh creates & writes perfectly as usual. I instantly took a liking to Romy & all the characters, they had me completely drawn into their lives. I was so keen to keep reading to find out what was the secret th...more

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Mar 19, 2013 Debdatta Dasgupta Sahay rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: review-copy

Romy Fitzgerald is a ‘good girl’, who has always had her life planned out. Good education, a nice career, a nice boyfriend and marriage. Knowing her, one wouldn’t expect her to do something like having sex with a stranger and ending up pregnant. But that’s exactly what happened. While Luke’s arrival into this world wasn’t exactly planned in Romy’s life, she loves her son and wants a good life for her son. She wishes to be able to tell her son about his father but her endeavors to finding out his...more Romy Fitzgerald is a ‘good girl’, who has always had her life planned out. Good education, a nice career, a nice boyfriend and marriage. Knowing her, one wouldn’t expect her to do something like having sex with a stranger and ending up pregnant. But that’s exactly what happened. While Luke’s arrival into this world wasn’t exactly planned in Romy’s life, she loves her son and wants a good life for her son. She wishes to be able to tell her son about his father but her endeavors to finding out his identity had failed. Then her ex-boyfriend comes back to town with his flirty brother, things start to change.

‘Frisky Business’ is essentially a sweet love story. The plot is simple and predictable. But don’t let that keep you from picking this book up.

The story is supported by a number of very interesting character. Romy is a strong and likeable girl. I liked the way she takes everything that’s thrown at her and just moves on with her life. She is not dependent on anything or anyone to enjoy and make the best of her life and has a certain ‘individuality’ that I loved about her. Besides our protagonist, there are a host of characters that you will absolutely love. Ethan, Lesley, May and Danny have their own contributions to the story.

The author’s wit and sense of humour is really an asset for her. I mean to have Romy name her son Luke because he was Darth Vader’s son – that put a smile on my face the moment I read it in the summary of the book. I had innumerable moments of laughing while sitting alone in my room with this book and reading out loud some portions to my better half. Plus, with her writing style there’s not a dull moment in the book. I have to admit that when the book first arrived at my doorstep I was a bit taken aback with its size, because I couldn’t imagine a love story – with no mystery/ suspense (Oh, I don’t count Kit’s Secret as it was pretty clear to me from the beginning) or action sequence to be able to hold my attention for that long. But once I started reading it, it was over too soon – or it seemed so.

It’s a light and fun read for the weekends!
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Jun 11, 2012 Aileen rated it 5 of 5 stars

Romy Fitzgerald is a single mum to Luke and property developer. Luke was conceived in a cupboard at a Halloween Party by a handsome stranger in a Darth Vader costume she doesn’t know his name. A year later she decides to throw a Halloween Party and invite everyone that was at the party the previous year in the effort to find Luke’s father but does he turn up? Kit her ex and first love is back from New York unemployed and staying with his parents but will Romy ever find Luke’s father. Or is he ri...more

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Oct 02, 2012 Rachel marked it as to-read

Argh! My local library doesn't have this book so I'll have to wait up to a month for it to get here from another library! So, I checked the local bookstore, nope, they don't have it either!

I want to read this book VERY, VERY much! I even had to call my sister to tell her about it, as it sounds like it's right up our alley!

1 like · like · see review

Sep 21, 2012 Tia rated it 5 of 5 stars

Definitely a great read. I will most certainly look out for this author in the future. I enjoyed the novel so much adn was so surprised how well written it was. It was a mystery to the very end, even if I was hoping for the ending I was given. It's funny how the hero turned out not to be the hero until the 'real' hero came back along.

2 likes · like · see review

Jun 06, 2012 JenRider rated it 4 of 5 stars

Dear Clodagh Murphy,

Please write the scene where Romy tells the family about Luke's real father. Having read the other two scenes of family revelations I can only imagine how fun this one will be..

Thank you for an excellent book..

1 like · like · see review

Aug 05, 2012 Aedin rated it 5 of 5 stars

Best book yet by Clodagh loved it , laughed out loud at some of the characters , Fell in love with others , it's the total package .

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Feb 23, 2013 Farzana rahmann rated it 3 of 5 stars

Can't believe the twist and turns this story took. I was always on edge and couldn't figure out the next plot!!! A great read

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Dec 23, 2012 Erica rated it 4 of 5 stars

Very funny chick lit novel with a happy (and predictable) ending. Perfect for reading on a hot summer's day.

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Nov 23, 2012 Linda rated it 3 of 5 stars

This book was a bit more predictable than her other two, but good fun nevertheless. A good break from the usual murder and mayhem andmy recent spate of non-fiction.

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Jun 28, 2012 Damecatoe rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: chicklit

Wildly implausible and very cute read.

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Nov 30, 2012 Lilysmith Smith rated it 4 of 5 stars

Love it...

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Jul 20, 2012 Claire rated it 5 of 5 stars

Hilarious read and totally un putdownable

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Oct 14, 2012 Lei rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012

Oh, this one's good. It's funny and romantic, and damn I was even blindsided. All the mention of Star Wars made my geeky heart flutter!!! That was a definite plus.

1 like · like · see review

Jun 15, 2012 Tara Cunnane Niland rated it 3 of 5 stars

A very enjoyable witty read, I have read Clodaghs other books and enjoyed them immensely also x

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Jul 30, 2012 Claire Allan rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: irish-authors

Loved it - just absolutely adored this book. Funny, moving, littered with wonderful characters, brilliant one liners, warmth and humour. Will be a wee bit bereft with out now. Just fab... Clodagh's best yet.

1 like · like · see review

Jan 14, 2013 Katie rated it 4 of 5 stars

3.5 Stars

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About Clodagh Murphy

I was born and brought up in Dublin, with my two brothers and two sisters. I had a very happy childhood until I was 5, when I was sent to school. I spent the next thirteen years waiting to leave. After school I went to university to study French and Spanish, but I dropped out after a year.

In my early twenties I moved to London to seek my fortune. I didn't find it, but I had a lot of fun while I wa...more

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