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Crazy Little Thing Called Love
A wonderfully warm-hearted and laugh-out-loud funny romantic comedy for fans of Just Haven’t Met You Yet and Mhairi McFarlane.
When Leila finds herself on the painful end of yet another disastrous break-up, no amount of Ben & Jerry’s and trashy rom-coms can cheer her up. And so – to the amusement of her friends and family – Leila takes a more drastic approach to dealing with heartbreak: she swears off sex for an entire year.
Luckily, she has plenty to keep her mind off men. Between starting a business with ice queen Lucy, straightening out her sister Tasha’s tangled love life, and running a blog read by thousands of single ladies, Leila is soon snowed under. But she can’t help finding a little time for irresistible architect Nick – Lucy’s funny and infuriatingly sexy brother.
After an unplanned encounter under the mistletoe, the Man Ban looks like it might be skidding to a halt. Has Leila found love when she least expected it?
When Leila finds herself on the painful end of yet another disastrous break-up, no amount of Ben & Jerry’s and trashy rom-coms can cheer her up. And so – to the amusement of her friends and family – Leila takes a more drastic approach to dealing with heartbreak: she swears off sex for an entire year.
Luckily, she has plenty to keep her mind off men. Between starting a business with ice queen Lucy, straightening out her sister Tasha’s tangled love life, and running a blog read by thousands of single ladies, Leila is soon snowed under. But she can’t help finding a little time for irresistible architect Nick – Lucy’s funny and infuriatingly sexy brother.
After an unplanned encounter under the mistletoe, the Man Ban looks like it might be skidding to a halt. Has Leila found love when she least expected it?
300 pages, ebook
First published September 7, 2017
61 people are currently reading
301 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 62 reviews
September 24, 2017
// Received an advance reader copy in exchange for a fair review //
",each of them consumed with their own uncertainties, their own dramas, yet for the first time realizing that they didn't need to face the future alone."
I would describe this book in one word as, "cute'.
I loved the whole family and staying together aspect of the book but the book was just not enough to grab my attention for too long and actually be able to enjoy the overall plot. The beginning of the book was not at all that interesting to me and might have contributed to the fact that I couldn't focus every time I came back to reading this. The writing style was sweet and all but not enough to really capture me, as I said before.
The characters are one of the strong points here though because I actually found them pretty relatable andI liked how in the last part, the author was able to portray how important staying together should be. Speaking of, the book did have a good progression and development when compared to the end because it ended up having a much clearer focus.
Nothing stood out to be too much here except for the fact that it was pretty much focused on Christmas (hehe). It gives me a lot of those sweet and cold Christmas-y vibes and I have to say that this book would be good read during the month of December.
This was an okay read, nothing too bad or too good, but I think readers would be able to appreciate this more when they are in the mood for something to sweeten and warm them up during the cold weather.
",each of them consumed with their own uncertainties, their own dramas, yet for the first time realizing that they didn't need to face the future alone."
I would describe this book in one word as, "cute'.
I loved the whole family and staying together aspect of the book but the book was just not enough to grab my attention for too long and actually be able to enjoy the overall plot. The beginning of the book was not at all that interesting to me and might have contributed to the fact that I couldn't focus every time I came back to reading this. The writing style was sweet and all but not enough to really capture me, as I said before.
The characters are one of the strong points here though because I actually found them pretty relatable andI liked how in the last part, the author was able to portray how important staying together should be. Speaking of, the book did have a good progression and development when compared to the end because it ended up having a much clearer focus.
Nothing stood out to be too much here except for the fact that it was pretty much focused on Christmas (hehe). It gives me a lot of those sweet and cold Christmas-y vibes and I have to say that this book would be good read during the month of December.
This was an okay read, nothing too bad or too good, but I think readers would be able to appreciate this more when they are in the mood for something to sweeten and warm them up during the cold weather.
August 3, 2017
***I received this arc courtesy of Netgallery in exchange for an honest review***
2.5 Stars
I'm stuck in the middle with how to rate this book, on one hand I enjoyed most parts, on the other I didn't.
Leila
So Leila, our MC, flies all the way from london to india after 4 months of dating to surprise her boyfriend, she gets shocker when she finds a naked woman in his hotel room. She returns crushed and decides to swear off men for a period of a year, her family and friends don't believe because she is a magnet for the worst men. Leila decides to show them and marches on, she creates a blog, which to her surprise, gets quite a following, so much so that she starts hosting seminars and the lot. Three months into her self imposed celibacy vow she meets Nick at the wedding of her brother and his sister, she's into him, he's into her but she doesn't want to break her vow, especially now she has a following online and her family's watching. Nick eventually wears her down so they decide to hide and sneak around, Nick eventually gets tired of sneaking and wants to introduce her to everyone officially but Leila doesn't want that, she doesn't want to be a hypocrite to her followers and a disappointment to her family.
I got really angry at Leila, she had to push him out when her parents came over, pretend she didn't know him when they were out. All the sneaking around got annoying especially when you could tell Nick was falling in love with her. Her celibacy vow was more important even though she was celibate for only nine months she kept on with the lie to the hundreds of people online. I didn't understand why she took it that serious, you broke the vow, move on.
Tasha
Tasha Tasha Tasha, where do I start. Tasha is Leila's older sister, she's been married for 17 years to Alex who's married she destroyed by having an affair with him when he was married. They have three children and live in a beautiful house and everyone looking from outside think they are so in love. Turns out, Alex is a chronic cheat and he cheats on Tasha every chance he gets, Tasha of course puts up with it. I guess if you are the one who breaks someone's marriage up be prepared to be served the same way. Leila sees him once with another woman and tries to tell Tasha but Tasha is basically an ostrich at this point, she buries her head in the ground. She remains uninterested until Alex gets in an accident with Lucy ( Marcus wife, Tasha and Leila's brother) and it comes out that they were on their way to a rendezvous, only then does she decide to get a divorce, after he's cheated over 20 times ( her estimate).
She was all about meditation and mindfulness, contributing in seminars for growth and she couldn't stand up for herself until the debacle that was the accident.
Marcus
Marcus, Tasha and Lucy's brother, marries Lucy and basically abandons her, he never has time for her, always at his job, they don't talk often, it was basically a marriage of convenience with the way it looked. Marcus thinks everything is fine and dandy, he goes on with his life until hes told Lucy was involved in an accident. He rushes to the hospital and finds out that Alex, Tasha's husband, is also injured. Turns out Alex and Lucy were about to have an affair and Lucy planned to get pregnant and pass the child off as his. Marcus is upset and betrayed, he gets angry and doesn't talk to Lucy .
Marcus being all angry that he is, doesn't tell Lucy that he got himself involved in an experimental drug research and that he takes drugs that basically makes him unable to impregnate anyone, it doesn't come up anytime during their nine month of marriage.
Lucy
Lucy is a perfectionist, she has this little vision of how her life should be and when everything should happen. She stalks Marcus by planting a GPS tracker in his phone so she knows where he always is and so she's always on her feet when it comes to his care.She freaks out when she doesn't get pregnant immediately after the wedding, she draws chart, sets alarm and is so upset about not having a baby that she decides to have an affair with Alex so she can get pregnant and fufill her dreams. She doesn't discuss anything with Marcus because she doesn't want him upset if they find out it is his fault they cannot have children , so she'll rather cheat on him and pass the baby as his than devastate him. The plan comes out in the open when she changes her mind at the hotel and tries to flee, Alex rushes after her and they don't see the van until it hits them and they have to be rushed to the hospital.
Alex
Douchebag and Tasha's husband
Nick
Patient, loving and willing to put up with Leila fickleness.
This was a funny book, that characters made funny jokes and that's about it. I didn't really like any of them except Nick. At the first couple of chapters I thought I was going to have a blast reading this. The characters felt real, I could totally imagine this family, but as it progressed, I found I didn't like the family. I couldn't connect with any of them, Leila, the selfish hypocrite or Tasha, the homewrecker who becomes wrecked or even Marcus , the oblivious husband.
Everything works out in the end. Leila and Nick stopped sneaking around and became public, Tasha divorced Alex and was happy with her life and child and Marcus and Lucy got back together and were more communicative with each other.
2.5 Stars
I'm stuck in the middle with how to rate this book, on one hand I enjoyed most parts, on the other I didn't.
Leila
So Leila, our MC, flies all the way from london to india after 4 months of dating to surprise her boyfriend, she gets shocker when she finds a naked woman in his hotel room. She returns crushed and decides to swear off men for a period of a year, her family and friends don't believe because she is a magnet for the worst men. Leila decides to show them and marches on, she creates a blog, which to her surprise, gets quite a following, so much so that she starts hosting seminars and the lot. Three months into her self imposed celibacy vow she meets Nick at the wedding of her brother and his sister, she's into him, he's into her but she doesn't want to break her vow, especially now she has a following online and her family's watching. Nick eventually wears her down so they decide to hide and sneak around, Nick eventually gets tired of sneaking and wants to introduce her to everyone officially but Leila doesn't want that, she doesn't want to be a hypocrite to her followers and a disappointment to her family.
I got really angry at Leila, she had to push him out when her parents came over, pretend she didn't know him when they were out. All the sneaking around got annoying especially when you could tell Nick was falling in love with her. Her celibacy vow was more important even though she was celibate for only nine months she kept on with the lie to the hundreds of people online. I didn't understand why she took it that serious, you broke the vow, move on.
