Just A Girl Standing In Front Of A Boy By Lucy-Anne Holmes

[amazon_link id=”0751547654″ target=”_blank” ][/amazon_link]’Just A Girl Standing In Front Of A Boy’ is the latest book by Lucy-Anne Holmes.

After a rocky start in life, Jenny Taylor who is the star receptionist at the local doctors surgery, has things all worked out thanks to a list of ten daily things she must do to keep the blues at bay. But her life is turned upside down when she meets aspiring musician Joe King. And reliable boyfriend Matts proposes and then her mum leaves her dad and moves into Jenny’s flat determined to bond.

What can I say about this book? It’s certainly funny, interesting, not predictable at all, inventive and most certainly strikes a chord. I loved it and found that it was almost impossible to put down, with every spare minute I found myself grabbing the book for a quick read. Fortunately the chapters are short and snappy so it was easy to get absorbed in the whacky world of Fanny. I loved Fanny, no scratch that. I adored her. She was considerate, funny and having successfully battled a bout of depression and was looking at life with new eyes, with the help of her best friend Philippa who thoughtfully created ‘The Smiling Fanny Manifesto’ which was a list of tasks guaranteed to make her smile and whilst together were fabulously fun and had an incredibly sweet habit of wanting to make those around them happy by leaving strangers notes that were guaranteed to make those strangers smile and certainly brighten their days.

Unfortunately, Fanny had a name that she was cruelly bullied over Jenny Taylor, which proven by my work colleagues that if this full name was said quickly, it did indeed sound like genitalia hence why she was called Fanny and sadly the name stuck. But Fanny, embraced the name with open arms and ventured into a life that was fast paced and funny. Sadly her boyfriend Matt didn’t seem to suit the creative flair that she possessed and regularly tried to constrict her passion and zest for life. I didn’t love Matt at all, his reasoning and logic made me despair as he made Fanny and doubt things, lulling her into a false sense of security

When Fanny meets the uniquely named Joe King (I wonder if Lucy-Anne is a fan of the horror writer by the same name?), she forms a kinship with the unfortunately named handsome and talented musician and as much as she tries, her heart seems to sing a little bit louder for him than for Matt. I particularly enjoyed the scenes with Fanny and Joe, as they almost had a childlike innocence about the world in the way they constructed their conversations and actions, these scenes were especially touching and entertaining reading

There are so many wonderful characters in this book, all of which are guaranteed to have you laughing out loud. From the antics of Fanny and Philippa to Fanny’s mother, who years of having no contact suddenly turns up in the middle of a mid life crisis whilst falling for Simon the Plasterer. Finally I cannot not mention Doris, Fanny’s dotty old friend who regularly called into the health centre where Fanny worked, keeping Fanny up to date with ideas and themes for her impending funeral.

This story is a wonderful tale and one that I would implore everyone to read. If you are looking for something heartwarming, poignant and feel good story then this book most certainly has it all and particularly if you are a Mhairi McFarlane fan, then this book is a must, as Lucy-Anne’s writing packs quite a similar punch written in a short and snappy style.

‘Just A Girl Standing In Front Of A Boy’ is a captivating roller coaster of a book, with so many twists and turns and an ending that you never saw coming. I wholeheartedly recommend this feisty book for an injection of fun and romance and most definitely laugh out loud entertainment. Just splendid!

You can buy [amazon_link id=”0751547654″ target=”_blank” ]Just a Girl, Standing in Front of a Boy from Amazon[/amazon_link] and is available to buy from good bookshops.