Alice, Shaken and Definitely Stirred by Paula Smith [Book review]

Alice, Shaken and Definitely Stirred - Published 6th January 2021.

I am super excited to be welcoming you to my spot on the blog tour for Alice, Shaken and Definitely Stirred. I would like to begin by saying a huge thankyou to Love books Tours and Paula Smith for sending me a copy of this book in return for an honest review. 😊

Blurb

This uplifting romantic comedy takes you on Alice’s journey, interweaving her relationships with real-life characters and dreams involving her favourite romantic screen idols.

Lamenting the loss of her long-term partner and having been made redundant, Alice makes a New Year’s Resolution to get on with life, and definitely without a man. But things don’t quite go to plan. As her Aunty Betty says, ‘Men, dear, are like buses, there are none on the horizon then three come along all at once.’ Alice certainly is shaken and definitely stirred!

My thoughts

This was a fun, cheeky, fantastical romantic comedy. We begin with Alice, our main character in the depths of despair. Her life partner has left her and she loses her job and she realises she is almost 40 and her life is spiraling out of control. Then before she knows it she has three men on the horizon, an enemy, a friend and a new exotic fantasy man. Which one will she choose? She has many escapades and capers throughout which lead her to her love story.

It was your typical rom-com story in that it was fairly easy to predict which man she would end up with, however there were some twists and turns which kept the story entertaining. As well as many hilarious dream sequences, where Alice dreamt of her favourite male actors in highly romantic situations (linked with her favourite films) who were rudely interrupted by the new males in her life. I thought these scenes were well written and brought something different to the story. They encapsulated the style of romance that films like Gone with the Wind create.

Alice is a hopeless romantic and wants to be swept off her feet. She dreams of an epic love story and throughout throughout the book we wonder whether she will ever find her true love. The ending is a nod to all romantic films everywhere, an epic finale which was fitting for the style of this book.

I found the writing style quite short and choppy, occasionally I felt it became a bit blunt. The short chapters were good but sometimes I felt the description and dialogue could maybe have been extended slightly to help with the flow of the story.

Overall this was a fun, whimsical tale of the heart. With many comedy elements, some fantasy dreams, occasional high jinx and a cast of side characters that added some spice to the tale. This is a great beach side, summer read.

You can purchase a copy of this book by following this link: https://amzn.to/3finkqP