Making Mischief

by Elizabeth Young

'My God! What if they'd seen you? Wouldn't you have absolutely died?' I would, but I wasn't going to admit it. 'I wish they had!'When she stumbles on shenanigans involving Guy and the Topless Piranha, sixteen-year old Abby Morland can't resist passing on this juicy piece of gossip to her cousin, Fleur.Fifteen years down the line, when Fleur and Guy are a sparkly new item, they even joke about it. However, when the Topless Piranha comes back on the scene, evidently still with a taste for Guy flesh, it's not quite so funny. Drawn into anti-piranha tactics by the twitchy Fleur, Abby is alarmed to realize that she wouldn't mind a nibble at Guy herself.Still, there's plenty to take her mind off him. With a brother's wedding coming up, a family feud simmering in the background, mother/bridegroom tensions boiling over and a little devil thrown in, Abby's going to have her hands full mopping up bloodstains. She just hasn't counted on the little devil acting like some perverse Guy-magnet, or the ripple effects of the one disaster she never imagined. And that's even before family wedding number two...

Genres: Chick Lit, Romance, Fiction, Contemporary Romance, Contemporary, London, British Literature

357 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2004

About the author

Librarian note: There is more than one author with this name in the Goodreads database.
This author also writes under Liz Young.
Elizabeth Young started writing after holding a variety of jobs that included modeling for TV commercials in Cyprus and working for the Sultan's Armed Forces in Oman. She has two daughters and lives in Surrey with her husband who never once told her to forget writing and get a "proper" job.

Elizabeth Young is a Chick lit and contemporary romance writer. Her novel Asking for Trouble was the basis for the movie The Wedding Date, directed by Clare Kilner, starring Debra Messing and Dermot Mulroney.

Reviews

[Barbara Elsborg · Rating 3 out of 5]

A light hearted story about friends and lovers and mismatches and breakups and get togethers. Not my favourite of her books but she has a great sense of humour and there are some genuinely funny moments - particularly those involving Abby's younger brother. If you're looking for a love story - this really isn't one although the right couple do eventually end up together and we have a lot of angst from the narrator who doesn't act on her attraction for a certain character. Not enough love for me but the social interactions are entertaining.

[Kai · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read this book a few times and still enjoy it. The story follows Abby as she grows up with her cousins. I find it a light funny read, I love reading about the different characters. I liked reading about Abby and Guy as they tried to resist the attraction. However the story is more about the interactions between all the different characters and family dramas. The only part I find a bit annoying is how much Abby is left to look after her brother, it made me slightly dislike her parents in the book. Other than that it was a good book that I would recommend nd will read again. Xx

[Tvishi Mongia · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick and decent read. Had quite a few laugh out loud parts.
The reason I enjoyed it a lot was the MC had no desperation of marriage or babies, which is generally a typical trait in chick lit-themed books. It made the book relatable.
A good one time read.

[Danni · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unfortunately I struggled with this book a bit, I couldn't really get into it

At the start I struggled to keep up with who the characters were and how they knew each other or were related so that probably didn't help

The storyline isn't bad though so I would recommend giving it a try

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

not my favorite of her books, but not bad

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyed-funny fast read

[Jennie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was another quick, summertime read for me. I read it in one day as it was a light and fun read. Elizabeth Young’s books are all based in the European countries so they are full of European slang, which can throw me off kilter slightly. Bugger and sod are not too terms that I use when describing an annoying person regularly! It was a fun read though, even stumbling over some of the language. Love story combined with family drama and “tarted” up characters…always makes for a fun read! No major plot revelations or underlying societal or cultural issues…just a breezy, put-you-in-a-good-mood book! It really made me want to live in Europe because the characters could take fabulous vacations without factoring in the enormous flight costs that I would have to living in the US!

[Carmen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Making Mischief was kind of a disappoint after my last two reads. Though I can't say that I expected much to begin. I had found it at a discounted price and decided that I might as well just enjoy a little light reading. Little did I know that I would be half-struggling just to finish it. The heroine in the book, Abby Morland, is a hypocrite in many ways. Even though you want her to end up with our gorgeous guy next door, part of you just want them to kiss because it'll signal that the novel was coming to an end. There were a few scenes that were funny and full of wit, but for the most part, the novel didn't hold much. Unless you really have nothing to read, I wouldn't suggest it to anyone. And even if you can buy it for $4.50 plus tax, I suggest going to the local library first.

