Not my idea of danger! (Living Dangerously - Katie Fforde)

Member Name: pink_glitter

Product:	Living Dangerously - Katie Fforde
Date:	18/07/09 (46 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: still readable

Disadvantages: weak plot, very confusing, main character can't make her mind up on anything!

A while back I read another of Katie Fforde's books, The Rose Revived and enjoyed it, so when I was looking for new books and spotted a copy of Living Dangerously in a charity shop I decided to buy it.

~The Plot~

Polly Cameron is 35 years old and works in a café with her best friend Bridget. She lives in a small cottage with only her cat for company, but insists that she is happy being single. She has a busy life anyway, what with assisting in a 'Save our high-street' campaign to stop beautiful old buildings being torn down, and she is also a potter attending craft fairs and the like with her pots regularly.

When old friend Melissa attempts to set her up with a handsome and wealthy bachelor, David Locking-Hill, Polly feels a slight attraction but brushes it away as she doesn't want a relationship. Not long afterwards, she meets radio reporter Tristan, who is 10 years her junior and a bit of a bad boy. Again, Polly feels herself being attracted to him, and this time before she knows what she's doing, she's embarking on a relationship. But is he really the right man for her? And why does David Locking-Hill keep cropping up in her life?

~What I thought~

Firstly I found this book really difficult to get into. The first few scenes start with a dinner party, and there are a lot of characters all who seemed very similar to me. I thought this part of the book dragged and to be honest was quite boring, and it took me ages to get through the first few pages.

After this the pace of the story picks up quite a bit, however I felt there was still very little drama and in many places it seemed to plod along. I think it may be because in a lot of places there were pages of description and detail that were not really needed - for example, relating to Polly's pottery.

The character of Polly was likeable at first, but the more I read, the more confused and annoyed I felt with her and just the story in general. So much of the book had concentrated on how happy she was being single and how she didn't want a man in her life, and then all of a sudden she was agreeing to go out with Tristan. No sooner did they start dating though, than she started pushing him away, and thinking that she didn't really want to be with him.

Apart from the fact that Tristan was good looking, I didn't think his character had much going for him, and I couldn't really understand why a mature, sensible woman like Polly would be interested in him in the first place. We didn't really learn much about his character but from what I did see I did not like!

David Locking-Hill was more likeable than Tristan, however he was another character I failed to understand. Like Polly he seemed indecisive - one minute he would fancy her, the next he would be completely rude to her. It just seemed so childish, and nearly the whole way through the book I found myself thinking 'have I missed something?' as the story just seemed all over the place, not to mention it was extremely confusing.

Other than Polly's two love interests, there was little else going on worth noting. The 'save our high street' sub-plot was quite boring, and again, did not ring true for me, as Polly was supposed to be an avid supporter of this cause, yet every time she was invited to protest she seemed to find some excuse not to bother.

Overall I was very disappointed in this book. I actually feel this review may not make complete sense, but the reason is that I found it very difficult to explain this book, as I simply did not understand what was going on throughout most of it, because I felt the plot was so weak and confusing. Although I would not recommend this, like I said, I enjoyed a previous Katie Fforde book I read, so I would be prepared to give her another chance in the future.

Summary: Needless to say I was not impressed