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Forget Me Knot
From the acclaimed author of Gucci Gucci Coo and Apocalipstick comes a funny, sexy novel about questionable engagements—and a love worthy perhaps of the big screen.
Florist Abby Crompton has a knack for arranging the most exquisite bouquets for the hippest clientele. If only her personal life could run as smoothly. Although her fiancé, Toby, proposed a month ago, Abby’s still waiting for the ring. An up-and-coming lawyer, Toby’s been far too busy to shop—let alone muster the energy for romance. If that wasn’t frustrating enough, the night she’s supposed to meet her future mother-in-law, Abby gets stuck in an elevator—with a sexy stranger bearing fine wine. Needless to say, a tipsy Abby arrives late for dinner and doesn’t make the best impression.
In the aftermath of the dinner disaster, Abby is thrilled to learn that a film studio wants to use her shop in an upcoming movie. But when she meets the director, Dan, she’s shocked to discover that he’s none other than the same man with whom she shared the elevator—and some highly personal information. Now, with Toby putting in more overtime, Abby’s feeling even more neglected. And her attraction to Dan is growing daily—as her own life begins to mirror the romantic comedy he’s shooting.
Featuring an irrepressible heroine, Forget Me Knot blooms with charm, wit, and fun.
Florist Abby Crompton has a knack for arranging the most exquisite bouquets for the hippest clientele. If only her personal life could run as smoothly. Although her fiancé, Toby, proposed a month ago, Abby’s still waiting for the ring. An up-and-coming lawyer, Toby’s been far too busy to shop—let alone muster the energy for romance. If that wasn’t frustrating enough, the night she’s supposed to meet her future mother-in-law, Abby gets stuck in an elevator—with a sexy stranger bearing fine wine. Needless to say, a tipsy Abby arrives late for dinner and doesn’t make the best impression.
In the aftermath of the dinner disaster, Abby is thrilled to learn that a film studio wants to use her shop in an upcoming movie. But when she meets the director, Dan, she’s shocked to discover that he’s none other than the same man with whom she shared the elevator—and some highly personal information. Now, with Toby putting in more overtime, Abby’s feeling even more neglected. And her attraction to Dan is growing daily—as her own life begins to mirror the romantic comedy he’s shooting.
Featuring an irrepressible heroine, Forget Me Knot blooms with charm, wit, and fun.
383 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2009
About the author
Sue Margolis
18 books137 followersSue Margolis is the author of nine books, which have more than half a million copies in print from Bantam Dell. She lives in England, where she's at work on her next novel.
Sue worked as a reporter for the BBC, before leaving broadcasting to write her first novel. She lives in London with her journalist husband Jonathan. They have three grown up children. Sue’s hobbies include napping, constantly interfering in her children’s lives, not going out, eating - especially the remains of the previous night’s take-out curry straight from the fridge, and watching made for TV true-life movies in her PJs.
She died of lung cancer, aged 62.
Sue worked as a reporter for the BBC, before leaving broadcasting to write her first novel. She lives in London with her journalist husband Jonathan. They have three grown up children. Sue’s hobbies include napping, constantly interfering in her children’s lives, not going out, eating - especially the remains of the previous night’s take-out curry straight from the fridge, and watching made for TV true-life movies in her PJs.
She died of lung cancer, aged 62.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 143 reviews
March 3, 2020
"FORGET ME KNOT", by Sue Margolis, is a naughty bit of British fluff, infused with humor and amorous escapades. The heroine of the story, Abby, runs a successful flower shop, but her life is filled with people who are not always whom they would appear to be. Her fiance, Toby, is impeccably gorgeous and increasingly remote. She meets an attractive and kind young man, Dan, when they become stuck together in an elevator. He seems to be a regular Joe, struggling to complete the low-budget film he wrote, directed and produced. He's definitely sexy, sweet, and creative. Is there more to him than meets the eye? Homosexuality, religion, race, and social classes are tossed around like dice. You'll rethink some of your own feelings toward unconventional people as you laugh all the way through this lighthearted tale.
Book Copy Gratis Goodreads
Book Copy Gratis Goodreads
June 21, 2009
I really enjoyed this book. Sue Margolis's style is similar to other writers in the chick lit genre like Marian Keyes, Lisa Jewell and Jane Green. Her main characters are trying to cope with weighty emotional and personal issues but the book addresses them with style and humor. I laughed out loud several times while reading this book. The book is full of fun quirky moments and references, including a drag queen named Tequila Mockingbird and a dinner party with a chopped liver carved into the image of Nelson Mandela. At heart, the book is about a woman named Abby, a successful florist who is not-so-successful in her personal life until she meets a handsome movie producer/director and sparks start to fly. The book rises above the standard plot of a typical chick lit book because of it's wonderful cast of supporting characters including Abby's best friend, Soph, an extroverted Jewish girl with a great sense of humor, and Martin Scoredaisy ("Scozza"), Abby's gay floral assistant in the shop (who spends much of the book fighting for custody of his St. Bernard, Debbie Harry). My favorite character was Abby's mom, the subject of a funny sub-plot involving a passenger revolt on a cruise to Antarctica. All around, this is a quick and enjoyable read. I will definitely pick up other books by Sue Margolis on the basis of my experience with this one.
August 19, 2009
Oh my God. What an awful jumble of chicklit clichés and shallow characters. The main character was the too-good-to-be-true Abby, who reads like a Mary Sue from schlocky fan fiction. Every single character is predictable, boring, and shallow. Most of the book describes events, backstory, and character "insights" instead of using dialogue or action to let the characters live, breathe, and develop.
