Book Review : The Little Lady Agency by Hester Browne

Title : The Little Lady Agency

Author : Hester Browne

Publication date : 20th June 2005

Publisher : Hodder UK

Source : Purchased

 
When sweet, naive Melissa seeks a job with her old Home Economics teacher she is half way through the interview before it dawns on her that Mrs McKinnon isn't interested in her cookery skills, but is in fact running an escort agency. Melissa panics, but she needs the cash - and what harm can providing lonely men with stimulating conversation over dinner do? More exciting still, she'll get to wear a disguise...

Enter her alter ego: Honey. As flirty and feminine as a Bond girl, as confident and sexy as Mary Poppins in silk stockings, Honey brings out a side to Melissa she never knew she had. A side that will get her into hot water, (and out of it) and that she'll never want to lose...

When I stumbled upon The Little Lady Agency by Hester Browne at the Big Bad Wolf Sale earlier this month, I knew I HAD to get it. It practically screamed "BUY ME! YOU'D LOVE ME!". So I did and it was one of the best bargains ever. At 80% off, it was totally worth it! And of course, on the cover Sophie Kinsella praised the book, "What a delicious, witty story. I loved it!" so that was the selling point of the book and I got it.

Though The Little Lady Agency was published ages ago, I have to say, I felt that I have committed a major offence in the eyes of the chick lit law. How could I not have read this before? It's absolutely brilliant! I started on it and I was already hooked from the first few pages. It was like a whirlpool of old-fashioned, vintage chick lit sucking you into the story, almost luring. And I didn't know what to expect from the book because I have only read Hester Browne's latest book, The Runaway Princess before this (by the way, The Runaway Princess is only £1.69 on Kindle UK - an absolute must read!).

The Little Lady Agency follows the story of Melissa Romney-Jones, a young, curvaceous brunette who has been made redundant, struggling to find her feet in London upon leaving finishing school (I always thought girls who went to finishing schools were snooty cows, but not Melissa!). After a disastrous misunderstanding working for her former Home Ec teacher, who in fact runs an escort agency (with the posh restaurants and "entertaining"), Melissa decides to set up an escort agency of her own, as in acting as temporary girlfriends and self-improvements.

If you must know, Hester Browne is a fantastic chick lit writer, adopting the same ability to create perfectly adorable and loveable, yet naive heroines as Sophie Kinsella. If it weren't for the cover, I would easily mistaken this for a Sophie K novel. The thing is, Melissa was such a charming character, really sweet and caring when it comes to those around her. I was so impressed by her ability to rustle up a party at the last minute. But what I wasn't particularly fond of was that she was a bit of a pushover. I hated it when her father (a complete prick and hypocrite) could easily belittle her and make her feel bad for herself. At a certain point, I was practically fuming with the way she handled the fiasco with her family. On the other hand, Honey was a whole different story. She was feisty, witty, charming, brilliant, seductive - the perfect girl for every man. With Honey's presence in the book, it really brought some sparks to the plot and characters.

The characters in the book were really lovely. Nelson, Melissa's flatmate and best friend was such a sweetheart, the big brother Melissa never had and a brilliant friend. Gabi, well I didn't like her that much as she was a tad annoying at some parts but she makes a good presence in the book as a female best friend. Melissa's family, something I don't think I want to mention much but I would like to say that I've got a soft spot for her Granny - such a lovely lady.

All in all, The Little Lady Agency was absolutely genius - it was witty, utterly brilliant with a sweet girl as the heroine and the handsome prince as the hero. A modern love story set in London where blowing your tea is considered inadequate! This book had me laughing so hard at times and rooting for Melissa when she was in messy situations, many times.

Rating : 5/5