Tasha
Tasha Tasha Tasha, where do I start. Tasha is Leila's older sister, she's been married for 17 years to Alex who's married she destroyed by having an affair with him when he was married. They have three children and live in a beautiful house and everyone looking from outside think they are so in love. Turns out, Alex is a chronic cheat and he cheats on Tasha every chance he gets, Tasha of course puts up with it. I guess if you are the one who breaks someone's marriage up be prepared to be served the same way. Leila sees him once with another woman and tries to tell Tasha but Tasha is basically an ostrich at this point, she buries her head in the ground. She remains uninterested until Alex gets in an accident with Lucy ( Marcus wife, Tasha and Leila's brother) and it comes out that they were on their way to a rendezvous, only then does she decide to get a divorce, after he's cheated over 20 times ( her estimate).
She was all about meditation and mindfulness, contributing in seminars for growth and she couldn't stand up for herself until the debacle that was the accident.
Marcus
Marcus, Tasha and Lucy's brother, marries Lucy and basically abandons her, he never has time for her, always at his job, they don't talk often, it was basically a marriage of convenience with the way it looked. Marcus thinks everything is fine and dandy, he goes on with his life until hes told Lucy was involved in an accident. He rushes to the hospital and finds out that Alex, Tasha's husband, is also injured. Turns out Alex and Lucy were about to have an affair and Lucy planned to get pregnant and pass the child off as his. Marcus is upset and betrayed, he gets angry and doesn't talk to Lucy .
Marcus being all angry that he is, doesn't tell Lucy that he got himself involved in an experimental drug research and that he takes drugs that basically makes him unable to impregnate anyone, it doesn't come up anytime during their nine month of marriage.
Lucy
Lucy is a perfectionist, she has this little vision of how her life should be and when everything should happen. She stalks Marcus by planting a GPS tracker in his phone so she knows where he always is and so she's always on her feet when it comes to his care.She freaks out when she doesn't get pregnant immediately after the wedding, she draws chart, sets alarm and is so upset about not having a baby that she decides to have an affair with Alex so she can get pregnant and fufill her dreams. She doesn't discuss anything with Marcus because she doesn't want him upset if they find out it is his fault they cannot have children , so she'll rather cheat on him and pass the baby as his than devastate him. The plan comes out in the open when she changes her mind at the hotel and tries to flee, Alex rushes after her and they don't see the van until it hits them and they have to be rushed to the hospital.
Alex
Douchebag and Tasha's husband
Nick
Patient, loving and willing to put up with Leila fickleness.
This was a funny book, that characters made funny jokes and that's about it. I didn't really like any of them except Nick. At the first couple of chapters I thought I was going to have a blast reading this. The characters felt real, I could totally imagine this family, but as it progressed, I found I didn't like the family. I couldn't connect with any of them, Leila, the selfish hypocrite or Tasha, the homewrecker who becomes wrecked or even Marcus , the oblivious husband.
Everything works out in the end. Leila and Nick stopped sneaking around and became public, Tasha divorced Alex and was happy with her life and child and Marcus and Lucy got back together and were more communicative with each other.
August 29, 2017
Leila is a very likeable, unlucky-in-love, successful architect who's love life runs in to trouble once too often and she takes a "Man Ban" vow to her doubting family; a whole year of being single. The vow leads to all kinds of discoveries and proves to be both the most successful and most infuriating thing she could ever have dreamt up.
This is more of a 4 and a half star review really.
I found many parts of this story laugh out loud hilarious, there was a real sense of fun and upbeat cringe to many of Leila's adventures, yet some serious dramas take place that counterbalance the humour with complicated character relationships explored and tough topics covered. This combination really does grip you and I found it a really easy, addictive read. I did think some of the romance could have been written with a bit more chemistry; I know some people prefer less swooning and that's fine with me but I have equally read other rom-coms with a bit more of a sizzling hot vibe, but this was definitely a good effort and I'd actually love to read more about the characters so it leaves you wanting a sequel, always a sign of a good book in my eyes.
This is more of a 4 and a half star review really.
I found many parts of this story laugh out loud hilarious, there was a real sense of fun and upbeat cringe to many of Leila's adventures, yet some serious dramas take place that counterbalance the humour with complicated character relationships explored and tough topics covered. This combination really does grip you and I found it a really easy, addictive read. I did think some of the romance could have been written with a bit more chemistry; I know some people prefer less swooning and that's fine with me but I have equally read other rom-coms with a bit more of a sizzling hot vibe, but this was definitely a good effort and I'd actually love to read more about the characters so it leaves you wanting a sequel, always a sign of a good book in my eyes.
August 26, 2017
I received this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I actually enjoyed this story, and I'm giving it 3,5 stars, though I did not find it such a funny, warm or "laugh out loud comedy".
For Christmas, Leyla decides to pay a surprise visit to her boyfriend, who was working in Mumbai, only to find that he was not in Mumbai, after all, but in Jaipur instead. A long train ride after, she finds him in a hotel in the company of a very naked and blonde woman. Once she arrives in London and analyses her disastrous dating life, she decides to give up sex for a whole year, which causes her family and friends laugh and bet against her.
She starts a blog to share her experience, and soon it has a huge exit among single women all around the country. Money starts flowing in and she ends up hiring her future sister-in-law (Lucy) to help her plan loads of successful events.
Up to this point, everything was according to plan. But the day of her brother Marcus and Lucy's wedding, she meets Nick, Lucy's brother, and breaks her celibacy vow. Despite their instant connection, they decide to keep it a secret, and each goes their own way. But they keep bumping into each other and end up keeping a secret relationship no-one knows about. And then the festival of lies begin until everything breaks loose in the final chapters, which are my favourites of the whole story.
The premise was good, though quite predictable since the first moment Leyla meets Nick. He's smart, funny, charming and utterly adorable. Leyla's vow of avoiding men during a whole year is obviously going to be broken, and her family and friends know it, but she manages to keep up the lie until the end of the year. She feels guilty being the "guru" of those single women while she's keeping a secret boyfriend but doesn't want to disappoint them. Nick doesn't agree with her decision of keeping their relationship secret though he respects it.
It's difficult to talk about what happens next without spoilers, but I'll try. When the year of celibacy is over and both Nick and Leyla are about to make their relationship public, Nick's sister and Layla's brother-in-law are involved in a car accident and then lies and secrets of both families come to light, creating an apparently insurmountable breach between them all that threatens to keep Nick and Layla apart. But in the end, everything turns up well.
The thing is, I didn't see the comedic side of this anywhere. Yes, there are some funny moments, but I don't feel they are enough to call this a comedy, least of all a "laugh-out-loud comedy". The writing is good, the characters are well developed, and we see how they change as the story unfolds, the plot, though predictable at first, takes a couple of turns towards the angsty side that I really liked, though I found the final resolution of the conflicts too rushed. I wanted to feel their pain, and the author, instead of deepening in the character's struggle, just gives us a few hints of it.
If we can get a lesson from this book that'd be to communicate, to talk things out and don't take things (or persons) for granted. This was a nice book to read on a lazy weekend, though I feel it had more potential between its pages. The cover is beautiful, though.
I actually enjoyed this story, and I'm giving it 3,5 stars, though I did not find it such a funny, warm or "laugh out loud comedy".
For Christmas, Leyla decides to pay a surprise visit to her boyfriend, who was working in Mumbai, only to find that he was not in Mumbai, after all, but in Jaipur instead. A long train ride after, she finds him in a hotel in the company of a very naked and blonde woman. Once she arrives in London and analyses her disastrous dating life, she decides to give up sex for a whole year, which causes her family and friends laugh and bet against her.
She starts a blog to share her experience, and soon it has a huge exit among single women all around the country. Money starts flowing in and she ends up hiring her future sister-in-law (Lucy) to help her plan loads of successful events.
Up to this point, everything was according to plan. But the day of her brother Marcus and Lucy's wedding, she meets Nick, Lucy's brother, and breaks her celibacy vow. Despite their instant connection, they decide to keep it a secret, and each goes their own way. But they keep bumping into each other and end up keeping a secret relationship no-one knows about. And then the festival of lies begin until everything breaks loose in the final chapters, which are my favourites of the whole story.
The premise was good, though quite predictable since the first moment Leyla meets Nick. He's smart, funny, charming and utterly adorable. Leyla's vow of avoiding men during a whole year is obviously going to be broken, and her family and friends know it, but she manages to keep up the lie until the end of the year. She feels guilty being the "guru" of those single women while she's keeping a secret boyfriend but doesn't want to disappoint them. Nick doesn't agree with her decision of keeping their relationship secret though he respects it.
It's difficult to talk about what happens next without spoilers, but I'll try. When the year of celibacy is over and both Nick and Leyla are about to make their relationship public, Nick's sister and Layla's brother-in-law are involved in a car accident and then lies and secrets of both families come to light, creating an apparently insurmountable breach between them all that threatens to keep Nick and Layla apart. But in the end, everything turns up well.
The thing is, I didn't see the comedic side of this anywhere. Yes, there are some funny moments, but I don't feel they are enough to call this a comedy, least of all a "laugh-out-loud comedy". The writing is good, the characters are well developed, and we see how they change as the story unfolds, the plot, though predictable at first, takes a couple of turns towards the angsty side that I really liked, though I found the final resolution of the conflicts too rushed. I wanted to feel their pain, and the author, instead of deepening in the character's struggle, just gives us a few hints of it.
If we can get a lesson from this book that'd be to communicate, to talk things out and don't take things (or persons) for granted. This was a nice book to read on a lazy weekend, though I feel it had more potential between its pages. The cover is beautiful, though.
August 25, 2017
Book: Crazy thing called love
Author: #charlottebutterfield
Publisher: @harperimpulse
Publishing date: 7th September 2017
Rating: ⭐️⭐️/5
.
.
Leila has gone through some really painful breakups but the recent one where she catches her boyfriend cheating makes her want to re-evaluate her life decisions. No amount of romantic gestures can encourage her to give relationships another try and thats when she vows to take an year off for herself, avoiding all sorts of romance. She engages herself in new business ideas, starts a celibate related blogs and luckily it helps her take her mind off of boys. But no matter how hard she tries to keep up with her promise to herself she somehow finds time to drool over her best friends hot-shot brother Nick. After she unexpectedly starts falling for him and gets the same response, she finds herself calculating as to whether she should introduce him to her family and friends? Or will they make a joke out of her for not being able to keep up with her vow?
