Housewife Up

Housewife #2

by Alison Penton Harper

The sequel to the hilarious Housewife Down "Heaven save us from ourselves. And if you can't manage that, I'd settle for saving me from me. Just when I thought it was safe to go back in the water, here I am again, drowning for all to see. Not waving, as the troubled swimmer once famously said. I busied myself with any household task I could find . . ." Recently widowed but putting a brave face on it all (thanks to a not insignificant windfall) Helen's only problem, it seems, is the imminent arrival of her fortieth birthday. Not something she can possibly avoid, ignore or sulk about not with friends like Leoni and sisters like Julia around . . . And there is much to celebrate. A beautiful new flat, gorgeous hospitable neighbours and a delicious sense of freedom that only money can buy. Until, that is, money becomes the one big fat problem in Helen's life and she becomes part of the unwilling army of the employed. But it is no ordinary job that Helen is qualified for, in fact she is qualified for precious little, which leads to her first ever encounter with 'the boss from hell' . . .

Genres: Romance

320 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2006

About the author

Alison Penton Harper was born in London in 1964 to an English father and an Indian mother. After a convent education she stumbled into advertising, later setting up her own business. Alison lives in Northamptonshire with her husband and two daughters.

Reviews

[Lorraine Shorter · Rating 2 out of 5]

Having not been aware that this was a sequel to House Wife Down when I started reading, I would say that it's quite a reasonable stand-alone story. Helen is the main character and has somehow come into a lot of money following the death of her husband, which means she can begin to lead a very comfortable lifestyle. But of course, if that had happened we would have no story.

Most of the ensemble characters have already been well established in the first book, but the author paints a good enough picture of them, without being repetitive to the readers of that, that you can see where most are coming from.

It's all really a bit of a romp with a female character who's likeable enough if a bit naive and gullible. The most engaging characters are the gay couple upstairs and Rick her new boss. Who never quite matched the boss from hell description that the blurb promises.

I wouldn't say I was captivated by this book. It might kill a couple of hours on a long train journey, but as a holiday read ... I'd rather be in the pool.

[Sharon Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wondered whether it would matter that I hadn’t read the first one, but it didn’t matter as it summed up what had happened previously quite nicely and this was a story in its own right. It was very easy to read and probably, if you actually counted words, quite a short read - lots of breaks in paragraphs and large headings, so didn’t feel like a ‘full’ book. Nevertheless, it was an easy read and I did enjoy it. The characters were believable and I could easily see it being made into a tv series or film as it had all the elements of easy viewing with a little bit of mystery. Some aspects could possibly have been expanded upon but all in all I would recommend.

[Rita Shuttleworth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Started reading these books
Read two in two days really enjoying them so easy to read good follow on story cant wait to start the third in set got all the five hope there is going to be more will find out when I read the last one thanks alison really good storys x

[Marian Alvarez-Calderón · Rating 3 out of 5]

Funny and entertaining!

[Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Housewife Up is a quite fun book. I don`t know if I missed anything by not reading the first book in the series.

Helen lost all of her savings (after losing her husband) due to a bad investment and she had to find a job (for the first time in her life?). She ends up with Rick, a wealthy businessmanss who needs a woman to organise his everyday life.

Helen has a sister, good neighbours, and good friends. She falls for a gold digger. Fun, easy read.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't think this started off well. I got very annoyed with the lead character, however it did pick up slightly. Helen still irritated me, and the plot was a little obvious, but it kept me amused for a few days.

[Natty · Rating 3 out of 5]

It literally takes only a couple of hours to read, but it was as entertaining as a 20min sitcom. Forgettable, but short and sweet

[Sarah · Rating 1 out of 5]

Giving this book away in my attempt to get rid of clutter. It's poorly written.

[Janine Causley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nowhere near as good as the first one

[Danielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable, but not as good as the first book, slightly more predictable and seemed to be a faster read. Probably wont re-read as often as i do the first one, but hasn't put me off the series at all.

[Catsalive · Rating 1 out of 5]

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