Tuesday, July 25, 2017

Those Pleasant Girls by Lia Weston ~ Review


Evie Pleasant, nee Bouvier, is back in town. In a figure-hugging skirt, high heels and a pin-up hairdo, she's unrecognisable from the wild child who waged war on Sweet Meadow in her youth.

She's made a promise to herself: 'No swearing. No drinking. No stealing. No fires.'

Trailing a reluctant 16-year-old daughter and armed with cake making equipment, Evie's divorce and impending poverty has made her desperate enough to return to Sweet Meadow to seduce her former partner-in-crime and start again.

But the townsfolk have long memories and the renegade ex-boyfriend is now the highly-respected pastor. Evie's cakes have a job to do.
 


Those Pleasant Girls is one cool, ridiculously smiley, seriously funny, absolute blast of a book. Lia Weston is gifted at creating disastrously perfect comedic scenarios, delivering snappy, witty observations and capturing the quirky side of small town country life. 

This book reminded me of The Gilmore Girls ~ following both Evie (in her 30's) and Mary (aged 17 years). I loved Evie, whose wild child/teen memories of mishaps, shenanigans and outright bedlam-ish nature endeared her to me straight away. She is in the process of reforming herself, but is (to her chagrin) still so wickedly-inclined (the best kind of accidentally Anne Shirley kind of wicked). Mary is just as awesome ~ more pragmatic and with a wry sense of humour ~ she was a delight to read. With dual POVs of mother and daughter, Those Pleasant Girls is really accessible for fans of both YA and contemporary adult literature. Of course, there's a full cast of quirky and lovable characters ~ including some swoony goodness from one dude in particular, haha.

There were so many small lines of dialogue, sneaky introspective thoughts and mini comedic scenes that had me chuckling my way through this. I could see this as a perfect rom-com flick on the Big Screen, and like most chick flicks ~ it was a perfectly cruisey, feel good, fun read. My only drawback was a kind of mid-book lag where the plot seemed to slow down a little, but then it picked up again and I was finishing it off in the squeaky hours of the morning, grinning like a Cheshire cat into the darkness of my bedroom.

Weston has her own astute, ridiculously awesome and wicked sense of humour ~ but if I had to pair her with similar authors I would say she has a blend of Sophie Kinsella/Meg Cabot/Ellie O'Neill and a touch of the Moriarty sisters* wild whimsy. And you all know that's a winning combo for me :). Such a happy making, sunshiney, delicious book ~ perfect for those lazy days when you need to relax, smile and swoon along with the craziness and delight that Those Pleasant girls are. 


* I'm grouping those 3 faves together ~ I love them all so (Liane Moriarty, Nicola Moriarty and Jaclyn Moriarty)


Those Pleasant Girls @ goodreads



5 comments:

  1. This sounds like such a fun read, it made me grin just reading your review! :) Added to my to-read list yay!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's definitely your kind of book! :) It was really fun and relaxing x

      Delete
  2. I haven't seen much of the Gilmore Girls but this still seems so cute and relevant! I think I'd love it so thanks for the rec, Nomes!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ha! I've only seen season one and a bit of two, but it was the mother/daughter joint POV's and shenanigans which kind of made me pair the two. And that kind of small town vibe :) I hope you get a chance to check it out :)

      Delete
  3. You had me at Anne Shirley! This sounds right up my alley and just the kind of book I'm looking for (although I may save if for holiday reading as it sounds wonderfully relaxing!). Lovely review Nomes x

    ReplyDelete

Thanks for the commenty love :)