Kirsty Greenwood

I haven't really been in the romance book mood lately, but the synopsis of The Love of My Afterlife sounded like so much fun I decided to try it. I'm so glad I did, because this was a laugh out loud funny story that gave off the best kind of rom-com vibes, and I loved it. Delphie, who has led a very solitary life (by choice) dies and goes to the afterlife where she meets her soulmate, only to find out that he's actually in a coma on Earth and was sent to the afterlife by mistake, which is when he gets yanked back to the land of the living, and all she was able to learn about him was his first name. Delphie is offered the chance to go back to Earth to see if she can find him, but she only has 10 days, and if she doesn't find him in that time AND get him to kiss her, she will be returned to the afterlife for good. Easy-peasy, right? Well, where's the fun in that!

Delphie was a fun character, even when she's a bit grumpy and manic, which is understandable given her mission. She ends up enlisting the help of her downstairs neighbor, who is also a bit grumpy, on her adventures, and the merriment begins. They end up in a lot of awkward situations, which is where the laugh out loud parts happen.

All in all, this was a very fun book and I highly recommend it.

5/5 stars.

*** I would like to thank NetGalley, Berkley Publishing Group, and Kirsty Greenwood for the opportunity to read and review The Love of My Afterlife.… (altro)

I tried to like this one, but ultimately the character of Natalie worked my nerves. The premise of her getting hypnotized to tell the truth was truly hilarious in a couple of places, but I don't think the author did enough with it. And in the end, she wasn't that great IMHO considering that she went from being a doormat to just being a jerk about things and not discussing them. I did like the ending with her choosing herself though, and we do get a nice HFN.

Natalie is slated to marry her boring, but nice fiancee. She is troubled though by him saying that she's almost perfect (talking about her weight). And it doesn't help her mother and sister chose her wedding dress (she looks like a bedazzled ice skater). And she has a job she hates with a boss who talks down to her. When she and her best friend go out to a pub to meet a hypnotist, Natalie wakes up to find that if she is asked a direct question she has to tell the truth. Trying to track down the hypnotist has Natalie traveling back and forth to Little Trooley while trying to make amends with her fiancee and family.

Natalie is kind of a beige character. I didn't feel for anyone who just lets everyone walk all over them. Natalie's reasons are that her father left her mother, so she now has to be close and do whatever she says. Same issue with her sister forcing her to dog watch, and her eating food she doesn't like and having boring 5 minute sex with her fiancee. She is just passive to her own life. When Greenwood has her telling the truth, I did crack up a few times. But it just got old after a while. Natalie apparently can't be anything but blunt and rude when telling the truth so you go from feeling sorry for her, to feeling sorry for the people she's talking to.

The other characters read as wafer thin in this one. Natalie's two love interests, interested me not at all. Especially since one of them had a girlfriend and that whole thing turned into a mess that had me not liking anyone.

The writing was okay, I wish that we had spent more time on Natalie's love of cooking. When the author went in that direction I found myself more interested. The flow was not good though. Natalie runs away from Little Trooley I think like three times. I was tired of her going back and forth there (to look for the hypnotist) and it wasn't plotted very well.

The ending was good with Natalie setting out to do something for herself, but she gets a nice surprise and a HFN ending.… (altro)

"Big Sexy Love" could have been so much better. I think in the end too many absurd things were happening and Greenwood lost the plot. And I liked the idea behind the plot so much. I also wish we spent more time with Birdie. Birdie was a great character, and we only get glimpses into her. I wish that Greenwood had included more scenes/dialogue with Birdie and Olive. I found myself loving the letters in the end and that Olive didn't just run after a dude. Other than that, I felt that this was an okay book to pass the time with.

"Big Sexy Love" has Olive Brewster going to New York to track down her best friend Birdie's ex who was her big sexy love. One wonders why Birdie can't do it, but you quickly find out that Birdie is dying, and it really will be up to Olive to track down Birdie's ex and give him a letter from her to him. Only issue is that Olive loves her routines (works at the fishmonger and goes home to watch Big Bang Theory with her brother and his pain the butt girlfriend) so traveling to New York isn't going to be an easy thing for her.

Olive meets a cast of thousands it seems, but she manages to shake up her routine and pushes through in order to make sure she keeps her promise to Birdie.

Olive was not a sympathetic character at times. We find out her parents separated and acted like jerks. So now she is living with her brother in their childhood home. the girlfriend is a nasty jerk, but she was still saying little truths here and there about Olive and her inability to take care of herself. I think if we didn't keep jumping from absurdity to absurdity the book would have worked better for me. Olive is almost arrested, arrested, and just running from scene to scene. We don't get to see her really take in New York except for here and there. I didn't like her love interest because guys who act like assholes are not my thing.

The secondary characters are merely there to prop up Olive or be an impediment. The only one who is there and shines in this is Birdie. I do wish that Greenwood had worked with what she had more. The best friendship of Birdie and Olive are really the only parts of the book that worked.

The writing was so-so. I think that happening each chapter start with a text from someone in Olive's life didn't work that well. Also including twitter messages from one tertiary character was too much. The flow was pretty awful though. We just have ebbs and flows and nothing really works until the last 10 percent or so.

The setting moving from London to New York felt a bit blah to me. I just needed more color. Greenwood does at times have Olive pay attention to her setting. But it felt like a weird New York where everyone (mostly) is super helpful and things are apparently cheap as hell.

The ending was a surprise and I honestly think the epilogue was written very well.… (altro)