Book Review : I Heart London by Lindsey Kelk

Title : I Heart London

Author : Lindsey Kelk

Publication date : 7th June 2012

Publisher : Harper

Source : Sent by the lovely Lindsey Kelk herself, merci x

Rating : Could I give this a 6/5?

Angela’s back on home turf – and in her biggest romantic scrape yet…
 

Angela Clark has fallen in love with New York – and it’s starting to love her back.
But when she’s summoned home to England, she’s at risk of losing her shiny new life to rain, warm beer and bad memories. Talk about stepping back in time
There’s Mark, the ex-boyfriend – who she ran to New York to get away from.
There’s Louisa, her best friend, with her terrifying new baby.
And there’s her mum, still talking to her as though she’s fifteen.

Now there’s a wedding in the offing – and everyone remembers how well Angela behaved at the last one. . . Can the arrival of boyfriend Alex and best friend Jenny save her from a re-run of her old self?

Okay, first of all, I am a massive fan of Lindsey Kelk, hell, she's my twin, I love her! So, when I told her I would love to have a review copy, she happily (hopefully) obliged and agreed to send me a *SIGNED* copy when she was in the UK. True to her words, I received a lovely parcel, from HarperCollinsUK, 2 weeks later. Inside, it contained a sinfully delicious-smelling copy of I Heart London with a lovely message, "Dear Kevin, Twinsies forever. Look out for Uncle Kevin! Love Lindsey". It was a Friday and I jumped in glee, the perfect weekend present from my twinsie all across the globe.

I love the I Heart series, I have every book. Seriously, from I Heart New York all the way to I Heart Vegas and now, I Heart London. I was a bit disappointed about Angela's adventures coming to an end in the last book of the series, which is London. But it made me want to read it more, as a final goodbye to a character I love so much. It was the closest thing to what I have of my twinsie in NYC. I could tell Lindsey put a lot of herself into Angie.

I Heart London started off 6 months or so after Alex's proposal in I Heart Vegas, if you haven't read it, shoot yourself. For me, it was really easy to fall back into the story, it was like greeting old friends, everything felt so familiar. I loved how I could relate to Angela, maybe because I've been stalking Lindsey on Twitter too much or.. I've read the I Heart series more than once. Either way, it felt right for me, getting wrapped up in the series again.

Angela Clark is like a sister to me, I love her so much, I actually made pages of the I Heart books on Facebook. Okay, I've gone WAAAAY overboard, but seriously. What's not to love? She's a funny, clumsy and all-too-lovable Brit who is prone to get herself in trouble and cock things up. She's warm, very down to earth, humble and best of all, she's incredibly British. I enjoyed reading about her crazy life since New York, and right there and then, I was hooked on the I Heart series. In I Heart London, Angela goes back on her home turf, for her mother's birthday, where loads of unexpected events happened. This is Angela Clark we're talking about. And with her, there was Jenny, who was still recovering from a broken heart and lovely, handsome, Indie boyband lead singer and Angie's fiancé, Alex Reid ( I always thought he looked a bit like Penn Badgley, Dan Humphrey in Gossip Girl. Lindsey and I are GG nuts!). I liked what Angela and Alex had, the connection of two people who love each other, he stuck with her through thick and thin, since New York, he was a total sweetheart to Angie. I wonder if blokes (See? The British charm rubbed on me) like Alex really exist. And.. indeed, look out for that SPECIAL character named after me!

The flow of the book was spectacular, it was fast, upbeat. I was lost in my progress, one minute I was on page 160, then next, I was 50 pages away from the epilogue. I was utterly absorbed into the story, well, that's the magic of Lindsey Kelk, her books make you turn pages faster than you eyes can finish reading them! As usual, there were loads of hiccups all the way, from page one to page three hundred and sixty. I whizzed past the pages, though school was an utter *female dog*, I tried to read it, but most of the time, failing. So, in the end, I managed to finish this lovely slice of chick lit in less than a week. Argh. Bad progress, much to my dislike. There were loads of twists and unexpected surprises in the book, well mostly good ones. I'm so not giving any spoilers away, Lindsey will skin me alive. Okay, the thing is, it was addictive, sharp, witty and downright hilarious. If I were to be given a chance to praise the book, those are the words I'll opt for.

I guess loyal readers of the I Heart series will enjoy the last book as much as I did. It's not like everyday you're saying goodbye to your fictional/non-existent sister, so it's a first for me. I'll always read these beautifully written books again. I think I Heart London is in fact the perfect set-off, the last kiss, the last goodbye to Angela for readers. I couldn't bear bidding her farewell. Okay, I sound like some sad, dismal cow. I should wrap it up! I loved the I Heart series, I loved the beautiful bond Angela has formed with her readers, I loved the heartbreakingly beautiful covers. The laughs, the tears, the smiles, the smirks, the warm feeling after finishing every book. Angela will always have a place in my heart. I Heart Angela.