.
.
This book started off well, i though it was an interesting new topic - to swear off sex and relationship for a year. But it ended pretty soon.
.
.
⭐️Pros - The book was funny, except the main character i loved Nick and his personality. The book was easy to read and i loved the family in the beginning of the book.
.
.
⛔️Cons- What annoyed me more was how immature Leila's behavior and decisions were. I personally couldn't related to the main character. And as the book progressed i started hating Leila's family and I wasn't really excited to read the conclusion which I personally think is very important. If the book doesn't end well, the book ain't got much potential.
.
.
Overall I don't really recommend this book, but if you're a light reader and like a bit of rom-com mixed with drama- this is totally your pick ⭐️👍🏻
.
.
This ARC was sent to me by @netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Wish the writer all the success that she deserves with her upcoming book ❤️ Best of luck #charlottebutterfield 👌🏻⭐️
Author: #charlottebutterfield
Publisher: @harperimpulse
Publishing date: 7th September 2017
Rating: ⭐️⭐️/5
.
.
Leila has gone through some really painful breakups but the recent one where she catches her boyfriend cheating makes her want to re-evaluate her life decisions. No amount of romantic gestures can encourage her to give relationships another try and thats when she vows to take an year off for herself, avoiding all sorts of romance. She engages herself in new business ideas, starts a celibate related blogs and luckily it helps her take her mind off of boys. But no matter how hard she tries to keep up with her promise to herself she somehow finds time to drool over her best friends hot-shot brother Nick. After she unexpectedly starts falling for him and gets the same response, she finds herself calculating as to whether she should introduce him to her family and friends? Or will they make a joke out of her for not being able to keep up with her vow?
.
.
This book started off well, i though it was an interesting new topic - to swear off sex and relationship for a year. But it ended pretty soon.
.
.
⭐️Pros - The book was funny, except the main character i loved Nick and his personality. The book was easy to read and i loved the family in the beginning of the book.
.
.
⛔️Cons- What annoyed me more was how immature Leila's behavior and decisions were. I personally couldn't related to the main character. And as the book progressed i started hating Leila's family and I wasn't really excited to read the conclusion which I personally think is very important. If the book doesn't end well, the book ain't got much potential.
.
.
Overall I don't really recommend this book, but if you're a light reader and like a bit of rom-com mixed with drama- this is totally your pick ⭐️👍🏻
.
.
This ARC was sent to me by @netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Wish the writer all the success that she deserves with her upcoming book ❤️ Best of luck #charlottebutterfield 👌🏻⭐️
August 4, 2017
it took me a while to finish and I am sorry to say I actually did not like the book at all.
It started really strong and I was sure to have a winner. Leila travels to India to surprise her boyfriend for Christmas and gets a surprise herself. Not original no, but I liked the way it was written in a funny way and her feisty reaction.
I also liked the first part of the story but in the end I was very disappointed with not only Leila but also her family. They lost my sympathy and ruined the story.
The writing itself is quite good but without a heroine to root for ...
I requested and received an ARC from the publisher via Netgalley for which I am grateful. This is my honest review.
It started really strong and I was sure to have a winner. Leila travels to India to surprise her boyfriend for Christmas and gets a surprise herself. Not original no, but I liked the way it was written in a funny way and her feisty reaction.
I also liked the first part of the story but in the end I was very disappointed with not only Leila but also her family. They lost my sympathy and ruined the story.
The writing itself is quite good but without a heroine to root for ...
I requested and received an ARC from the publisher via Netgalley for which I am grateful. This is my honest review.
September 15, 2017
Crazy little thing called love by Charlotte Butterfield a great four-star read. This is my first read by this author and it was funny and warm hearted and a little crazy, all the best bits rolled into one read. If you are looking for something fun and fresh then this is the read for you. Leila is a great character she is someone you will adore from the first page to the last she is funny and honest and gets herself some circumstances that will make you giggle out loud. This is a great read that you will not regret reading.
November 16, 2017
Soooo cute. And definitely a bit absurd. It reminded me a lot of Sophie Kinsella! I laughed out loud a few times without feeling like it was trying too hard to be funny. The main characters/ family was the beat. Everyone had interesting circumstances and complex backstories to explore. The ending was crazy lol. I loved the little bits of Christmas at the beginning, middle, and end too; it was a nice way to ease into my holiday reading without feeling at all like a holiday book.
April 27, 2020
3.5 stars
I would like to thank netgalley and HarperCollins UK for a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
This was well written and I loved Leila and Nick's relationship. The book did take a while to get going and morph from a romance to a sort of family/romance novel.
There are what seem to be random changes in pov dotted around the book. It becomes obvious towards the end why these different pov's are needed. It would have been better if the different pov's were added from the start and in an more orderly way.
I would like to thank netgalley and HarperCollins UK for a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
This was well written and I loved Leila and Nick's relationship. The book did take a while to get going and morph from a romance to a sort of family/romance novel.
There are what seem to be random changes in pov dotted around the book. It becomes obvious towards the end why these different pov's are needed. It would have been better if the different pov's were added from the start and in an more orderly way.
September 18, 2017
A lovely fluffy summer read with plenty of twists and turns about a woman who decides to go celibate for a year after having way too many disastrous dating experiences.
Leila is fun, bubbly, kind and a bit scatty...but in a really loveable way! Ok ok so this book has a lot of clichés, but what chick lit doesn't and even though this may be the case there are also a lot of deeper, more fundamentally cliché-less issues that arise.
I also really enjoyed the sisterhood/woman power element in the book which didn't feel contrived or too over the top and in your face.
The only negative was that the characters seemed to have an infinite amount of money to spend which didn't seem very realistic and which annoyed me throughout the book.
I would recommend this book as a great beach read or that you can easily read over a lazy weekend.
I received this book free of charge from the publisher in return for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.
Leila is fun, bubbly, kind and a bit scatty...but in a really loveable way! Ok ok so this book has a lot of clichés, but what chick lit doesn't and even though this may be the case there are also a lot of deeper, more fundamentally cliché-less issues that arise.
I also really enjoyed the sisterhood/woman power element in the book which didn't feel contrived or too over the top and in your face.
The only negative was that the characters seemed to have an infinite amount of money to spend which didn't seem very realistic and which annoyed me throughout the book.
I would recommend this book as a great beach read or that you can easily read over a lazy weekend.
I received this book free of charge from the publisher in return for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.
September 5, 2017
All reviews can be found on my blog at https://thewritinggarnet.wordpress.com
I gotta be cool relax, get hip, get on my track’s, take a back seat, hitch-hike, take a long ride on my motor bike, until I’m readyyyyyyyyyy.
Crazy little thing called loveeeeeeee.
Please say that I’m not the only person who started singing that song as soon as they read the title of this book? What a belter song, and what a fandabbydozy book!
With Leila’s history regarding relationships, when it came to light that she was going to be ‘wearing’ a self-imposed chastity belt, I couldn’t help but laugh out loud. It was as though Russell Brand had that he was going to give up sex and his bad boy ways. I mean, can you imagine it? Not that I doubted Leila at all, don’t get me wrong. I was just a bit ‘reaaallllyyyyyyy?’. Obviously because of that whole situation, I became as hooked on the book as Cookie Monster is hooked on cookies – and I’m not even joking! It was like someone had superglued my hands to my kindle for the duration of the novel! Not that I was complaining of course.
Of course the whole blog idea was absolutely genius, completely taking the novel up several notches from ‘romantic comedy’ to ‘OHMYGAWDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD’. Despite being a total unromantic person, I LOVE reading romantic comedies and, seeing as Leila came across as a lot more feisty than some other protagonists in this particular genre, I felt that I was able to relate to her a lot more due to her realistic personality traits.
What I loved most about this novel was how the main characters love life didn’t take over the full storyline, meaning that other characters were able to cause more bother. I mean that in a nice way by the way, because the other characters in this novel DID cause a lot of bother! With some other romantic comedies I have read, I have found that the main character’s love life dominates the storyline and everything else, with all the other characters coming across as though they’re playing ‘extras’ in book as opposed to being memorable. In ‘Crazy Little Thing Called Love’ however, that was not the case. Whilst Leila and her man ban does take control the storyline most of the time, characters like Leila’s brother and sister make themselves known in more ways than one. I do realise that I am being exceptionally vague in this review, but I don’t really want Harper Impulse to put me on the naughty step for giving out spoilers. Just trust me on this; you HAVE to read it.
Yes, I’ll admit, there was a character who drove me completely up the wall with her selfishness and basic vibe, so much so, I nearly came close to shouting at the book for her to ‘SHUUUUPPPPPPPPP’ (I’m from Essex, it works, believe me). Obviously she wouldn’t have heard, ahem, but it would have made me feel better! I would love to say that when other circumstances became even clearer as more of the storyline unfolded, my opinion of this character eased and I showed empathy towards her – but I’m sorry to say, I didn’t. I probably should have done. But, I didn’t. Again, seeing as I am being as vague as Louis Walsh’s sexual orientation, I’ll let you ponder that!
I thought Charlotte Butterfield’s novel was absolutely brilliant! My sides were sore from all the laughing! I’m not going to lie, I was afraid that the storyline was going to take the ‘predictable’ route at first, but as I got to know more of the characters and watch situations unfold, I knew that ‘Crazy Little Thing Called Love’ was anything BUT predictable. It’s different. It’s fun. And, most importantly, it was such an easy read which meant that I was able to lose myself in the characters lives, as well as the authors fantastic way with words. What’s not to like about that?
