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A review by laural27
One Hundred Proposals by Holly Martin
5.0
I find it so hard to write reviews for books that I adore because I never feel that my words can do it justice in the way it deserves. But, I promised Holly I’d try and form my thoughts into coherent sentences so here is my attempt…
I must start of this review by saying whilst Holly is quite possibly one of my favourite people on the planet, I have reviewed this book objectively and she has not paid me in hugs and/or snogs for me to write this review.
One Hundred Proposals is Holly’s second chick-lit title and I was pretty scared about starting it if I’m honest! After reading The Guestbook, I was quite certain this one wouldn’t live up to it but my god did it! It blew The Guestbook out of the water and now Holly is going to have to write something phenomenal to beat One Hundred Proposals!
One Hundred Proposals has the most ingenious and unique premise which sold the book to me straight away. Suzie and her friend Harry run a fictitious website called theperfectproposal.com where they aim to help hapless men prepare the perfect proposal for their other halves. Whilst they have an impressive repertoire of engagement ideas, Suzie is not really taken by any of them and makes a throwaway comment that it would take more than hot air balloon ride to get her to say ‘yes’. After Suzie’s ex-boyfriend proposed to her over a greasy kebab, she’s lost all hope that she’ll ever get the perfect proposal herself.
Harry decides to take matters into his own hands and sets up a blog where he makes his mission to propose to Suzie one hundred different times to try and find the most perfect proposal whilst blogging about each one. This would be perfect fun if it wasn’t for the fact Suzie is desperately in love with Harry. With every new proposal and every new way Harry finds to say, ‘Suzie, will you marry me?’, Suzie finds her heart breaking all over again because, the one question she wants to say ‘yes’ to, is the one question she can’t.
Holly has got this genre down to a fine art. She writes with such wit, experience and love which translates into addictive and humorous prose that you can’t help but fall head first in love with.
The characters in this novel were fantastically well written and I fell in love with Harry and Suzie instantly. I loved how relatable Suzie’s dilemma was – I’m sure we’ve all had that one person who we’ve fancied so bloody much but kept it quiet through fear of destroying a brilliant friendship. That part makes her ‘struggle’ real and means everyone will be able to empathise with her as she embarks on the most perilous journey of her life. Harry, on the other hand, is a total cheeky chappy and whilst he has his sensitive side, he tends to display his ‘ladies’ man’ persona instead which adds to the frustration we feel on behalf of Suzie, but still makes us all fall desperately in love with him!
The plot was perfectly paced and while I could easily predict where the story would end up, I kept getting worried that it wouldn’t as obstacle after obstacle was presented to the characters and I started to feel frightened that actually, the ending I had pictured might not happen. I was genuinely frustrated in places and my poor pillow took the odd punch as I tried to regain my composure and remember that they were only fictional characters. I was just desperate for them to tell each other the truth and found myself hanging on every single word, willing Suzie to just spit it out before she ran out of time.
I just can’t put into words how much I loved this book. Sometimes you read a book and you enjoy it but then can quite happily move onto the next book but sometimes you read a book and you get so drawn into the characters’ world that you find it hard to give them up. As I turned the final few pages of this book I shed a few tears, almost bereft at having to leave Harry and Suzie in the book. I wanted them to be real so I could hug them! And that, to me, speaks volumes. When you become so immersed in a book it that it becomes more than just a book you can enjoy now and again – it becomes a firm favourite and a book that you return to time after time to catch up with old friends.
I challenge anyone to read this book and not enjoy it.
Holly Martin is already becoming a name in the chick-lit world and I have no doubt in my mind that she will soon be one of the biggest stars of the genre. She constantly goes from strength to strength and with an Amazon Bestseller title under her belt already, I think she’s on track for very big things.
The perfect holiday companion – get yourself a sangria, lie back in your deck chair and savour every last word of this beautiful novel.
I must start of this review by saying whilst Holly is quite possibly one of my favourite people on the planet, I have reviewed this book objectively and she has not paid me in hugs and/or snogs for me to write this review.
One Hundred Proposals is Holly’s second chick-lit title and I was pretty scared about starting it if I’m honest! After reading The Guestbook, I was quite certain this one wouldn’t live up to it but my god did it! It blew The Guestbook out of the water and now Holly is going to have to write something phenomenal to beat One Hundred Proposals!
One Hundred Proposals has the most ingenious and unique premise which sold the book to me straight away. Suzie and her friend Harry run a fictitious website called theperfectproposal.com where they aim to help hapless men prepare the perfect proposal for their other halves. Whilst they have an impressive repertoire of engagement ideas, Suzie is not really taken by any of them and makes a throwaway comment that it would take more than hot air balloon ride to get her to say ‘yes’. After Suzie’s ex-boyfriend proposed to her over a greasy kebab, she’s lost all hope that she’ll ever get the perfect proposal herself.
Harry decides to take matters into his own hands and sets up a blog where he makes his mission to propose to Suzie one hundred different times to try and find the most perfect proposal whilst blogging about each one. This would be perfect fun if it wasn’t for the fact Suzie is desperately in love with Harry. With every new proposal and every new way Harry finds to say, ‘Suzie, will you marry me?’, Suzie finds her heart breaking all over again because, the one question she wants to say ‘yes’ to, is the one question she can’t.
Holly has got this genre down to a fine art. She writes with such wit, experience and love which translates into addictive and humorous prose that you can’t help but fall head first in love with.
The characters in this novel were fantastically well written and I fell in love with Harry and Suzie instantly. I loved how relatable Suzie’s dilemma was – I’m sure we’ve all had that one person who we’ve fancied so bloody much but kept it quiet through fear of destroying a brilliant friendship. That part makes her ‘struggle’ real and means everyone will be able to empathise with her as she embarks on the most perilous journey of her life. Harry, on the other hand, is a total cheeky chappy and whilst he has his sensitive side, he tends to display his ‘ladies’ man’ persona instead which adds to the frustration we feel on behalf of Suzie, but still makes us all fall desperately in love with him!
The plot was perfectly paced and while I could easily predict where the story would end up, I kept getting worried that it wouldn’t as obstacle after obstacle was presented to the characters and I started to feel frightened that actually, the ending I had pictured might not happen. I was genuinely frustrated in places and my poor pillow took the odd punch as I tried to regain my composure and remember that they were only fictional characters. I was just desperate for them to tell each other the truth and found myself hanging on every single word, willing Suzie to just spit it out before she ran out of time.
I just can’t put into words how much I loved this book. Sometimes you read a book and you enjoy it but then can quite happily move onto the next book but sometimes you read a book and you get so drawn into the characters’ world that you find it hard to give them up. As I turned the final few pages of this book I shed a few tears, almost bereft at having to leave Harry and Suzie in the book. I wanted them to be real so I could hug them! And that, to me, speaks volumes. When you become so immersed in a book it that it becomes more than just a book you can enjoy now and again – it becomes a firm favourite and a book that you return to time after time to catch up with old friends.
I challenge anyone to read this book and not enjoy it.
Holly Martin is already becoming a name in the chick-lit world and I have no doubt in my mind that she will soon be one of the biggest stars of the genre. She constantly goes from strength to strength and with an Amazon Bestseller title under her belt already, I think she’s on track for very big things.
The perfect holiday companion – get yourself a sangria, lie back in your deck chair and savour every last word of this beautiful novel.