Title: The
Accidental Socialite
Author: Stephanie
Wahlstrom
Publisher: Swoon
Romance
Publication Date: April
15, 2014
Genres: Chick Lit,
Romantic Comedy
Reviewed by: Angie
Edwards
Source: From
publisher for review
My rating: 5/5
SUMMARY
Quirky and clumsy twenty-two-year-old Paige
Crawford arrives in London on a cold Saturday in January. Just when Paige
starts to think that moving thousands of miles away from home with no real plan
was a bad idea, Jason Frost appears. Confident and classy, Jason is the
complete opposite of Paige and just what she needs in her life, or so she
thinks.
But before their romance has time to blossom, Paige trips and falls into the arms of a mysterious man on a drunken night out. She’s snapped by paparazzi, and newspaper headlines the next day suggest that she’s having an affair with a married footballer.
Paige finds herself instantly elevated to tabloid celebrity status which isn’t exactly a picnic, particularly when trying to juggle her new job at Fashionista magazine, a catalog of dating disasters and a nagging doubt that she maybe she can’t conquer London after all.
When a trip back to Canada for Christmas reminds Paige why she left her old life behind, she returns to London with renewed vigor realizing that while jobs, flats and men may come and go, friends in London are forever.
But before their romance has time to blossom, Paige trips and falls into the arms of a mysterious man on a drunken night out. She’s snapped by paparazzi, and newspaper headlines the next day suggest that she’s having an affair with a married footballer.
Paige finds herself instantly elevated to tabloid celebrity status which isn’t exactly a picnic, particularly when trying to juggle her new job at Fashionista magazine, a catalog of dating disasters and a nagging doubt that she maybe she can’t conquer London after all.
When a trip back to Canada for Christmas reminds Paige why she left her old life behind, she returns to London with renewed vigor realizing that while jobs, flats and men may come and go, friends in London are forever.
REVIEW
Oh my
goodness! I’m guessing the one scene that will stick with me forever when
thinking about this book will be the scene almost at the beginning with the
transvestite and the vodka bottle. Oh. My. Word. But then again, the encounter
with Prince William in a posh nightclub had me in hysterics, so that might
actually be the most memorable part of this story. Or no, wait, the advanced
pilates class scenario was what really cracked me up! Whichever way, The Accidental Socialite ended up being
a laugh a minute.
Paige
Crawford, the British tabloids’ new darling, is literally a walking disaster.
However sorry I felt for her on all her catastrophic romantic and non-romantic
outings, I just...I couldn’t stop laughing! I don’t think that much bad luck
can befall a person in real life, which just made it even more entertaining. At
the same time my heart also went out to her, because she didn’t bring any of it
on herself and she just wants to have fun. OK, maybe some of it is her own
fault but geez, give a girl a break!
Oh
heavens no, now that stupid Cindy Lauper song is on repeat in my head.
*sigh*
The
plot and pacing reminded me a lot of Sophie Kinsella’s writing. It was, in one
word: excellent! The only difference is that Paige isn’t as much of a ditzy
airheaded protagonist as those Kinsella has in her books. Also Carlos, the gay
friend, isn’t the stereotypical gay friend you find in most YA and women’s
literature. I felt his character was toned down a lot, but even so he was just
adorable. Definitely a memorable character. I also liked Lucinda, the bff Paige
made the minute she got to London. I think I liked her mainly because she’s
South African and reference was made to “biltong”. I’m a South African, so of
course that just tickled me pink.
Paige
has four flatmates, and although they’re secondary characters, they all play a
small, but significant, role in Paige’s first year in London, with their
magnificently varied and peculiar personalities. She lists them as follows
(this is her third revised edition):
1. Sleeps
with nut jobs on wet crack house mattresses, Gemma
2.
Takes suitcases shopping, Philip
3. I’m
not gay but I get BJs from dudes, Guillermo
4.
Learns English via Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn (Wedding Crashers), Natalie
One of
the big plusses for me in this book was that I got to travel to London, Paris,
Rome, and Verona, and even spend a weekend at the Oktoberfest in Munich. This
book is all about sisters doing it for themselves as Paige experience the high
life of a social butterfly while trying her best to get away from the
paparazzi. She goes to great parties and events, makes drunken decisions, and
meets every Mr Wrong imaginable. The ending was a pleasant surprise, and I
applaud Wahlstrom for concluding the story with a positive message to young women
about relationships. Remember what I said about sisters doing it for
themselves?
Who
would enjoy this? Fans of books by Sophie Kinsella, and anyone who loved the
book or movie version of The Devil Wears
Prada and/or Bridget Jones’s Diary. This is chick lit at its best! It contains a
little profanity and a few hilarious over-eighteen descriptions, but overall The Accidental Socialite is a fun,
funny, and one hundred percent unforgettable read!
PURCHASE LINK
ABOUT the AUTHOR
Growing
up in Edmonton, Canada, a significant amount of Stephanie’s time was spent
making up and acting out stories. She was studying to be an actress when she
realized there weren’t any parts for women being written. So, Stephanie wrote
herself a short screenplay just to be in it and quickly realized that writing
was her true passion. She graduated from the University of Alberta with an
English and Sociology degree and she also has a Bachelor of Motion Picture Arts
from Red Deer College. She moved to New York on a whim after University and has
written a variety of TV shows including an environmentally friendly lifestyle
series and a tween magazine style show about celebrities. Stephanie moved to
London in 2008 and aside from being obsessed with Eggs Benedict, shoes, Fruit
Roll Ups and travelling, she also works in Children’s Television.
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