‘Crazy Little Thing Called Love’ had me hooked from the get go, made me cry with laughter, and made me feel exceptionally cosy whilst reading it. Charlotte Butterfield is a new author for me, but I can guarantee that this book will not be the last book that I read of hers.
If you’re after a light-hearted, relatable, and giggly read with so much storyline to sink your teeth into, you will absolutely adore this. Believe me!
Thank you Harper Impulse.
I gotta be cool relax, get hip, get on my track’s, take a back seat, hitch-hike, take a long ride on my motor bike, until I’m readyyyyyyyyyy.
Crazy little thing called loveeeeeeee.
Please say that I’m not the only person who started singing that song as soon as they read the title of this book? What a belter song, and what a fandabbydozy book!
With Leila’s history regarding relationships, when it came to light that she was going to be ‘wearing’ a self-imposed chastity belt, I couldn’t help but laugh out loud. It was as though Russell Brand had that he was going to give up sex and his bad boy ways. I mean, can you imagine it? Not that I doubted Leila at all, don’t get me wrong. I was just a bit ‘reaaallllyyyyyyy?’. Obviously because of that whole situation, I became as hooked on the book as Cookie Monster is hooked on cookies – and I’m not even joking! It was like someone had superglued my hands to my kindle for the duration of the novel! Not that I was complaining of course.
Of course the whole blog idea was absolutely genius, completely taking the novel up several notches from ‘romantic comedy’ to ‘OHMYGAWDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD’. Despite being a total unromantic person, I LOVE reading romantic comedies and, seeing as Leila came across as a lot more feisty than some other protagonists in this particular genre, I felt that I was able to relate to her a lot more due to her realistic personality traits.
What I loved most about this novel was how the main characters love life didn’t take over the full storyline, meaning that other characters were able to cause more bother. I mean that in a nice way by the way, because the other characters in this novel DID cause a lot of bother! With some other romantic comedies I have read, I have found that the main character’s love life dominates the storyline and everything else, with all the other characters coming across as though they’re playing ‘extras’ in book as opposed to being memorable. In ‘Crazy Little Thing Called Love’ however, that was not the case. Whilst Leila and her man ban does take control the storyline most of the time, characters like Leila’s brother and sister make themselves known in more ways than one. I do realise that I am being exceptionally vague in this review, but I don’t really want Harper Impulse to put me on the naughty step for giving out spoilers. Just trust me on this; you HAVE to read it.
Yes, I’ll admit, there was a character who drove me completely up the wall with her selfishness and basic vibe, so much so, I nearly came close to shouting at the book for her to ‘SHUUUUPPPPPPPPP’ (I’m from Essex, it works, believe me). Obviously she wouldn’t have heard, ahem, but it would have made me feel better! I would love to say that when other circumstances became even clearer as more of the storyline unfolded, my opinion of this character eased and I showed empathy towards her – but I’m sorry to say, I didn’t. I probably should have done. But, I didn’t. Again, seeing as I am being as vague as Louis Walsh’s sexual orientation, I’ll let you ponder that!
I thought Charlotte Butterfield’s novel was absolutely brilliant! My sides were sore from all the laughing! I’m not going to lie, I was afraid that the storyline was going to take the ‘predictable’ route at first, but as I got to know more of the characters and watch situations unfold, I knew that ‘Crazy Little Thing Called Love’ was anything BUT predictable. It’s different. It’s fun. And, most importantly, it was such an easy read which meant that I was able to lose myself in the characters lives, as well as the authors fantastic way with words. What’s not to like about that?
‘Crazy Little Thing Called Love’ had me hooked from the get go, made me cry with laughter, and made me feel exceptionally cosy whilst reading it. Charlotte Butterfield is a new author for me, but I can guarantee that this book will not be the last book that I read of hers.
If you’re after a light-hearted, relatable, and giggly read with so much storyline to sink your teeth into, you will absolutely adore this. Believe me!
Thank you Harper Impulse.
July 28, 2017
When Leila finds herself on the painful end of yet another disastrous break-up, no amount of Ben & Jerry’s and trashy rom-coms can cheer her up. And so – to the amusement of her friends and family – Leila takes a more drastic approach to dealing with heartbreak: she swears off sex for an entire year.
Luckily, she has plenty to keep her mind off men. Between starting a business with ice queen Lucy, straightening out her sister Tasha’s tangled love life, and running a blog read by thousands of single ladies, Leila is soon snowed under. But she can’t help finding a little time for irresistible architect Nick – Lucy’s funny and infuriatingly sexy brother.
After an unplanned encounter under the mistletoe, the Man Ban looks like it might be skidding to a halt. Has Leila found love when she least expected it?
If you've been reading my recent reviews you'll know I've been feeling a little bored with the "chick lit" genre of late. The stories are all just SO formulaic, so predictable.
Until this book came along.
This book was exactly the book I needed right now.
This book is actually about Leila's whole family, her wonderfully mum and dad-ish mum and dad, her emotionally uptight brother Marcus, his new wife Lucy, her sister Tasha, with her philandering husband, and of course Lucy's handsome, charming brother Nick.
Is it wrong to say I fell a little in love with Nick? Because I did!
When you scratch the surface of the 'laugh out loud romantic comedy' it's also a very well written look at family life, a family where the members aren't perfect, they have secrets, affairs, and insecurities, and I found the characters to be very well observed.
It makes for a very enjoyable read and it gets a well deserved 4 stars from me. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I received a free copy of this book via Netgalley for review purposes but all thoughts and opinions are my own.
Luckily, she has plenty to keep her mind off men. Between starting a business with ice queen Lucy, straightening out her sister Tasha’s tangled love life, and running a blog read by thousands of single ladies, Leila is soon snowed under. But she can’t help finding a little time for irresistible architect Nick – Lucy’s funny and infuriatingly sexy brother.
After an unplanned encounter under the mistletoe, the Man Ban looks like it might be skidding to a halt. Has Leila found love when she least expected it?
If you've been reading my recent reviews you'll know I've been feeling a little bored with the "chick lit" genre of late. The stories are all just SO formulaic, so predictable.
Until this book came along.
This book was exactly the book I needed right now.
This book is actually about Leila's whole family, her wonderfully mum and dad-ish mum and dad, her emotionally uptight brother Marcus, his new wife Lucy, her sister Tasha, with her philandering husband, and of course Lucy's handsome, charming brother Nick.
Is it wrong to say I fell a little in love with Nick? Because I did!
When you scratch the surface of the 'laugh out loud romantic comedy' it's also a very well written look at family life, a family where the members aren't perfect, they have secrets, affairs, and insecurities, and I found the characters to be very well observed.
It makes for a very enjoyable read and it gets a well deserved 4 stars from me. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I received a free copy of this book via Netgalley for review purposes but all thoughts and opinions are my own.
July 2, 2018
Leila has the worst luck with relationships -- she's been cheated on, lied to, taken advantage of, and had plenty of first dates that would make anyone run for the monastery. So it's not much of a surprise when she announces to her family and friends that she's taking a year of celibacy, coined her "man-ban". They laugh good-naturedly and remind her that she has a terrible time following through on things, which only seems to strengthen her resolve. She even starts a blog about her relationship woes and her quest in finding herself, which leads to thousands of followers and a new side-hustle in hosting female empowerment seminars at her parents' Dartmouth resort. All is going well until she finally meets her soulmate, Nick -- who also just happens to be her new sister-in-law's brother. Sparks fly, chemistry ignites, and they can't seem to forget one another even though Leila clearly explains her predicament. What ensues is a secret affair that neither can wait to share with the world, if only the world would cooperate. When a family scandal breaks, it threatens to tear this secret relationship apart.
Thoughts: Leila and Nick are adorable and have great chemistry together, and it honestly surprised me that their respective families didn't notice it sooner. They are also very likable characters and would do anything for their families. The secondary characters are also likable, with the exception being Nick's sister, Lucy, Leila's new sister-in-law. But once you get to know her and her motives, she ends up being a bit more human. That said, while I enjoyed the story, there were aspects that kept me from giving it the coveted five stars. One, there is very little character development in Leila, which is surprising because the whole point of her taking a year-long "man ban" is to find herself. Instead, she finds a secret boyfriend. She does land a pretty awesome career booster, but she never would have gotten the pitch opportunity without connections with said secret boyfriend. There was more character development with the secondary characters, her's and Nick's family members, than Leila. That was a bit disappointing. Also disappointing was the fact that, Readers were cheated on that one. Other than that, I really enjoyed the plot, especially all of the family drama, and how everything tied together. I would recommend this as a fun beach read.
Thoughts: Leila and Nick are adorable and have great chemistry together, and it honestly surprised me that their respective families didn't notice it sooner. They are also very likable characters and would do anything for their families. The secondary characters are also likable, with the exception being Nick's sister, Lucy, Leila's new sister-in-law. But once you get to know her and her motives, she ends up being a bit more human. That said, while I enjoyed the story, there were aspects that kept me from giving it the coveted five stars. One, there is very little character development in Leila, which is surprising because the whole point of her taking a year-long "man ban" is to find herself. Instead, she finds a secret boyfriend. She does land a pretty awesome career booster, but she never would have gotten the pitch opportunity without connections with said secret boyfriend. There was more character development with the secondary characters, her's and Nick's family members, than Leila. That was a bit disappointing. Also disappointing was the fact that, Readers were cheated on that one. Other than that, I really enjoyed the plot, especially all of the family drama, and how everything tied together. I would recommend this as a fun beach read.
August 4, 2017
The thing that caught my eye and made me want to read this book was the bright bold cover, its so pretty.
There is one huge thing I loved about this book and that is the Characters. They are basically all from two family's and they are all very close and have regular meet ups and family time and it was nice to see all the characters together.
