Hello everyone!
My head is debating whether or not it should take a trip down into pain-ville, but at the same time I decided earlier this morning to do a blog post, so a blog post I shall do!
And to my utter miserable shame, I promised to do this one back in October 2015.
Has it bee six months yet?
Yeahhhhh ... it has.
Oops.
ANYWAY.
Browsing through my little booklet of reviews where I note down everything and anything worth remembering, I found the rest of Alice Clayton's books, all neatly wrapped together and finished, and realized I never got back to Rusty Nailed even if I did promise the review. So here we are tonight, and I swear I'm going to be better with finishing this series! You won't have to wait until December for number three.
Of course, first thing's first, I should probably refresh your memory of what happened in Wallbanger, book one of the Cocktails series (I will also include a link to my review post down below after this one):
Caroline is an interior designer who meets her neighbour, Simon, because a photograph hits her on the head one night from his bedtime activities. And while the two of them don't hit it off well, they sort of grow into the role of friends first, denied lovers second, and then finally all hell breaks loose when they get to Spain and later on in Caroline's kitchen. Worthy of note is also the fact that Caroline's BFFs Sophia and Mimi have taken to dating Simon's BFs Neil and Ryan, respectively, and that Caroline's boss Jillian is engaged to marry Simon's guardian Benjamin.
And then there's Clive, the cat.
Whew, alright!
In book two, the love is going strong between Caroline and Simon, but both of them are sort of overwhelmed with their work lives, as after Jillian's marriag to Benjamin, the two are off to Europe on a honeymoon and Caroline is left in charge of Jillian Designs.
This ultimately proves to be a great choice as she learns exactly what she doesn't want in life, but during the book itself we can see how overworked she gets and just how frustrated life can be when all you want is to cuddle with your beau.
Simon, on the other hand, is suddenly taking more time off work instead of travelling, to spend it with Caroline, and it isn't until later that she figures out why: as his parents passed away when he was relatively young, he has never had a family to speak of and is starving for the kind of love and affection one can get when they build a happy home together.
This includes, but isn't limited to, buying an old sprawling house in Sausalito so that Caroline can renovate it for the two of them to live together.
An important part of the book is also Simon's high school reunion, because it will bring back a lot of painful memories, but he's determined to go and so Caroline goes too, and they end up having lots of fun (I still giggle thinking about how she instantly dubbed him and his little cliqué of friends 'Simon and the Apostels'). This only solidifies Simon's wish to actually make a home with Caroline, however, which she doesn't take in-stride as much since she felt it was perfect that he travels so much because it brought a balance to their relationship.
Simon and the Apostels
Her words, not mine.
Things escalate, until a casual remark about a nursery locations makes our heroine snap and she pretty much shrieks her head off at Simon - only to end the argument after Clive escapes through a rickety window Caroline repeatedly asked her boyfriend to fix.
The troops all come out to search for him, the returned Jillian and Ben as well, but there's no sign of him. The only good thing out of this is that our couple patch things up, and promise to communicate better in the future.
Speaking of the future: Caroline turns down Jillian's offer to become a full partner in the firm, instead feeling like she's much better as an interior designer, and finishes renovating the new house for herself and her boyfriend so they can finally move in together. They also come to some compromises about life in general, as a mature couple, which I adored seeing. So many books have the pair split up before they can settle anything, but not this one.
On a side-note: Sophia and Neil had broken up at the beginning of the book, and during the course of it their friends tried to bring them back together (more or less successfully), which did in the end result the two of them patching things up (rather gloriously, actually ...).
And to finish on a high note - Clive eventually returns all on his own.
With three kitty kitties in tow.
“Who’s your friend, Clive?” I asked, kneeling down once more, not wanting to spook them.
Simon crouched next to me and whispered in my ear, “Looks like our boy’s got himself a girlfriend.”
Clive nodded at Simon wisely, and I smothered a laugh.
“I always thought it might be fun to have another cat. Think she belongs to anyone?” Simon asked.
“How do you know she’s a she?”
“Oh, she’s a she, all right,” he responded, and Clive once more nodded at him. If they were closer, a paw bump would have occurred.
Then Clive seemed to shrug his right shoulder, and there before us was a third cat. Beautifully adorned with the most gorgeous long, dark silver fur, she had gleaming green eyes and delicate features. She nuzzled against Clive, who was now flanked with stunning pussy.
“I can’t believe it,” I breathed as Simon chuckled.
“I suppose having three cats isn’t that different from having two, right?” he asked.
“Simon, come on. We can’t have three cats. I mean, can—”
Clive cleared his throat as if to say ahem.
And then, pushing her way in between the plump calico and a grinning Clive, there was a third newcomer. She was playful, bumping into the other cats and throwing herself on the grass in front of Clive, rolling on her back and letting out the funniest little sounds. If I didn’t know better, I’d swear she was giggling.
“Fuck me—he’s got himself a harem,” I swore, and Simon could no longer contain his laughter.
Alice Clayton, Rusty Nailed, p.225
xx
*image not mine
No comments:
Post a Comment