Christmas Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella

 

Synopsis :

Celebrate Christmas with the ultimate Shopaholic!

The brilliant laugh-out-loud festive novel from the Number One bestselling author.

Becky Brandon (née Bloomwood) adores Christmas. It's always the same – Mum and Dad hosting, carols playing, Mum pretending she made the Christmas pudding, and the next-door neighbours coming round for sherry in their terrible festive jumpers.

And now it's even easier with online bargain-shopping sites – if you spend enough you even get free delivery. Sorted!

But this year looks set to be different. Unable to resist the draw of craft beer and smashed avocado, Becky's parents are moving to ultra-trendy Shoreditch and have asked Becky if she'll host Christmas this year. What could possibly go wrong?

With sister Jess demanding a vegan turkey, husband Luke determined that he just wants aftershave again, and little Minnie insisting on a very specific picnic hamper – surely Becky can manage all this, as well as the surprise appearance of an old boyfriend and his pushy new girlfriend, whose motives are far from clear . . .

Will chaos ensue, or will Becky manage to bring comfort and joy to Christmas? 

This is what I say :

I haven't read a Becky Brandon nee Bloomwood title in quite a long time.  I honestly can't remember when was the last time and which was the last book that I read.  I think it was Mini Shopaholic and I actually missed out two of her books which is Shopaholic to the Stars (I have the book somewhere in my shelf) and Shopaholic to the Rescue which I must try to get hold of a copy.

Anyway, it's nice to see that Becky is doing well and that she's still the same old Becky Bloomwood that I remember her to be.  It's been 10 years since her first book Confession of a Shopaholic.

She's been tasked to organise and host Christmas and between going over the top to get the best presents for Luke (involves joining a club she has no interest in, change the club's rule in order to participate in a raffles draw just to win the prize).  And does Minnie really want a specific picnic hamper?  Think of another word that rhymes with hamper and you will get what Minnie really wants! 

But I think the best present is that last word she told her husband during Christmas.  That should be the best Christmat present for Luke and for readers as it certainly was unexpected.  With that word, you can be assured that Becky and family and friends will be back.

Reading about Becky and her family and friends celebrating Christmas certainly reminds me that Christmas is just two plus months away.  This year will be a social distancing Christmas celebration.

 

Top Secret Twenty One (Stephanie Plum #21) by Janet Evanovich

 

Synopsis :

Catch a professional assassin: top priority. Find a failure-to-appear and collect big bucks: top score. How she’ll pull it all off: top secret.

Trenton, New Jersey’s favorite used-car dealer, Jimmy Poletti, was caught selling a lot more than used cars out of his dealerships. Now he’s out on bail and has missed his date in court, and bounty hunter Stephanie Plum is looking to bring him in. Leads are quickly turning into dead ends, and all too frequently into dead bodies. Even Joe Morelli, the city’s hottest cop, is struggling to find a clue to the suspected killer’s whereabouts. These are desperate times, and they call for desperate measures. So Stephanie is going to have to do something she really doesn’t want to do: protect former hospital security guard and general pain in her behind Randy Briggs. Briggs was picking up quick cash as Poletti’s bookkeeper and knows all his boss’s dirty secrets. Now Briggs is next on Poletti’s list of people to put six feet under.

To top things off, Ranger—resident security expert and Stephanie’s greatest temptation—has been the target of an assassination plot. He’s dodged the bullet this time, but if Ranger wants to survive the next attempt on his life, he’ll have to enlist Stephanie’s help and reveal a bit more of his mysterious past.

Death threats, highly trained assassins, highly untrained assassins, and Stark Street being overrun by a pack of feral Chihuahuas are all in a day’s work for Stephanie Plum. The real challenge is dealing with her Grandma Mazur’s wild bucket list. A boob job and getting revenge on Joe Morelli’s Grandma Bella can barely hold a candle to what’s number one on the list—but that’s top secret. 

This is what I say :

I found another of Stephenie's adventure online.  Entitlted Top Secret Twenty One, it's the 21st book in the series.  The last book I read which was in April this year was entitled Hardcore Twenty Four which I wrote about here.

Does it matter that I read book number twenty four before reading book number twenty one? Certainly does not matter at all.

Does it matter that if you are to read Top Secret Twenty One without reading the other books in the series. Also certainly does not matter at all

Nothing much to say about this book. The synopsis says it all.

Book Purchase #2 for 2020

 

Hello....

I bought a book recently.  Actually, I bought more than a book but I shall just be sharing one of my purchases here.

Be Careful What You Wish For is part of a series of novels that I am curating.

If you refer to my post from Feb 2019, I posted about this series and how I am two books short to have a complete set.

With the purchase of Be Careful What You Wish For, I am just missing the last book This Was the Man. I hope I am able to get hold of this title soon.

For record purposes, I shall consider this my second purchase for the year with this being the first.

I will share about my other purchases another time.