I liked how the characters where all coupled off and we got to read bits from each of the couples lives, it wasn't all from one characters side of things.
There was a lot of drama for each character and it all just kept me reading even though it was late at night and my eyes were closing I just had to keep reading to find out what happened next as there was quite a few bombshells and things that you don't see coming.
Crazy little thing called love is a light romantic comedy that so easy to read and there are lots of absolutely hilarious moments that will have you laughing till you cry.
This is my first Charlotte Butterfield book and I absolutely adored it and I will definitely be looking forward to reading more from this author in the future!
There is one huge thing I loved about this book and that is the Characters. They are basically all from two family's and they are all very close and have regular meet ups and family time and it was nice to see all the characters together.
I liked how the characters where all coupled off and we got to read bits from each of the couples lives, it wasn't all from one characters side of things.
There was a lot of drama for each character and it all just kept me reading even though it was late at night and my eyes were closing I just had to keep reading to find out what happened next as there was quite a few bombshells and things that you don't see coming.
Crazy little thing called love is a light romantic comedy that so easy to read and there are lots of absolutely hilarious moments that will have you laughing till you cry.
This is my first Charlotte Butterfield book and I absolutely adored it and I will definitely be looking forward to reading more from this author in the future!
October 20, 2017
A lovely feel-good, warm hearted and laugh out loud funny romantic comedy that I thoroughly enjoyed!
We first me Leila as she executes a surprise visit to her current boyfriend working away in India. Of course surprise visits rarely go well and Leila returns home with her tail between her legs and on the painful end of yet another disastrous split. Fed up of this cycle, Leila decides to go celibate for a year and swears off men much to the amusement and disbelief of her friends and family.
Little does she know as she bares her heart and soul in her newly founded blog, that this would lead to a new business venture and eventually to finding the true love she has always dreamt of!
Lots of laughs along with way make this the perfect chick lit holiday read! Many thanks to netgalley for my arc.
We first me Leila as she executes a surprise visit to her current boyfriend working away in India. Of course surprise visits rarely go well and Leila returns home with her tail between her legs and on the painful end of yet another disastrous split. Fed up of this cycle, Leila decides to go celibate for a year and swears off men much to the amusement and disbelief of her friends and family.
Little does she know as she bares her heart and soul in her newly founded blog, that this would lead to a new business venture and eventually to finding the true love she has always dreamt of!
Lots of laughs along with way make this the perfect chick lit holiday read! Many thanks to netgalley for my arc.
December 29, 2017
A fantastic masterpiece of chick lit, I loved this book from the 1st few pages. The characters were fantastic with fab descriptions so you could connect with all of them. Every page held new twists and turns making you laugh and despair throughout for all the characters with a relevant storyline and fantastic basis for the story. Absolutely loved it, def in my favourites for this year.
August 8, 2017
I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
After finding her boyfriend cheating on her, Leila decides she's through with men. Swearing off sex for an entire year, she decides to dedicate her time to her career and bettering herself. After meeting Nick, the charming brother of her new sister-in-law, she quickly begins to second guess her hasty decision. Add in her siblings' complicated love lives, Leila's life has just gotten a lot more crazy.
Crazy Little Thing Called Love was a quick, funny read full of heart. Leila and Nick were a great match, and I really liked their scenes together. I initially disliked that the author added scenes through Lucy and Tasha's points of view, but as the book went on, I found I liked their scenes as well, and they were very much integral to the book. While some of the book was a bit predictable, it was entertaining and funny enough that I kept reading on.
This book was enjoyable, and I would definitely recommend it to chick-lit fans, or anyone looking for a laugh.
3.5/5
After finding her boyfriend cheating on her, Leila decides she's through with men. Swearing off sex for an entire year, she decides to dedicate her time to her career and bettering herself. After meeting Nick, the charming brother of her new sister-in-law, she quickly begins to second guess her hasty decision. Add in her siblings' complicated love lives, Leila's life has just gotten a lot more crazy.
Crazy Little Thing Called Love was a quick, funny read full of heart. Leila and Nick were a great match, and I really liked their scenes together. I initially disliked that the author added scenes through Lucy and Tasha's points of view, but as the book went on, I found I liked their scenes as well, and they were very much integral to the book. While some of the book was a bit predictable, it was entertaining and funny enough that I kept reading on.
This book was enjoyable, and I would definitely recommend it to chick-lit fans, or anyone looking for a laugh.
3.5/5
September 7, 2017
‘You do this, you hop from boyfriend to boyfriend, pinning unrealistic expectations onto each of them. Writing the script in your head of what you want them to say and how you want them to act, and if you keep doing that you’ll always end up being disappointed.’
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Rating: 💎💎.5
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Review: Thankyou NetGalley for sending me this book in exchange for a honest review. I tried to write a spoiler free review but I couldn't because I just had to talk about it, so yeaah 😄. The book shows just how important communication is in a relationship, TALK ABOUT YOUR FEELINGS. It was an interesting read, some parts I liked & others I was like what. As the book progressed & reached the twist & when I realised what was going on, I was like oh no..shit's going to hit the fan. The reveal of the reason behind the things that happened..."did I read that right?".
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HAPPY RELEASE DAY! Full review: thebookierookieblog.wordpress.com
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Rating: 💎💎.5
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Review: Thankyou NetGalley for sending me this book in exchange for a honest review. I tried to write a spoiler free review but I couldn't because I just had to talk about it, so yeaah 😄. The book shows just how important communication is in a relationship, TALK ABOUT YOUR FEELINGS. It was an interesting read, some parts I liked & others I was like what. As the book progressed & reached the twist & when I realised what was going on, I was like oh no..shit's going to hit the fan. The reveal of the reason behind the things that happened..."did I read that right?".
✨
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HAPPY RELEASE DAY! Full review: thebookierookieblog.wordpress.com
Read
November 17, 2019I didn't actually finish this book, I DNFed it 114 pages in. It could be that I just wasn't in the mood for this particular book, I don't want to judge it too harshly. But at the same time, it really just didn't seem like my cup of tea.
I went into this book based off of what the blurb described: girl is unlucky in love and goes on a man ban to centre herself, but might potentially break it when she meets cute architect when she least expects it. BAM. Cuteness! But no. That wasn't really what I got. Technically, yes. But with a heap of other tea on top of that that I definitely wasn't prepared for - and wasn't really into.
SO. Here we go.
Even from the prologue, I wasn't the biggest fan of Leila (am I the only one who took like five different tries of saying it out loud to figure out what her name was? No? Okay), especially in how she spoke about her relationship with Freddie (aka cheating ex in India). She said that they'd only been together for four months and she had already referenced him as her future husband and spoke about how his email signatures (e.g. XOXO, Hugs, Kisses, etc.) were getting closer to the L word . Like... come on. I mean I'm young, yeah, but isn't that a bit soon for all this thinking?
Even Leila's sister, Tasha, said that Leila kind of needed to sort out her life.
"You do this, you hop from boyfriend to boyfriend, pinning unrealistic expectations onto each of them. Writing the script in your head of what you want them to say and how you want them to act, and if you keep doing that you'll always be disappointed."
I've never quite understood women/girls who feel the need to be with a man all the time. Does it make them feel more stable? Less lonely? More loved? But how can you feel those things when it's always a temporary situation? Or does every one seem like THE ONE? I just don't get what it is that drives these women from man to man. What's wrong with just a little me time? The guy will come when he comes, everything will sort itself out in the end. Chasing after every loose end will simply create more threads.
Anyway, moving on to when Leila finally meets the blurb-boy Nick. He is as mentioned! Beautiful, stubbly, and an architect. He's also her brother-in-law. Yeah. Rewind a sec and hold the fricking phone. BROTHER-IN-LAW?? I know that they're not blood related and maybe this is just me but the whole dating and potentially getting into a serious relationship with an in-law just seems entirely out of the question and something so taboo that it was rather weird to read about. Entirely out of my comfort zone.
So then we get a weird inserted chapter that is somehow from both Lucy and Marcus' point of view... Weird, I know. Not really any structure happening here. But oh my God if this isn't the most boring couple I've read about. Completely not interesting whatsoever. They're on their honeymoon; sunbaking, sex, and... scrabble. Yep. We're talking ten-minute sex followed by solo showers and a spritzer while playing a nice game of scrabble and getting excited over a triple letter word in 'zoaria' if you use the R in 'quixotry'. Even the autocorrect on my phone didn't know what that word was.
AND THEN. IT GETS BETTER. We get a little snippet from our new bride Lucy. I really want to be vulgar about how much I don't like her, but I won't. But here's the thing; 1) She doesn't like sex. It's too sweaty and messy for her, and 2) She doesn't like the word 'contraception'. So she just doesn't talk about it. Not even to her new husband. She just assumes that he would want a baby so she planned their exact wedding date to take place three days before her ovulation. Sneaky and manipulative and conniving and oh MAN I need a thesaurus right now.
AND THIS WAS THE FINAL STRAW. ALEX AND TASHA. THE ONES WHO ARE SUPPOSED TO HAVE THEIR SH*T TOGETHER (allegedly). I wasn't too fond of this pairing in the beginning when I found out that Tasha was Alex's mistress and broke up their marriage when she fell pregnant. BUT. Now we find out that Alex has been having affairs on and off with different women for 15 years. Fifteen. As in 1 and 5 together. And Tasha doesn't even care. "Resignation has replaced resentment." She doesn't cry about it anymore because 'that's what his ex did and he left her, so clearly I shouldn't cry or he'll leave me'. She goes on about this "ideal woman baton" that gets passed from woman to woman and it doesn't belong to her anymore. How is she okay to live like this? And the one time she told her friends, they gave Alex the cold shoulder and she didn't like people 'judging her marriage' so now she stays quiet. WHAT. IS. HAPPENING.
