In Review

08 January 2009 18:41 BST

Kissing Toads by Jemma Harvey

Kissing Toads by Jemma Harvey

Two media city slickers head for the Scottish highlands after their London lives become stale – men and careers included.

Published by Arrow Books, out now in paperback, 406 pages, £6.99

In a nutshell…

Chicklit, humorous, light, easygoing.

What's it all about?

It's classic chicklit material – women leave the big city behind them and come to realise that the men they once lusted after are actually no good.

Roo has just been dumped by her boyfriend, who also happened to be a work colleague. Cue job quitting and tears until her C-list celebrity friend Delphi suggests they both head to the wilds of Scotland to work on a new gardening programme. The two find themselves ensconced with a rockstar castle-owner, a mysterious butler, scheming wives and some other very strange characters.

Who's it by?

Kissing Toads is the second novel from freelance journalist Jemma Harvey. Her first novel, Wishful Thinking, was praised for being a "fizzy, feel-good romp" by Heat magazine, which hints at what readers can expect from her latest attempt.

As an example…

"It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single woman in possession of an adequate income must be in want of a life. I woke up to singledom on the sort of grey November morning that would make the most carefree and cheerful person feel like hitting the Prozac."

Likelihood of becoming a Hollywood blockbuster

Unlikely. There are so many other books out there in a similar vein that if every one were made into a film Hollywood would be teeming with tales of heartbreak, singledom and finding oneself.

What the others say

On her last book, Wishful Thinking:

"A fizzy, feel-good romp" – Heat

"A warm and witty novel" – Image

So is it any good?

There are just so many chicklit books out there that it takes some seriously fresh ideas and witty insights to rise above the countless others on the same shelves. Helen Fielding set the bar back in the late 1990s with Bridget Jones and her laugh-out-loud moments and realistic characters. Kissing Toads fails to achieve this, but it is nevertheless an enjoyable, easygoing read.

Stick with the rather slow first 100 pages and it starts to become engrossing. Characters finally get some depth and the plot begins to thicken so that intrigue in the rather bland female protagonists starts to kick in. Just as Roo and Delphi escape their London lives and frustrating relationships, Kissing Toads also allows the reader momentary, frothy and lighthearted escape. Just don't expect anything too deep or wildly entertaining.

5/10

Carolyn Robertson