[Judit Sereg · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had a whole Saturday morning just to read, and that certainly added to the appeal of the book. I had the time to be absorbed and not just to read a few pages while travelling on the subway. So I liked this book, although it does not have a too eventful plot and the ending was a bit anti-climatic, I still enjoy the style of Young and the fact that her love-stories are modern and believable - not super romantic Cinderella stories with quite unrealistic Prince Charmings, but the stories of slowly developing urban romances, when two single people finds some kind of connection and are able to build on it. Now it may sound a bit boring, but I think I liked it because I believed it. And it is a rare thing when talking about romantic books.

[Ice · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm still trying to understand what I didn't like about this book.

Part of it may be the fact that while it tried to veer off the "usual" plot line these types of stories, it wasn't able to do so in a way that would make the story MORE engaging instead of less. What's more (or less, depending on how you look at it), the nested conflict placed within the story to create "more drama" just cast unnecessary tangents that made the story and action lag without necessarily adding much to the plot itself.

I'm afraid I must agree with the general consensus that this is the weakest by far of the author's novels.

[dee · Rating 2 out of 5]

Attractions were like tans, I thought, eyeing my own brown bits. If you didn’t top them up, they faded right away. After this weekend I’d probably hardly ever see him anyway. Out of sight, out of mind.

He was still suppressing a grin possibly more lethal for being kept in.

I don’t know when I’d ever had such a conversation. The words were mere small talk, yet every nerve ending in my body was quivering with awareness.

“Well, that’ll teach you to fire off e-mouthfuls when you’re hammered. Maybe you could get some software that gives you a little pop-up: ‘There was an error in the “pissed” field. Your message has not been sent. It will be put to rehab until you’ve sobered up.’”

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book. I didn't love it, but I liked it. As an American, I admit it took me a while to follow the unique flow of the 20-something British vernacular, but I eventually adjusted (I thank Dr. Cal Lightman for his weekly assistance in this).
In my mind, it took about halfway through the book for it to "get going".. but once it started to roll, it was very enjoyable.

[JillRock · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Elizabeth Young's novels. They are always hilarious, and are the perfect light, suck-you-in kind of reads. This one was no exception. You must be prepared, though, for very predictable chick lit. This book was like a conversation with your (British) best friend.

[Kim · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eh, not bad but not great. A tad on the long side, and was quite slow in parts. It's very British - not "Americanized" at all, so was difficult to understand much of the dialogue and slang at first. Not highly recommended, but I did get through the whole thing.

[Olly · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of my favorite writer, Young have a special kind of writing with her freshness joke. Her characters, especially the heroine, represent girls of their age generally. Whereas the hero are the human boy - not a prince - all the girls dream about. Not a bad boy, just nice boy from next door.

[Jessica Gettel · Rating 1 out of 5]

I guess you might call or lighthearted, but SOME character growth might have been nice. Instead it took. Even 300 pages to get the exactly where you kew it was gonna go, and quite frankly at the end I didn't even care.

[Danielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

My least favorite of Eliz Young's books, but still worth reading.

[Amy · Rating 1 out of 5]

I did not finish this book. I fired it for inappropriate language and content. I do NOT recommend this book.

[Ruth Soz · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a fun read and had all the predictable ingredients, but was my least favorite of her books.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is pretty good, very heavily English accented, which I really liked. All in all, I very much enjoyed this book.

[Ophelia London · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty cute. The story took a while to get going. Second half was much better. I wanted more love at the end. I like all 3 of EY's books better than this.

[Mulva? · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was okay. Was a little slow, but had some funny bits.

[Nancy Bielski · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sucked.

[Mandi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the naughty thought process that these ladies share. It's not nice, but it's true. We've all had our little demonic thoughts even if they were just thoughts...

[Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

it is a good book. It was written by a British author in the England area. I liked this book and looking forward to reading Elizabeth Youngs other 3 books.

[Romina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Out of the three E. Youngs I read so far, definitely the weakest... however it has a charm of its own anyway.

[Lex · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect combo of wit, humor, and miscommunication!! Loved this book!

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my favorite of her books. Very light reading, but was dying to find out how things were going to happen. Had to pick the book up again, every time I put it down.

[Eli · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy chick-lit w/a slightly different focus.

[Angy · Rating 3 out of 5]

nice story....