I just couldn't stand any more of these situations. I'm sure this book is lovely and well written and all that jazz, but really.... it's just not my thing. Noooo thankyou.
I went into this book based off of what the blurb described: girl is unlucky in love and goes on a man ban to centre herself, but might potentially break it when she meets cute architect when she least expects it. BAM. Cuteness! But no. That wasn't really what I got. Technically, yes. But with a heap of other tea on top of that that I definitely wasn't prepared for - and wasn't really into.
SO. Here we go.
Even from the prologue, I wasn't the biggest fan of Leila (am I the only one who took like five different tries of saying it out loud to figure out what her name was? No? Okay), especially in how she spoke about her relationship with Freddie (aka cheating ex in India). She said that they'd only been together for four months and she had already referenced him as her future husband and spoke about how his email signatures (e.g. XOXO, Hugs, Kisses, etc.) were getting closer to the L word . Like... come on. I mean I'm young, yeah, but isn't that a bit soon for all this thinking?
Even Leila's sister, Tasha, said that Leila kind of needed to sort out her life.
"You do this, you hop from boyfriend to boyfriend, pinning unrealistic expectations onto each of them. Writing the script in your head of what you want them to say and how you want them to act, and if you keep doing that you'll always be disappointed."
I've never quite understood women/girls who feel the need to be with a man all the time. Does it make them feel more stable? Less lonely? More loved? But how can you feel those things when it's always a temporary situation? Or does every one seem like THE ONE? I just don't get what it is that drives these women from man to man. What's wrong with just a little me time? The guy will come when he comes, everything will sort itself out in the end. Chasing after every loose end will simply create more threads.
Anyway, moving on to when Leila finally meets the blurb-boy Nick. He is as mentioned! Beautiful, stubbly, and an architect. He's also her brother-in-law. Yeah. Rewind a sec and hold the fricking phone. BROTHER-IN-LAW?? I know that they're not blood related and maybe this is just me but the whole dating and potentially getting into a serious relationship with an in-law just seems entirely out of the question and something so taboo that it was rather weird to read about. Entirely out of my comfort zone.
So then we get a weird inserted chapter that is somehow from both Lucy and Marcus' point of view... Weird, I know. Not really any structure happening here. But oh my God if this isn't the most boring couple I've read about. Completely not interesting whatsoever. They're on their honeymoon; sunbaking, sex, and... scrabble. Yep. We're talking ten-minute sex followed by solo showers and a spritzer while playing a nice game of scrabble and getting excited over a triple letter word in 'zoaria' if you use the R in 'quixotry'. Even the autocorrect on my phone didn't know what that word was.
AND THEN. IT GETS BETTER. We get a little snippet from our new bride Lucy. I really want to be vulgar about how much I don't like her, but I won't. But here's the thing; 1) She doesn't like sex. It's too sweaty and messy for her, and 2) She doesn't like the word 'contraception'. So she just doesn't talk about it. Not even to her new husband. She just assumes that he would want a baby so she planned their exact wedding date to take place three days before her ovulation. Sneaky and manipulative and conniving and oh MAN I need a thesaurus right now.
AND THIS WAS THE FINAL STRAW. ALEX AND TASHA. THE ONES WHO ARE SUPPOSED TO HAVE THEIR SH*T TOGETHER (allegedly). I wasn't too fond of this pairing in the beginning when I found out that Tasha was Alex's mistress and broke up their marriage when she fell pregnant. BUT. Now we find out that Alex has been having affairs on and off with different women for 15 years. Fifteen. As in 1 and 5 together. And Tasha doesn't even care. "Resignation has replaced resentment." She doesn't cry about it anymore because 'that's what his ex did and he left her, so clearly I shouldn't cry or he'll leave me'. She goes on about this "ideal woman baton" that gets passed from woman to woman and it doesn't belong to her anymore. How is she okay to live like this? And the one time she told her friends, they gave Alex the cold shoulder and she didn't like people 'judging her marriage' so now she stays quiet. WHAT. IS. HAPPENING.
I just couldn't stand any more of these situations. I'm sure this book is lovely and well written and all that jazz, but really.... it's just not my thing. Noooo thankyou.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 11, 2017
Charlotte Butterfield’s “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” falls into a camp of chick lit and women’s fiction I haven’t read much in recent years but used to enjoy greatly. There’s a British woman, romantic strife, a quirky family and minor drama. I thought that would be what I was getting as I started, but this book quickly became a bit unpredictable, not necessarily in a bad way, and was much more interesting but ultimately a fumbling execution.
The story opens with Leila flying halfway around the world to surprise her boyfriend only to find him cheating. She returns to London, gets a breakup haircut and seems to be functioning just fine, but while out with her friends she makes the declaration that she’s going to stop dating and ends up deciding on one year as a goal. Her friends scoff and her family laughs in her face, but Leila starts blogging about her plans and accidentally creates a community of women who are single for whatever reason, by choice or not. In this midst of this, the romance plot kicks in when she meets a great guy but has too much riding on her celibacy to fall off the wagon.
Cute, low-stakes fun, right?
What was unexpected was the rich cast of supporting characters in the form of Leila’s family. Her older sister who is married with three kids whose perfect life might not be so perfect. Her brother who marries a woman none of the family particularly like but who ends up being Leila’s partner in launching a business around the blog. They all have their own dramas and sometimes you would rather be reading a book about THEM than Leila, but Leila is so darn likeable you don’t mind after all.
What I didn’t like was the way Butterfield shifts perspectives with no warning. She writes in third person from Leila’s perspective, but then early in the book shifts to her sister Tasha’s perspective mid-chapter. Some chapters start with “Lucy” so we know it’s being written from Leila’s sister-in-law’s point of view, but other times Lucy’s voice will just kick in mid-chapter with no section break. It became a bit jarring to figure out whose perspective I was reading at any given time and I sometimes had to back up when I realized I had guessed wrong. Oh, and sometimes it’s one of the men whose head we’re in, which adds more confusion.
Overall, Butterfield crams the perspectives of a lot of women in, despite the above issues, and each has their own concerns which all come back to love. Sometimes you want to shake them, other times hug them, and they all manage to get their stories told despite Leila’s ostensible role as the main character. If the book had been set up a little more like what it ended up being, a dramedy about the various ways love makes these various women “crazy,” I could have appreciated it a bit more.
The story opens with Leila flying halfway around the world to surprise her boyfriend only to find him cheating. She returns to London, gets a breakup haircut and seems to be functioning just fine, but while out with her friends she makes the declaration that she’s going to stop dating and ends up deciding on one year as a goal. Her friends scoff and her family laughs in her face, but Leila starts blogging about her plans and accidentally creates a community of women who are single for whatever reason, by choice or not. In this midst of this, the romance plot kicks in when she meets a great guy but has too much riding on her celibacy to fall off the wagon.
Cute, low-stakes fun, right?
What was unexpected was the rich cast of supporting characters in the form of Leila’s family. Her older sister who is married with three kids whose perfect life might not be so perfect. Her brother who marries a woman none of the family particularly like but who ends up being Leila’s partner in launching a business around the blog. They all have their own dramas and sometimes you would rather be reading a book about THEM than Leila, but Leila is so darn likeable you don’t mind after all.
What I didn’t like was the way Butterfield shifts perspectives with no warning. She writes in third person from Leila’s perspective, but then early in the book shifts to her sister Tasha’s perspective mid-chapter. Some chapters start with “Lucy” so we know it’s being written from Leila’s sister-in-law’s point of view, but other times Lucy’s voice will just kick in mid-chapter with no section break. It became a bit jarring to figure out whose perspective I was reading at any given time and I sometimes had to back up when I realized I had guessed wrong. Oh, and sometimes it’s one of the men whose head we’re in, which adds more confusion.
Overall, Butterfield crams the perspectives of a lot of women in, despite the above issues, and each has their own concerns which all come back to love. Sometimes you want to shake them, other times hug them, and they all manage to get their stories told despite Leila’s ostensible role as the main character. If the book had been set up a little more like what it ended up being, a dramedy about the various ways love makes these various women “crazy,” I could have appreciated it a bit more.
August 12, 2017
The wonderful prologue of this book really whetted my appetite for what was instore for the rest of the book. It was funny and set up Leila's frame of mind for the rest of the book.
For after a funny but painful break up story, Leila decides that she needs to swear of men for while, in fact for a whole year. None of her friends or family think she can do it, to the extent there are large bets placed on the outcome of this. However she starts a blog to keep her focused on it, and from the blog all sort of other events occur.
While being celibate for a year is a worthy challenge for lots of women, what makes this book so great is the man she meets at the wedding of her brother Marcus, to Lucy. Nick is Lucy's brother and has a lot in common with Leila and I thoroughly enjoyed him as a character.
The book isn't just from Leila's perspective we occasionally had sections from Lucy's point of view. Lucy is rather strong minded and likes things to run to a schedule whether its the plans for her wedding, or the events she starts to run with Leila to the regimented approach to Christmas day. She offers a different side of things with Leila's family and I couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for her at times.
One thing that is apparent from this book, is that no matter how much you may plan for things in your life, fate tends to take over, and the actual results can be even better than originally intended.
I really enjoyed this book, and it feels like there are many different threads of story going on all at once, and having finished the story, I now have a few niggly unanswered thoughts, sorts of loose ends that I would have liked tied a bit tighter - nothing major but since the focus seemed to change part way through, I think a few strands may have petered out a bit early.
That being said the fact there was so much going on at times is what kept me thoroughly interested and meant I was always wanting to read more, to see just what would happen next!
Crazy Little Thing Called Love is a good book, full of funny moments, romantic moments, complete craziness, families and all that go with them, and generally an all around entertaining novel.
Thank you to Netgalley and Harper Impulse for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.
