Hello everyone!
I'm beginning to run out of books to review on here which is kind of a mystery since I do believe I haven't ever stopped reading from the last time I reviewed one! But I think the problem might be that I keep forgetting to note down my thoughts about what, exactly, I'm reading or what I've finished reading at this time, I suppose.
I'll have to remedy that.
So between battling some bouts of insomnia that have come on me from Lord knows where, becoming addicted to Air Crash Investigation and just generally working, I needed to figure out what I was going to write today.
Turns out, at least I still have a couple of series in the works and that means that I get to pick some of the books in there to talk about.
Worse comes to worse, I can always fall back on the Black Dagger Brotherhood series (but I just started the Fallen Angels one though and it might be JUST as good; seriously, who knew Angels have this kind of warped sense of humour?).
For tonight's book, I'm going to talk about Mai Tai'd Up.
MTU is book number ... hang on, let's count them. Number four in the series, and actually second-to-last written by Alice Clayton for her Cocktails bunch and while it introduces a whole new setting and new characters, there are some cameos from fan favourites along the way.
And it's still just as hilarious and entertaining as the rest.
In MTU, we meet Chloe, who is just about to marry her fiancé Charles, but she's having a panic attack. Not just a case of cold feet, mind you, but a full-blown panic attack because she can't get a word in edgewise that she's so NOT feeling this wedding at all.
Between her patronising man and her overbearing mother, you'd honestly want to shoot yourself.
But since you can't actually commit a federal crime like that, Chloe does the next best thing: which is, leaves Charles at the altar, chucks her ring and her phone into the sea, and heads off into the blue.
She rationalises her decision with the fact that everything had been done to keep someone other than herself happy, and she wants to put herself first for once in her life, hence the no. What follows is a blow-out with her now-ex and her mother, who can't believe her daughter would want to disgrace their family in society like that. Well bred ladies just don't walk out even if they don't feel like doing something.
Lady, you have not lived until you've seen what 'well bred ladies' can or cannot do.
Chloe hits the road and heads upstate to an old family residence where she wants to regroup and figure out what the heck to do with her life. And while she's making these important discoveries, she also rescues a pit bull.
This gives her an idea and she calls an old contact of hers asking if he could help her open up a shelter specifically for pit bulls because of how misunderstood they are (just look at Cesar Millan and you'll get the idea). In her quest, she also teams up with gorgeous vet Lucas, who we can see is going to cause sparks along the road but we play along with the two of them just being friends and business partners in this shelter venture.
They do become good friends first though, and in the process, Chloe learns that Lucas had been dumped by his ex in the exact same way she'd dumped Charles at the beginning of the book.
That should be cause enough to tell him everything, right?
Wrong.
This will obviously come to bite her later (we ALL know it), but she keeps it a secret and they finally cop out on their feelings towards each other when his ex shows up in town, apparently wanting him back or something. It doesn't matter all that much because Lucas lands right in Chloe's bed ... okay, no, he lands in her shower, let's be true to the story here.
So he lands in her shower after a pit bull they'd tried to save unfortunatelly has to be put down.
It all looks perfect and lovey-dovey ... but Chloe can't bite her tongue anymore and tells Lucas about what exactly she did to Charles.
Exit hero, stage left, off to globe-hop off-screen with Vets Without Borders.
Chloe, meanwhile, is left to deal with the consequences and throws herself with zeal into the shelter, also patching things up with Charles who has already moved on and is going to marry someone else. Makes you wonder just how serious he was about the first marriage idea, right?
She also makes peace with her mother, finally, and colour her surprised when the lady herself deigns to come visit a big party the shelter throws. Be even MORE surprised that there's a dog heading home with said lady at the end of the event. Gotta love Pits.
Now, before we finish, we also have to give the heroine her happily ever after: unannounced, Lucas returns eleven weeks after first leaving, which is definitely sooner than expected, but he admits that he missed her too much to stay away or to stay angry, and that both of them had baggage but that shouldn't impact their future.
That said and done, we see Clark and Viv once more, the main characters from the previous book, and Viv is pregnant with their SECOND child at this point, as well as looking for a dog, and who else to suggest one but the shelter director and her cute vet boyfriend?
We leave the four happily running around the backyard hosing each other down while the dogs bark away.
As per usual with Clayton's books, this one was amusing, light, and quick to read. The whole series, in fact, is one of those where you pick up the first book and realise, a sleepless night later, that you've devoured all six of them in one sitting. You just can't put them down! And not because the characters are so awesome - they are, don't get me wrong.
But Clayton writes in such a way that draws the reader in and makes you giggle like mad and cackle like a complete maniac at times. And if, like me, you read a lot of serious and theme-heavy books, you need this kind of break.
Trust me, it'll be well worth it.
xx
*images not mine
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