From Notting Hill with Love...Actually by Ali McNamara - Book Review and Giveaway

About the Book:

She was a girl, standing in front of a boy...

Movie fanatic Scarlett O'Brien dreams of a life as glamorous and romantic as all the big screen flicks she worships. When a chance house-sitting job in iconic Notting Hill comes along, she knows living in one of her favorite movie settings is an opportunity too good to pass up.

Leaving behind her skeptical friends, family, and fiance, Scarlett heads to London and finds herself thrust into the lead role of her very own romantic comedy. But can real life ever be just like the movies? Larger-than-life new friends, a handsome but irksome new neighbor, and a mystery from her past may prove to Scarlett that living her life like a RomCom is more complicated than she thought!

About the Author:

Author Ali McNamara lives in Cambridgeshire with her husband and two children, and when she isn't writing, she enjoys watching too much reality TV, eating too much chocolate, and counteracting the results of the previous activities by getting plenty of exercise.

My Opinion:

This was a fast and easy read that was a delightful departure from anything I've read in the past. Scarlett O'Brien - named for her mother's favorite movie character and a certain likeness to Vivien Leigh finds many life experiences to match those in the movies she so loves to watch. Her friends and family feel she is living more in the cinematic world than the real world and she sets out to prove them wrong but ends up learning that while life can be like a movie, a movie is not real life.

This is most definitely a beach read or a "by the fire with a cup of chocolate" read but it was above all an entertaining read. Especially for someone who has seen the movies referenced in the book. Flicks like Notting Hill, Bridget Jones, Love Actually, Pride and Prejudice and Four Weddings and a Funeral. An intimate knowledge of the films is not necessary but basic knowledge makes the book all the more fun.

Under all of the movie references there is a romantic tale of a woman engaged to a dull but steady man who meets a far more exciting man - but can she be sure of his motives. Scarlett is engaged to David but her motives for marrying him are not all about love. She meets Sean while house sitting and there is a real connection but can she trust him with her heart?

Ms. McNamara knows how to keep her readers engaged in the story leaving bits and pieces of back story and characters' motivations to be revealed at odd points in the tale. Scarlett is at times wishy-washy and unsure of her own mind but just like in the movies, it all works out in the end.

You can purchase From Notting Hill with Love...Actually on Sourcebooks

The Giveaway:

One lucky US reader will win a copy of From Notting Hill with Love...Actually thanks to Sourcebooks. How do you win? It's easy! Just hop on the Rafflecopter! Good luck everyone!

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Disclosure:  I was sent an extra copy of the book and I have decided to give it away to one of my readers.