The Age of Misadventure: Book 2

Georgina is a divorced mother of one, with her own ‘spa business on the ground floor of her house, a twenty-four year old daughter who does personal training in between nights out with her friends, and a sister married to a wanna-be gangster who, despite his oily charm, has never been a favorite of the family. His wife, Bonnie is a simpering and quite “oh but he loves me’ sort, far too willing (or afraid) to put her own feet on the ground and behave sensibly. With Georgie’s apparent ‘need’ to control everything she can and protect Bonnie, all while trying to make ends meet and spending 3 days a week caring for Nanny (a great aunt Anne that has always been ‘nanny”) who lives in a tiny flat across town. But now, Jade has decided to move on with a new man, much to Georgie’s dismay and oft-spoken negativity and Bonnie’s husband Adie is running from a bigger and more threatening gangster than he is – leaving them all flummoxed. Georgie decides that moving Jade in with the new boyfriend in Brighton is going to go better (and perhaps she can talk some sense into her to slow down) if she drives her there – bringing Bonnie and Nanny with her, as the time has come where Georgie has decided Bonnie must leave her husband. A road trip, several false clues of which most came to naught as Bonnie was too “distraught’ to actually think sensibly, meant not only Adie but the gangster he was trying to cheat were far too close behind, a six or eight hour trip turned into 3 days, flat tire, short tempers and a colossal problem on the other end. What emerges here are several different things: the improvement in Nanny as she has regular good food, entertainment and company make her brighter – and her mispronunciations are just hysterical – cross ants, deduce, etc. – just delightful. Bonnie does, eventually, grow a spine – but her moping, selfish and utterly childish behavior had me wanting to toss her off a cliff more than once. Jade’s relationship with Luis was calming for her, and wonderful to see how he accepted her and the craziness that arrived, even as Georgie was trying desperately to see the ‘what happens when” rather than the what was. From the childish mutterings of Georgie, most based in her hurt when her marriage ended, and her fear that it will happen again, her reluctance to accept that Jade has grown up and needs her own life, and the frustration from the near “house arrest” because of dangers from Bonnie’s ex, everyone has a chance to grow up, change and find yet another path to start off along, even in their 50’s (or 80’s as in the case of Nanny). Clever, with true laugh out loud moments and plenty of heart, the writing and character growth and development are fabulous and sure to please readers who want something more than the ‘expected’ growth and change story. I received an eArc copy of the title from the publisher via NetGalley for purpose of honest review. I was not compensated for this review: all conclusions are my own responsibility.

Georgie is a divorced Liverpudlian single mother, a beautician whose business is in her house. Her daughter Jade is 24 years old and runs a personal fitness business from the basement. Georgie's younger sister Bonnie is married to slimy cheater called Adie, Georgie has tried to get Bonnie to leave him time and again but Bonnie loves him and believes him when he says he loves her. Added to the mix is Georgie and Bonnie's Aunt Anne, known always as Nan or Nanny. When one of Adie's shady business deals goes wrong Bonnie and Georgie are threatened by a shady gangster so Georgie comes up with a plan to hide from Adie and his business associates by spending a few weeks in Brighton where Jade's new boyfriend, a Spanish footballer called Luis, lives. But travelling with your aunt, your sister and your daughter isn't always the Thelma and Louise road-trip it's cracked up to be. What with the moaning, the constant toilet stops, the sobbing and the sulking. Rather than bring the family back together enforced proximity seems more likely to drive them further apart. Until Adie's associates find them. I have to be honest, I can't think of four more unpleasant women in one book who weren't serial killers. Bonnie is totally self-obsessed, a grown woman does not make a single cup of tea or coffee, or make dinner for any of the others for weeks and weeks. It all falls on Georgie. Despite being told by Georgie not to use credit cards so that Adie can't trace them Bonnie frequently goes out shopping buying make-up and other essentials. She also blithely tells Adie where they are hiding. Jade is 24 going on 13, I don't think I have ever wanted to reach into my Kindle and slap someone quite as much as I wanted to slap Jade for her constant criticism and moaning and blaming everything on her mother. Goodness only knows what a sweet man like Luis saw in her! Georgie is a 55 year old doormat, scurrying around trying to placate everyone and waiting on them all hand and foot. Then when she meets a man it's instalurve and she starts acting like a teenager, sneaking out and lying about where she's going. Finally Nan, her biggest problem was that she was clearly intended to be the comedy character but her constant malapropisms were wearing. Overall, the plot was quite good, I liked the pace and the writing was good, although a little too much "I ..., I ..., I ..." for my taste but sadly the characters all seemed a bit two dimensional. I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.