The Finishing Touches

I have read and enjoyed Hester Browne's three Little Lady Agency stories and looked forward to her latest The Finishing Touches. Betsy Phillimore was left on the doorstep of a finishing school in Mayfair and adopted by Lord and Lady Phillimore - the owners of the school. Twenty Seven years later, having made a life for herself in Edinburgh, Betsy returns to London for a memorial service for her adopted mother Lady Frances.

Lord Phillimore asks if she will try and return the school to profitability under the mistaken impression she is a management consultant when in fact she is the manager of a shoe shop. Betsy rises to the challenge as she wants to find out who her mother and father were and whether they are still alive. The book is full of lovable and three dimensional characters and a fascinating background not to speak of two eligible men for Betsy to dream about.

This is great escapist reading and Amazon shouldn't have sent it to me because it is actually the American edition and is not really for sale in the UK. The Americanisms were a trifle annoying though they did not detract from my enjoyment of the story. I wonder whether this is going to be the start of another series of stories?

Time off

I have today and tomorrow off work - and of course the weekend and the Bank Holiday. I find August Bank Holiday a bit depressing as it's the last one before Christmas. It somehow feels like we are nearly at the end of the year. But I have been busy today. I have - balanced our bank accounts and paid bills; done the floors downstairs - duster on a stick as they're laminate; caught up with all the shredding - I really should do it every week - so much for good intentions; and made two meals. So I feel I definitely haven't wasted today especially as I also found time to walk to the post office - 10 minutes - and post a letter. I'm going to have a shower a bit later on and then come back to the computer at 8.00pm to see what Amazon have in store for us Vine people to choose from this month. I do love free books - especially from Amazon as they get so much of my money anyway.

As I've been having a chick lit phase recently I have just re-read Hester Browne's 3 books about The Little Lady Agency - 'The Little Lady Agency', Little lady, Big Apple' and 'What the Lady Wants'. The test of a good book to my mind is whether you can read it more than once and these 3 fulfil that criterion. I'm always interested in people pretending to be what they're not and Melissa/Honey is a brilliant creation. These are real feel good reads and better written than many.

I think I'm about to have a crime phase as I have Anne Brooke's 'Maloney's Law' and 'Now then, Lad' yet another description of police daily life glaring at me from the 'to read' pile. Not to speak of Martin Edwards' 'The Arsenic Labyrinth' which has gradually worked its way to the bottom of the pile somehow. Maybe I will have a crime weekend.

On a more sombre note - the tragic air crash in Madrid. let's hope it's not pilot error otherwise the pilot's family will have to live with that as well as losing a loved one. Flying is still the safest form of travel statistically. Though statistics are very little comfort when someone you know is involved.