The Book:
If Only by Angela Marsons
Published July 6th 2021 by Bookouture
Date read: June 18, 2021
The Characters:
Cher
Sarah
Deb
Buy it on Bookshop.org | Amazon
The Plot (from Goodreads):
Cher is head over heels for her new boss. He’s gorgeous, smart and funny but he barely even notices her except to ask for a coffee refill. How can she get him to see that she’s the perfect girl for him?
Sarah is longing for a baby with the man she loves. The only trouble is David is already married. Will he finally leave his wife so they can be together?
Deb should be looking forward to her wedding with lovely fiancé Mark but with her mother-in-law from hell Margie taking control of everything, will her dream day turn into her worst nightmare?
So, when one summer evening, over several glasses of wine, Cher, Sarah and Deb stumble across an old book on Sarah’s shelf and drunkenly decide to cast a wishing spell, they don’t think for one minute that it will come true. It’s just three best friends having a laugh and throwing some herbs around the garden. Or is it?
The Review:
This premise had so much promise. Although the reader can easily guess how this wishing spell is going to turn out, I was excited for the hijinx that were sure to come out of it. I was reminded in the beginning of Bridget Jones’s Diary, which I loved.
In practice, though, it didn’t quite do it for me. I didn’t really find any of the three women likable. All three of them were selfish and childish, choosing to just wish their problems away instead of having any kind of conversation with the other people in their lives. Deb wasn’t that bad, but the other two were completely awful. Sometimes I can enjoy an unlikeable character in a love-to-hate way, but this wasn’t the case here.
On audio, it was hard to tell the three characters apart as the narrator didn’t do different voices for them. If I missed the name at the beginning of the chapter, it was hard to determine who was speaking. I continuously got the three women mixed up until later in the story.
Overall, if you’re looking for a quick, cheesy, escapist story, this one could be for you! If you don’t like books with unlikable characters, I’d probably skip it.
