My December Wrap-Up

First of all, because I'm not doing a New Year's post every year (that would be cheesy as hell), I hope you're all doing perfectly well in 2017! I hope that, aside from the car-crash world-changing events that we all experienced (because yes, we will all feel the hit of Brexit, Donald Trump's presidency, and the damning worldwide warfare in the not-so-distant future), that 2016 treated you well and that 2017 is full of so much more love, happiness and promise.

My goal this year, as ever, is to read as many books as I can; I hit a grand-total of 71 books in 2016 and though that doesn't compare to the 97 I read the year before, it was good enough for me. It's quite sad that my last wrap-up of 2016 only consists of two books but it's been a busy month in that so-busy-I-can't-keep-up-with-my-life kinda way so two books is what I had to settle with. Without further ado, here's how I felt about them...

In my last wrap-up here, I reviewed Trouble is a Friend of Mine and how bloody brilliant it was. Its sequel, Trouble Makes a Comeback, is just as brilliant.

Zoe Webster's life is finally normal. After that crazy period not so long ago which involved derailing a drugs operation, playing investigator in a cold-case crime, a close shave with a lunatic with a gun and a different lunatic who tries to kill her with explosives, and of course, Philip Digby, she is revelling in the quiet normality that is now her life. Until Digby shows up on her doorstep. Again. Still looking for his missing eight-year old sister, he reels Zoe back in as his reluctant and unwilling sidekick/partner/co-investigator. And so, naturally, Zoe's normal life goes up in flames. Literally. With Digby back in town, she finds herself at the centre of ill-thought, irrational, impulsive schemes and once again, they are leaving chaos in their wake. Questioning her (lack of) common sense, Zoe wonders why she can't seem to ever say no to Digby who, in her opinion, is unhinged and slightly sociopathic in his quest to find his sister. But maybe the normal life is overrated, and when it comes down to choosing between that or living life in the fast lane with Philip Digby, it seems like a no-brainer...

As over-the-top, wild and absurdly hilarious as the first, Trouble Makes a Comeback was so much fun to read. It's almost like the first book didn't end; the second Digby appears within the first few pages, all hell breaks loose and it's a reckless roller coaster ride from thereon. Digby's gang of misfits is well and truly back, and I love that in-between the crazy scheming, constant bickering and sarcastic trading of back-and-forth insults, there is a strong sense of friendship and camaraderie together with very real character and relationship development. Utterly ridiculous with a series of outlandish stunts, snarky characters and an entertaining plot, it plays out like a comedic sketch of Sherlock Holmes and it bloody works. Bring on book three.

Fallon meets Ben, an aspiring novelist, the day before her scheduled cross-country move. Their untimely attraction leads them to spend Fallon’s last day in L.A. together, and her eventful life becomes the creative inspiration Ben has always sought for his novel. Over time and amidst the various relationships and tribulations of their own separate lives, they continue to meet on the same date every year. Until one day Fallon becomes unsure if Ben has been telling her the truth or fabricating a perfect reality for the sake of the ultimate plot twist.

"You left with my soul in your fists and my heart in your teeth, and I don't want either of them back" - Ben, November Nine

Flawed protagonist who instead of embracing her flaws and being a kick-ass heroine, comes off as needy, annoying and whiny

Check.

Cocky, damaged "hero" who the reader should automatically love but is in actual fact an asshole

Check.

Insta-love

Double check.

Over-the-top coincidences and/or references to the title

Check.

Over-the-top speeches and/or proclamations of eternal, undying love

Check.

Physical attraction that is passed off as aforementioned "love"

Check.

Unnecessary angst and drama

Check.

Predictable plot-twist for the sake of plot-twist and relationship progression

Check.

A good dose of lazy writing, distorted, warped perceptions of love, lying/hypocrisy/and all things guys should not do in real life because it is not love at all, flashbacks to the past, and fate-that-isn't-really-fate, that negates the entire premise of the book

Check.

Convenient, implausible, cheesy happily-ever-after to round off 310 pages of an even more implausible love story which could and would never work in the modern world and which no reader could possibly buy into

Check. Mate.