For after a funny but painful break up story, Leila decides that she needs to swear of men for while, in fact for a whole year. None of her friends or family think she can do it, to the extent there are large bets placed on the outcome of this. However she starts a blog to keep her focused on it, and from the blog all sort of other events occur.
While being celibate for a year is a worthy challenge for lots of women, what makes this book so great is the man she meets at the wedding of her brother Marcus, to Lucy. Nick is Lucy's brother and has a lot in common with Leila and I thoroughly enjoyed him as a character.
The book isn't just from Leila's perspective we occasionally had sections from Lucy's point of view. Lucy is rather strong minded and likes things to run to a schedule whether its the plans for her wedding, or the events she starts to run with Leila to the regimented approach to Christmas day. She offers a different side of things with Leila's family and I couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for her at times.
One thing that is apparent from this book, is that no matter how much you may plan for things in your life, fate tends to take over, and the actual results can be even better than originally intended.
I really enjoyed this book, and it feels like there are many different threads of story going on all at once, and having finished the story, I now have a few niggly unanswered thoughts, sorts of loose ends that I would have liked tied a bit tighter - nothing major but since the focus seemed to change part way through, I think a few strands may have petered out a bit early.
That being said the fact there was so much going on at times is what kept me thoroughly interested and meant I was always wanting to read more, to see just what would happen next!
Crazy Little Thing Called Love is a good book, full of funny moments, romantic moments, complete craziness, families and all that go with them, and generally an all around entertaining novel.
Thank you to Netgalley and Harper Impulse for this copy which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.
August 22, 2017
I received this Arc from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review
This book follows Leila who's both in love with the idea of love but yet completely done with all the heartbreaks she's had.
She's been with many men, thinking they have been the one and after following her boyfriend to another country only to discover his unfaithfulness she hits rock bottom where men is concerned. Enter the man ban, The man ban is what Leila comes up with in order to live her life men free and when bets from family members start rolling in she becomes more detriment to see this through, a year without sex she can do this, surely.
However things become somewhat complicated when she meets handsome Nick, this book is filled with laugh out loud and moments that will make you smile and the writing flows beautifully.
Now onto what I didn't enjoy about this book, this may be some what of a spoiler but does not spoil the over all plot of the book as this happens pretty quickly. I felt like Leila was really invested in the man ban until she met Nick and she didn't even try she just slept with him right there and then, I'm certainly not against two consenting adults having sex the first time they meet if that's what they're into but the entire premise of the book is the celibacy(the man ban) and I feel she breaks that so quickly.
As for the other characters I thought they were all strong the only one who greatly annoyed me was Alex, his views on how to treat a woman was a little disgusting but then again I guess that was all part of his trait.
Nick was a character I thought was charming, romantic, gentleman from the beginning of the book although when several times throughout the book even though he was aware that they could not announce they were a item just yet until the year was up he sulked on that a few times and I get how he wanted to show their love of to the world but she had already told him, warned him that their relationship had to be a secret until said time, so that annoyed me slightly.
Overall I did enjoy this book and I will be reading more by this author in the future
This book follows Leila who's both in love with the idea of love but yet completely done with all the heartbreaks she's had.
She's been with many men, thinking they have been the one and after following her boyfriend to another country only to discover his unfaithfulness she hits rock bottom where men is concerned. Enter the man ban, The man ban is what Leila comes up with in order to live her life men free and when bets from family members start rolling in she becomes more detriment to see this through, a year without sex she can do this, surely.
However things become somewhat complicated when she meets handsome Nick, this book is filled with laugh out loud and moments that will make you smile and the writing flows beautifully.
Now onto what I didn't enjoy about this book, this may be some what of a spoiler but does not spoil the over all plot of the book as this happens pretty quickly. I felt like Leila was really invested in the man ban until she met Nick and she didn't even try she just slept with him right there and then, I'm certainly not against two consenting adults having sex the first time they meet if that's what they're into but the entire premise of the book is the celibacy(the man ban) and I feel she breaks that so quickly.
As for the other characters I thought they were all strong the only one who greatly annoyed me was Alex, his views on how to treat a woman was a little disgusting but then again I guess that was all part of his trait.
Nick was a character I thought was charming, romantic, gentleman from the beginning of the book although when several times throughout the book even though he was aware that they could not announce they were a item just yet until the year was up he sulked on that a few times and I get how he wanted to show their love of to the world but she had already told him, warned him that their relationship had to be a secret until said time, so that annoyed me slightly.
Overall I did enjoy this book and I will be reading more by this author in the future
April 21, 2019
Love is for the birds. After a disastrous jaunt to India to surprise her boyfriend over Christmas only to find him..... celebrating.... with a chesty blonde, Leila is beyond done. She has not had a good track record at love and she isn't interested in continuing the race. What she needs is a man-ban. One year- no men. Just working on herself. Her friends and family are less than supportive- in fact, none of them think she can do it! Righteous indignation and the internet come into play with her blog- her man-less (by choice) days are out there for everyone to see... and it's getting a following.
Of coarse, now that she's set on this course she has to find HIM. Mr. Right, aka her crazy new sister-in-law's brother Nick. A gorgeous architect with a sense of humor, loyalty and warmth. She's never felt such a connection- and she can't do anything about it! What's a girl to do?
When I picked this one up I expected a light, funny rom-com. While it has it's hilarious bits, it was so much more! I loved the premise and the characters sparkled. It was hard not to adore Leila, even when she was being foolish. Nick was fantastic foil for her and I loved how their relationship grew. It seemed really genuine. What I didn't expect, though, was insight into the relationships around them- the picture perfect marriage of her sister's that was falling to pieces, and the newly-weds that had yet to learn to talk to one another with terrible repercussions. We have love and relationships in all their crazy stages.
The writing style had a good flow, but I will say that sometimes it wasn't immediately obvious when the story switched narrative. I can't say that I loved that. It was fairly easy to pick up on- never more than a few sentences tops- but it was jarring none the less. All in all, I would give this a four star rating. I loved it and I will be looking for her other books.
On the adult content scale, there's some language, cursing and sexual content. While this is definitely geared toward adults it was never over the top. I give it a five.
Of coarse, now that she's set on this course she has to find HIM. Mr. Right, aka her crazy new sister-in-law's brother Nick. A gorgeous architect with a sense of humor, loyalty and warmth. She's never felt such a connection- and she can't do anything about it! What's a girl to do?
When I picked this one up I expected a light, funny rom-com. While it has it's hilarious bits, it was so much more! I loved the premise and the characters sparkled. It was hard not to adore Leila, even when she was being foolish. Nick was fantastic foil for her and I loved how their relationship grew. It seemed really genuine. What I didn't expect, though, was insight into the relationships around them- the picture perfect marriage of her sister's that was falling to pieces, and the newly-weds that had yet to learn to talk to one another with terrible repercussions. We have love and relationships in all their crazy stages.
The writing style had a good flow, but I will say that sometimes it wasn't immediately obvious when the story switched narrative. I can't say that I loved that. It was fairly easy to pick up on- never more than a few sentences tops- but it was jarring none the less. All in all, I would give this a four star rating. I loved it and I will be looking for her other books.
On the adult content scale, there's some language, cursing and sexual content. While this is definitely geared toward adults it was never over the top. I give it a five.
October 2, 2017
Leila is exhausted with all the heartbreaking relationships she's had...while she is all of 30 and looking for something more than a fling, she is equally exasperated by the whole dating scenario. Her latest break-up is the last straw and she decides that she is going to be celibate for a year... Everyone who knows her is betting that she isn't going to stick to her man ban. With the help of her sister Tasha and newly wed sister in law , she not only goes on this year long sabbatical but starts a blog to document her journey that turns into a huge success...but how successful has her man ban been? That's what you'd find out when you read this book😀... published by @harperimpulse this light read was a pleasant and funny read. For someone who reads a lot of thrillers and mysteries, this was a welcome change.
Leila is a landscape architect and her woes of dating, of being single and of trusting someone again are very real and relatable. The book also touches upon lives of Tasha, her sister and Lucy who is her sister in law. Nick is a wonderful addition to the book, who also happens to be an architect. Being an architect myself, the little architectural talk was an added treat 😀... The book shows how closely the families are bonded and how they sail together through ups and downs. The setting in which the story unfurls is yet another delight.
Leila was a wonderful character to read about and she along with her beautiful apartment and her fierce determination to find happiness are delightful!
The climax of the book was a bit unexpected but was perfectly dramatic for the book of this kind. It is everything a perfect chic-lit should be! Dramatic, funny , full of love, hovering moms and a crazy love story blossoming in all the madness- yes, it's perfect that way!
It is the book that you'd wanna snuggle with on a cold afternoon 😀...
Overall, it was a perfect romantic fix for me, without being too cheesy.
Leila is a landscape architect and her woes of dating, of being single and of trusting someone again are very real and relatable. The book also touches upon lives of Tasha, her sister and Lucy who is her sister in law. Nick is a wonderful addition to the book, who also happens to be an architect. Being an architect myself, the little architectural talk was an added treat 😀... The book shows how closely the families are bonded and how they sail together through ups and downs. The setting in which the story unfurls is yet another delight.
Leila was a wonderful character to read about and she along with her beautiful apartment and her fierce determination to find happiness are delightful!
The climax of the book was a bit unexpected but was perfectly dramatic for the book of this kind. It is everything a perfect chic-lit should be! Dramatic, funny , full of love, hovering moms and a crazy love story blossoming in all the madness- yes, it's perfect that way!
It is the book that you'd wanna snuggle with on a cold afternoon 😀...
Overall, it was a perfect romantic fix for me, without being too cheesy.
