From Notting Hill With Love…Actually by Ali McNamara: Book Review

Scarlett O’Brien dreams that her life will one day become just like a romantic comedy. Her friends and family worry about her because she seems to be dissatisfied with the life she has because of her obsession with the movies. She’s engaged to be married in a couple of months but she just doesn’t seem to be very excited at the prospect.

When the opportunity to house-sit in Notting Hill comes along, everybody, including Scarlett, thinks it’s a great idea. Those who care about her think it will give her time away from her fiance to think about what’s really important to her. Scarlett is excited because it’s the setting of her favorite movie. And what better place to live scenes from a movie and prove to her loved ones that life really can be like the movies?

This was cute but the underlying premise felt weak. I would be rocking right along, enjoying all Scarlett’s misadventures and then something like, “Yet another movie moment for my collection! I knew I’d show everyone!” would come up. It was unnecessary and because of that, it kept pulling me out of the story. I think this could have been slightly re-worked to change that foundation and made into a stronger book.

That aside, I really did enjoy it.

I liked Scarlett a lot when she wasn’t trying to orchestrate a scene from Pretty Woman or Sleepless in Seattle. She is an insecure dreamer who feels like she’s missed out on something by never knowing her mom. She has a great group of friends and she actually knows it. And I mostly like her taste in movies. Luckily, there was an index at the end that listed them all. I’m in the mood to watch a lot of them again after reading this. My poor husband…

There’s another character that I really like but I’m afraid talking about him/her would be a spoiler, so I’ll skip it.

The situations that Scarlett gets herself into just cracked me up! A Star Wars wedding, a Disney wedding, being escorted home by the police, hanging from a balcony… Yes, it’s a little goofy, but I’m grinning just thinking about it.

Fans of romantic comedies will definitely like this one.

Find author Ali McNamara on her website, Facebook, and Twitter.

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