REVIEW: I Heart Hawaii - Lindsey Kelk

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Join Angela and Jenny in the series finale of the bestselling I Heart books…

When Angela Clark’s best friend Jenny invites her to join a press trip to Hawaii, three days of sun, sea and sleep sounds like the perfect antidote to her crazed life.
 
At work in New York, she’s supposed to be the face of Having It All. But the only thing Angela feels she excels at is hiding in the printer cupboard, eating Mini Cheddars and watching Netflix on her phone and if this is living the dream, she's more than ready to wake up.
 
A few days away with Jenny sounds like exactly what she needs but Angela’s talent for getting into a scrape guarantees nothing goes to plan – and not even the most beautiful beaches, blue skies and daiquiris will get her off the hook…

My Review:

Ten years – I can barely believe it! I’ve loved this series of books from the moment I got my hands on I heart New York (I got my first, very original copy with a magazine, can anyone remember which it was?) But I was hooked and an instant Lindsey Kelk fan.

I know many of us feel so invested in Angela and friends, and to think this would all be over with this book was truly a saddening moment, but I knew that Lindsey would do it in style and we’d have fun and adventure in I heart Hawaii. As it comes to endings, I think this book gave us the perfect one, very emotional, like a rollercoaster of feelings. From the prologue, where I was pretty concerned and quite upset if I’m honest, to the final ‘The End,’ I heart Hawaii gave my hardened heart a battering.

I’ve always loved the mixed bag of characters ‘I heart...’ gives us and Angela is one of my favourite characters ever- funny, loving, spirited and well just blooming ace. Jenny, well there aren’t really words to describe her sass and epic coolness, we could all do with being a little bit Lopez. Alex is the epitome of leading men, he’s gorgeous, a cool superstar and just the right person to balance Angela. Tip of the iceberg with great characters though. After all they have been through, all the characters have matured over the series and yet they are still the same characters we fell in love with. How I wish I could be in their friendship group!

I loved that other characters from some of Lindsey’s books popped up in I heart Hawaii; with this being the destination I hoped there would be a little crossover from another series, and I was not disappointed. I did also like the references to other authors’ characters too. See if you can find them 😉

I Heart Hawaii finds Angela trying to juggle motherhood with a new job, then the guilt at leaving baby Alice with Alex for 5 days while she heads off to basically unwind and have fun. I believe we see Angela at her very best in this book – motherhood is suiting her but it’s nice we get a glimpse of the Angela we all love so well when she goes to Hawaii.

As with any I heart book, this is full of fun and adventure. There are some hilarious scenes (the horses!!), real laugh out loud moments and everything we expect from this bunch of characters but, as with every one of the books, it includes some sensitive, serious, heart-warming moments, that show the depth and strength of true friendship.

I have always enjoyed Lindsey’s writing style, chatty and animated and naturally very funny; she can evoke emotion at just the perfect moment though so watch out for surprise tears. The books are easy to read but that never takes anything away from the wonderful stories being told. I read I Heart Hawaii in a few hours – mainly because I couldn’t put it down, I wanted to see how it would end yet I never wanted it too either.

If you haven’t read any of the I Heart series, then I would suggest going back and reading the others before this one simply because THEY ARE BRILLIANT! I’m sure it could work as a standalone book but it’s hard to tell when you’re already so involved with them isn’t it?!

I don’t want to spoil or lead anyone in any direction with the review, so I don’t really want to say too much about what happens. I think people need to go into this without knowing what will happen at all. I will say it’s a beautiful end to an incredible series.  

Thank you, Lindsey Kelk, for creating wonderful stories with great characters that we have grown to love like our own friends. Although it’s hard to know we won’t get any more ‘I heart’ books I’m sure we can all imagine what they’re all getting up in the future.  Great things must come to an end (*cries*) but I know Lindsey will have brilliant things for us in future.

Anyone for an ‘I heart’ film or TV series?

Comfy Rating:

👍👍👍👍👍

Meeting the lovely Lindsey with  the equally wonderful Paige Toon - 01/06/2019

One in a Million - Lindsey Kelk

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Hands up I’m a huge fan of Lindsey Kelk, I have been ever since the first chapter of I Love New York (you have to check out the I Heart Series.) I also love following her on instagram - @lindseykelk One in a Million is the hilarious yet romantic story of Annie and Sam. As described it really is the My Fair Lady of the social media age – it's a definite feel-good read. So make a big mug of tea, grab some snacks and get comfortable... 

Annie Higgins has given up on love and she’s trying to get her fledgling business off the ground. Taunted by the dreamy advertising agency executive, Annie accepts a crazy bet –  make a random stranger Instagram-famous in thirty days.When they choose Dr Samuel Page PhD, historian and hater of social media, Annie’s sure she can win the bet . As Annie gets to know Sam it also means getting to know herself. As Day 30 approaches, Annie has to decide what really is important.
Firstly, hands up, I read this in one sitting. I admit I am a ridiculously fast reader (it’s a helpful skill) but to be honest I just didn’t want to stop reading the story. A gorgeous twist on a My Fair Lady-esque story for the modern age, where social media is everything, likes s equates to what we deem popular and the number of followers we can gain makes someone a celebrity . 

Both main characters, Annie and Sam, had me laughing, made my heart break a little but left me happy. Generally quite easy to see where the story was going but I’m O.K with that.  I enjoyed seeing the progression of the relationship, how Annie won Sam over but as a reader we also see how she is also being changed (unbeknownst to her).  I feel like there was a lot of additional characters that appeared and disappeared and didn’t add that much to the story line, standard best friend role to add a sense of reason for Annie, one side character that I must mention is Wellington. I loved Wellington - that guy could have his own adventures! 

I won't spoil the ending, but I will say it is more dramatic than I imagined it would be and not quite as clear cut as you would think. There is scope for a sequel and I would definitely like to see how the lives of Annie and Sam work out. I highly recommend this book if you fancy a bit of happy in our social media driven world. It may even may you think about how much you are confined to you social media presence.
Comfy Rating: 👍👍👍👍👍