August 13, 2017
Leila decides to surprise her boyfriend who is on secondment in India. After a disastrous journey she eventually tracks him down to discover him with another woman, she then embarks on her journey home. What a Christmas! She then informs her family and friends that she will remain celibate for a year; a decision that is met with much humour by all as she has a history of disastrous encounters with men. What starts out as a journal develops into a blog and then into a business which sees her hosting events for like-minded women who follow her blog and who have decided that ‘sisters are doing it for themselves’ – who can be independent and flourish.
Rom-com is not my bag but every now and again I delve into this genre for a light-hearted, funny escape and that is exactly what this is. But that is too simplistic a description. I loved the whole cast of characters and would be hard put to pick out one. Leila and her brother Marcus (who I must confess is a bit of a favourite), his wife Lucy and her brother Nick, destined to become Leila’s new love. Also Lucy’s sister Tasha and her husband and the parents. So, quite a complex cast of characters – all well-drawn and all holding their own unique space within the plot.
I know that this genre is considered ‘lightweight’ by some but hey! What’s not to like, something that engages you, makes you laugh, keeps you reading and at the finish leaves you with a smile? If that is the criteria for a rom-com then this one is a winner.
Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for providing an ARC via my Kindle in return for an honest review.
Rom-com is not my bag but every now and again I delve into this genre for a light-hearted, funny escape and that is exactly what this is. But that is too simplistic a description. I loved the whole cast of characters and would be hard put to pick out one. Leila and her brother Marcus (who I must confess is a bit of a favourite), his wife Lucy and her brother Nick, destined to become Leila’s new love. Also Lucy’s sister Tasha and her husband and the parents. So, quite a complex cast of characters – all well-drawn and all holding their own unique space within the plot.
I know that this genre is considered ‘lightweight’ by some but hey! What’s not to like, something that engages you, makes you laugh, keeps you reading and at the finish leaves you with a smile? If that is the criteria for a rom-com then this one is a winner.
Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for providing an ARC via my Kindle in return for an honest review.
September 13, 2017
3.5 stars.
Leila is suffering another bad break-up. She doesn't seem to be able to find a decent man worth her time, so she decides to take a year off men. A year, where she remains celibate, where she focuses on herself and her life without leaning on other people. However, that is easier said than done when you're a serial-dater like Leila. At her brother's wedding, she is introduced to Nick - the brother of the bride - and the two immediately hit it off much to her displeasure, because she certainly can't break the vow she made to herself, and the £14.000 bet she has with family and friends just for a guy - right?
This story is kind of a mish-mash, to be honest. There are several POVs throughout the book - some changes are marked, others just occur within a paragraph, which is a little tricky to keep up with. I thought this was going to be only about Leila and her man-ban, but it was about much more. It was about the path to self-discovery, the struggles of marriage and infidelity, family bonds and much more. I was pleasantly suprised to find that the book had more layers than a feminist doing a year of (broken) celibacy. However, like I said, all the different storylines create kind of a mish-mash of stories even though they are (more or less) vowen together. There is also quite a significant time-span throughout that you have to navigate. It was a little on the long side story wise, but I was entertained.
Review Copy provided in exchange for my honest review
Leila is suffering another bad break-up. She doesn't seem to be able to find a decent man worth her time, so she decides to take a year off men. A year, where she remains celibate, where she focuses on herself and her life without leaning on other people. However, that is easier said than done when you're a serial-dater like Leila. At her brother's wedding, she is introduced to Nick - the brother of the bride - and the two immediately hit it off much to her displeasure, because she certainly can't break the vow she made to herself, and the £14.000 bet she has with family and friends just for a guy - right?
This story is kind of a mish-mash, to be honest. There are several POVs throughout the book - some changes are marked, others just occur within a paragraph, which is a little tricky to keep up with. I thought this was going to be only about Leila and her man-ban, but it was about much more. It was about the path to self-discovery, the struggles of marriage and infidelity, family bonds and much more. I was pleasantly suprised to find that the book had more layers than a feminist doing a year of (broken) celibacy. However, like I said, all the different storylines create kind of a mish-mash of stories even though they are (more or less) vowen together. There is also quite a significant time-span throughout that you have to navigate. It was a little on the long side story wise, but I was entertained.
Review Copy provided in exchange for my honest review
August 22, 2017
What happens when you have been through one too many failed relationships and you swear yourself to celibacy for a year? How about when only a few months into said celibacy you meet THE GUY? Nothing goes according to plan!
This book had a lot more drama than I was expecting and eyebrow raising moments - but I could not put it down! I reasoned with myself, just a few more pages for today. Just a couple more chapters. Whelp, I finished it! It was fun, flirty, frustrating, deceptive and emotional. Leila’s relationship ends catastrophically, setting her on a new path with a new mind set. Celibacy! With mixed opinions on her seeing it through and starting a blog to jot down her journey, Leila could never have guessed that her life would go that direction and be just what she needed (sort of). With Love, secrets and new ventures, multiple couples drama in one large family spills together in a event that rocks them to their core - bringing people together and tearing them apart.
4 Stars with a recommendation from me for this light flirty dramatic read.
Plus, isn’t that a cutsie cover?
Copy kindly provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
This book had a lot more drama than I was expecting and eyebrow raising moments - but I could not put it down! I reasoned with myself, just a few more pages for today. Just a couple more chapters. Whelp, I finished it! It was fun, flirty, frustrating, deceptive and emotional. Leila’s relationship ends catastrophically, setting her on a new path with a new mind set. Celibacy! With mixed opinions on her seeing it through and starting a blog to jot down her journey, Leila could never have guessed that her life would go that direction and be just what she needed (sort of). With Love, secrets and new ventures, multiple couples drama in one large family spills together in a event that rocks them to their core - bringing people together and tearing them apart.
4 Stars with a recommendation from me for this light flirty dramatic read.
Plus, isn’t that a cutsie cover?
Copy kindly provided through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
September 16, 2017
Condensed Review; I did enjoy, I would read more from Charlotte Butterfield
Full Review; Starting with what I enjoyed about the book, the story itself was light, at time humorous and honest. I would best describe this as a modern romance, tackling issues and topics that I've not seen covered in a rom com novel before which I did find refreshing.
the characters were detailed enough that I could picture them however I did not feel I could relate to them or their situations so much.
Another area I did find less enjoyable was the time.ine throughout the book, it seemed to race through weeks, months and years leaving me a little lost and feeling that I was missing details leading me up to the point of conclusions.
However that being said, I did enjoy the level of humour involved, sometimes I find the romcom/chicklit genre can try too hard to be funny whereas this was funny at parts but I would best describe this as 'lighthearted' if you are looking for funny I would try another read.
This was my first read from Charlotte Butterfield and I would look to read more of her books as I very much enjoyed her style of writing.
Full Review; Starting with what I enjoyed about the book, the story itself was light, at time humorous and honest. I would best describe this as a modern romance, tackling issues and topics that I've not seen covered in a rom com novel before which I did find refreshing.
the characters were detailed enough that I could picture them however I did not feel I could relate to them or their situations so much.
Another area I did find less enjoyable was the time.ine throughout the book, it seemed to race through weeks, months and years leaving me a little lost and feeling that I was missing details leading me up to the point of conclusions.
However that being said, I did enjoy the level of humour involved, sometimes I find the romcom/chicklit genre can try too hard to be funny whereas this was funny at parts but I would best describe this as 'lighthearted' if you are looking for funny I would try another read.
This was my first read from Charlotte Butterfield and I would look to read more of her books as I very much enjoyed her style of writing.
September 26, 2017
As I turned the last page of the book my thoughts were ‘What a delightful story’.
Leila has had a run of bad luck with boyfriends. She decides to visit her current boyfriend while he is working in India but she unfortunately finds him in a compromising position. Returning to London she vows to family and friends that she will have a year off men. She starts an on line blog, which eventually turns into a site where likeminded women come for support. Then life gets a little complicated when she meets Nick, the brother of her new sister in law in the first few weeks into her self-proclaimed vow.
What I really loved about this book is the fact that there was no big eye rolling, angst moment for Lelia and Nick. They were on the same page as each other in their relationship (most times). It’s their family around them that has the issues and I did love all the family, warts and all.
This was a lovely feel good novel about family and doing what you feel is important for yourself. It was just the story I needed at this time.
Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for a copy to read and review.
Leila has had a run of bad luck with boyfriends. She decides to visit her current boyfriend while he is working in India but she unfortunately finds him in a compromising position. Returning to London she vows to family and friends that she will have a year off men. She starts an on line blog, which eventually turns into a site where likeminded women come for support. Then life gets a little complicated when she meets Nick, the brother of her new sister in law in the first few weeks into her self-proclaimed vow.
What I really loved about this book is the fact that there was no big eye rolling, angst moment for Lelia and Nick. They were on the same page as each other in their relationship (most times). It’s their family around them that has the issues and I did love all the family, warts and all.
This was a lovely feel good novel about family and doing what you feel is important for yourself. It was just the story I needed at this time.
Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for a copy to read and review.
March 16, 2020
Crazy Little Thing Called Love really was a let down. It was an easy read, entertaining in the least. However, there were things that definitely had me rolling my eyes. First off, the author really downplayed so many scenes that could've made this book. It jumped right past things I really would've liked to see written out. When Leila and Nick first meet, it jumps to a few months later to the day of their next meeting. When Leila and Nick had that big fight towards the end of the book, it skipped to after they already made up. We didn't get to see them making up, talking it out, explaining themselves. Anything. One minute they can't stand each other, then the next they're magically together and happy again. The skipping around just really annoyed me.
I really thought the romance was cute, and I really enjoyed reading about them. As cliche as it was, it's easy to read when you're in a book slump. I just wish it didn't skip over all the important turning points in their relationship.
I really thought the romance was cute, and I really enjoyed reading about them. As cliche as it was, it's easy to read when you're in a book slump. I just wish it didn't skip over all the important turning points in their relationship.
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