Author : Catherine McNamara
Publication date : 16 April 2012
Publisher : Indigo Dreams Publishing UK
Source : Sent by publisher, thank you!
Rating : 2.5/5
Marilyn Wade, half-Hungarian divorcée and mother of teens, moves to Milan to remap her womanhood. But sexy glamorous Milan is as unfeeling as a Prada bag. The streets are full of waif models, immigrants and remarkable men in suits. Who will she meet as she downs espresso after espresso in bars and learns Italian in a room with George Clooney?
Marilyn's entanglements involve punishing grammar lessons, stolen D&G heels and kisses with astonishing views, a kinky Hong Kong benefactor and a stirring love scene set in Venice. Will she ever find herself and way to conjugate Italian verbs?
Ah, I received an email from the author herself to see if I could review her book a few weeks back. It was a real privilege to be sent review copies because you receive free books, in exchange to a review. As promised, I would. I finished The Imperfect Girlfriend and started on immediately with high hopes because I like books where characters are traveling to different turfs (eg. I Heart series by Lindsey Kelk). The moment I started, I was a bit let down.
Sorry to say, Marilyn was really whiny and a bit self-loathing. At first, I thought her divorce was the main purpose of it as Catherine was able to describe the pain and hurt Marilyn felt towards her husband's philandering ways but as the story progressed, I found her really indecisive and lost, especially upon arrival in Milan which was inspired by Jean Harper, her icon. With all due respect to Catherine, I think that's how divorced women would be after her philandering husband breaks her hearts.
Though there were a few funny moments in the books, but sadly that doesn't make up to the fact that most of the conversations between Marilyn and the people she meets in Milan, are in ITALIAN! I can't really place an accurate meaning on the phrase without assuming. Aside from the conversations in Italian, Catherine did a good job by describing the beauty of Milan through Marilyn's eyes, which is not an easy task unless you've done PROPER research on the setting.
The characters in the book were nice to read about, Fiona, despite her previous encounters with Marilyn's husband, she makes it up by helping Marilyn settle down in Milan; retail therapy and offering Marilyn to stay with her. Then there was Frederico, the landlord's son and devoted lover to Fiona, who I really found very funny as he's Italian, so he speaks very straightforwardly. The rest of the characters provide a good cast for the book, which I'm glad.
Overall, it was a bit disappointing because I was so hyped when I found it in my mailbox. Maybe I didn't enjoy this book, doesn't mean other readers won't, because everyone has different tastes in books. I wish to apologise to Catherine McNamara for such a critical review. Maybe I'm a bit too young to understand what Marilyn is going through. I would like to thank Catherine McNamara and her publisher for the review copy.
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