Mar 15, 2011

From Notting Hill With Love..Actually by Ali McNamara


From Notting Hill With Love...Actually
Author:  Ali McNamara
Genre:  Chick Lit
Publisher:  Sphere
Date Published:  November 25th 2010

From Goodreads:

Scarlett O'Brien is in love . . . with the movies. Utterly hooked on Hugh Grant, crazy about Richard Curtis, dying with lust for Johnny Depp, Scarlett spends her days with her head in the clouds and her nights with her hand in a huge tub of popcorn. Which is not exactly what her sensible, DIY-obsessed fiancé David has in mind for their future. So when Scarlett has the chance to house-sit an impossibly grand mansion in Notting Hill ? the setting of one of her all-time favourite movies ? she jumps at the chance to live out her film fantasies one last time. It's just a shame that her new neighbour Sean is so irritating ? and so irritatingly handsome, too. As a chaotic comedy of her very own erupts around Scarlett, she begins to realise there's more to life than seating plans and putting up shelves. What sort of happy ending does she really want? Will it be a case of Runaway Bride or Happily Ever After? The big white wedding looms, and Scarlett is running out of time to decide.
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I’m a complete fan of chick flicks, and I’ve seen them all. Two of my favorites are Notting Hill and Love Actually, so yeah I wanted to read this one bad, so bad that I paid quite a bit and had it shipped from the U.K. , sadly it was just okay for me.




My main problem with From Notting Hill with Love Actually was the predictability of it. Yeah, I know the one thing chick lit can guarantee is it’s predictability, but I still thought the movie angle to this one would make it shine all nice and new. It didn’t. Scarlett loves the movies and is positive life should be and can be like the movies, but everyone else in her life seems to think that these romantic movies are all silly make believe fantasy worlds (hate to break it to you Scarlett, but they are). I’m glad I’ve outgrown that notion back in my early twenties, or I’d still be waiting for my Mr. Darcy (Bridget Jones), who liked me just as I was.

It was a sappy read, and I kind of liked that, but Scarlett’s problem with trying to push these movie scenes from real life started grating on me.

I did like the concept and I all in all it wasn’t a bad read, just didn’t give me what I expected. I will give author Ali McNamara another go though, I guess at the closing of the book I still liked her style.

This would make a awesome chick flick.

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