Well that's one way to get revenge....! (Deep Heat - Chris Manby)

Member Name: pink_glitter

Product:	Deep Heat - Chris Manby
Date:	27/05/09 (41 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: good, light, easy to read, quick paced novel

Disadvantages: a bit silly at times

I have read quite a few of Chris Manby's books and enjoyed them all, so have been working my way through a few of those that I haven't yet read - one of which is Deep Heat.

~The Plot~

Alison Harris (Ali to her friends) is a secretary living just outside London with her flatmate Emma. She is engaged to David, whom she adores and thinks can do no wrong. Just before Christmas Ali is rushed to hospital with a burst appendix, and when her scar doesn't heal well, the doctors tell her she will need to stay in over Christmas. Naturally she is feeling really down about this and the only thing to cheer her up are her visits from David.

One night when Ali can't sleep she starts reading a magazine given to her by the woman in the next bed. She comes across an article asking people to write in and say why they think they are Britain's most romantic couple and the best will win a holiday to Antigua. After writing a gushy little paragraph about David's devotion to her, she gives the entry to one of the nurses who promises to post it the next morning.

Christmas day comes around and Ali's parents, sisters and flatmate all come to visit her, but there is no sign of David. As the day goes on, Ali becomes more and more upset - why hasn't her husband-to-be come to visit her? Finally at 8pm he saunters through the door and delivers a box of Milk Tray from the hospital shop - as well as a bombshell. He tells Ali that he spent last night with his ex-girlfriend Lisa and their relationship is over.

Understandably Ali is devastated by this news and spends the next month moping about feeling sorry for herself. That is until she gets a letter through the door - she's won the trip to Antigua! The problem is, she has to take David. As she ponders how to get around this little problem it seems that David has already heard about the competition win on the grapevine he begins trying to worm his way back into Ali's affections (obviously without revealing why). At first she's delighted he's back, but then when she finds out exactly what he's up to, she decides to get her revenge. She takes him to bed, making him think they're going to get up to something naughty. She tells him to close his eyes and proceeds to rub Deep Heat into his...uhm... cheeky bits! So that's the relationship well and truly over!

But is Ali going to let the fact that she's split up with David prevent her from taking the holiday? And what will happen when the 'Deep Heat incident' comes back to haunt her?

~What I thought~

I was hooked with this book from the first page, and managed to read it all in one day which was really good for me, as it can often take me around a month to get through an entire book. I think the fact I did get through it so quickly just goes to show what a light, easy to read style this is written in.

I sympathised with the character of Alison right from the start, although at times she did seem to think the world owed her something just because she'd been dumped on Christmas day. Still though, I think many women will know how it feels to be treated badly by a man and I'm sure we may also like to seek our revenge should the opportunity arise! I must admit though, I was angry at Ali for even considering taking David back after what he'd done to her -especially as there were several pages of her moaning and bitching about him!!

There are some characters such as David and Jeremy (who I didn't mention in the plot summary because he turns up quite far into the story) who are written really well and are really people that you just love to hate! The author doesn't really dive too deep into character histories in this novel, but I don't think you would really expect that from this sort of book.

The story does get quite silly at times and is maybe a little far fetched in places, but I think as long as you don't take it too seriously that shouldn't spoil your enjoyment of the book. The further into the story we get, the more twists and turns we find and there was always something happening here, and no 'page filling' so the book kept my interest the whole way through and I didn't feel the need to skim read!

Overall, a great, light and easy to read chick lit novel from one of my favourite authors - and a great beach read!

Available from Amazon for £5.49, or from £0.01 if you buy second hand from Amazon marketplace.

Summary: A great chick-lit read