Review for J'Adore New York (English book)

A huge thank you goes out to HarperCollins for sending this one along to me!

TITLE: J'Adore New York

AUTHOR: Isabelle Laflèche

GENRE: Chick Lit!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

RATING: 5 Stars

When I first heard about J'adore New York, I thought it was a French book -which is not a problem for me, since I speak French, but I was thrilled to discover that it was actually written in English.

The second big discovery for me was that the author lives in my hometown of Montreal - Yeah! i love encouraging local authors! My third "pull" was the book's cover which I thought was simply beautiful.

Which left us with the actual storyline. I have to say that this book was a perfect mix of chick lit (always my favorite) and smart storyline. Chick lit is NOT always known for its logicial and credible plots, but this book did not suffer from that "little" issue :) In fact, I adored the storyline and I found myself going through the book in 2 days (I COULD NOT put it down).

However, what was more interesting to me was the fact that I loved the storyline and absolutely hated the main character. In fact, I spent most of the book literally itching to smack her. Between her complete lack of professionalism (she is SUPPOSED to be a lawyer) to her immature behavior - I kept hoping she would get fired. However, for some reason, although her bosses kept "catching" her doing silly and stupid things (like sneaking out on a shopping spree when she should be "working hard at the office" and THEN deciding to model her purchases in her office, for her assistant.

The other thing I hated about this character was her complete lack of "guts". She spent the entire storyline shrinking like a violet and frankly, once again, I wanted to smack her upside the head. Oh, should I even mention how, for some reason, every man she met somehow "fell madly in love with her (even the waiter) - although there is a clever twist to this one.

Like I said, hated the main character and adored the storyline. The author writes in a down to earth, everyday manner that was refreshing. She also has a very solid grasp on what it is to work in a law firm and this shows clearly through the book. In fact, my favorite scenes are the ones written around the office and the many characters who work there!

Of course,one of the central points is New York City itself which just added to the beauty of this novel.

RUN to buy this one - and I really hope that the author is already working on a second book (third, fourth)!!!