As for the clichés, let's see: meet "cute" with devastatingly handsome and charming man while engaged to another man; get dumped; surprise meet "cute" again with DH&C man; gay best friend/co-worker; forthright female best friend who thinks so main character doesn't have to; cutesy occupation for protagonist; rich boyfriend turns out to be a jerk; protag's mother shocks the world and becomes world-famous; protag almost ruins new relationship with DH&C man because of Secrets; DH&C man turns out to be rich so we can all be happy while still being socially aware and righteously middle class. Did I miss any?
As for the clichés, let's see: meet "cute" with devastatingly handsome and charming man while engaged to another man; get dumped; surprise meet "cute" again with DH&C man; gay best friend/co-worker; forthright female best friend who thinks so main character doesn't have to; cutesy occupation for protagonist; rich boyfriend turns out to be a jerk; protag's mother shocks the world and becomes world-famous; protag almost ruins new relationship with DH&C man because of Secrets; DH&C man turns out to be rich so we can all be happy while still being socially aware and righteously middle class. Did I miss any?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 14, 2023
This was a great rom-com in book form. From the beginning where a corpse was suspected of having a stiffy, to a dog named Debbie Harry, to an assistant self named as Martin Scoredaisy (florist), this book was an unexpected fun read.
July 7, 2009
There were too many plots and not enough of them were fully fleshed out. I really didn't know much about the movie, which is supposed to be a parallel to what's happening, but it isn't at all.
I did like the idea of Nelson Mandela made out of chopped liver, but it didn't make the whole book worth reading.
I did like the idea of Nelson Mandela made out of chopped liver, but it didn't make the whole book worth reading.
April 11, 2021
Abby is running a successful business as an up and coming florist. She's not as able in making judgments in her personal life. There's clearly something going on with her stone cold boyfriend, Toby. When her friends try to help her with feedback, she gets mad. That's her normal way, defensiveness. It's like an annoying passive aggressive trait. Afterwards she and the other character apologize profusely. For what, telling the truth? This story is driven by the main forces of stereotypes, coincidences, misunderstandings, as well as normal chic lit plot devices like the meet cute of Abby and Dan stuck in an elevator. The flashback of Abby being led to dress in a fancy dress while the others are in casual wear is like Bridgett Jones wearing the bunny outfit. Everything is throw into the mix, straight looking gay, overtly gay, loud Jewish people, overbearing wealthy landed dowagers, meek parents, socioeconomic class differences, mixed racial coupling, even Oprah. I liked it up to a point, even though the stereotypes were weird and wouldn't fit in my urban area, but when Abby has one to many meltdowns and manic reactions due to her inability to separate her instantaneous perception from actual events, and no way to calmly reassess, I, then skimmed. How a lady goes from, what I consider an abusive relation with a gaslighting liar, to immediately fall for another guy is beyond me. She completely misjudges him as well, due to jumping in feet first. With her head all ajumble due to her missteps and overreactions, there's no way she could run a business. There's also no way, two people can run busy flower shop. They'd really need to parnerwth that Christian guy and other florists to create a consortium, so they could pool deliveries. Not have the one guy, Martin, make deliveries and leave one person t run a shop and create the bouguets, etc. That's how it's done here.
July 23, 2023
3.5 stars, rounded to 4
This was a fun, light-hearted rom-com. I don't mind some fluff from time to time, not everything has to have Deep Meaning. This one has florist Abby engaged to Toby, an up-and-coming lawyer. Toby hasn't had time for much romance recently, so Abby is stressed about meeting him and his overbearing mother at a posh restaurant after work. Of course, as these things go, everything delays her and the cherry on top is she gets stuck in an elevator going up to the restaurant. Also there's a handsome guy in there with a bottle of wine. Also Abby has a huge phobia about elevators, so the guy opens the wine and gets her over her fears until they're rescued. By the time she makes her date with Toby, Abby is mussed up (from the rescue) and a bit drunk (from the wine) and the dinner date goes downhill from there. However, as bad her love life is going, she find out the next week that her floral shop was selected as a location shoot for a film. When the director, Dan, comes to do a final look with his aide, yep, you guessed it...he's elevator guy. Things start going downhill with Toby and Dan steps in to console her. I won't give away any twists, but the reader can see where this is headed if not exactly how it's getting there. There are a few subplots involving Abby's assistant Martin and his fight with his ex Christian for their dog Debbie Harry and another with Abby's parents.
This was a lot of fun and fluff. Nothing too taxing, perfect as a summer read.
This was a fun, light-hearted rom-com. I don't mind some fluff from time to time, not everything has to have Deep Meaning. This one has florist Abby engaged to Toby, an up-and-coming lawyer. Toby hasn't had time for much romance recently, so Abby is stressed about meeting him and his overbearing mother at a posh restaurant after work. Of course, as these things go, everything delays her and the cherry on top is she gets stuck in an elevator going up to the restaurant. Also there's a handsome guy in there with a bottle of wine. Also Abby has a huge phobia about elevators, so the guy opens the wine and gets her over her fears until they're rescued. By the time she makes her date with Toby, Abby is mussed up (from the rescue) and a bit drunk (from the wine) and the dinner date goes downhill from there. However, as bad her love life is going, she find out the next week that her floral shop was selected as a location shoot for a film. When the director, Dan, comes to do a final look with his aide, yep, you guessed it...he's elevator guy. Things start going downhill with Toby and Dan steps in to console her. I won't give away any twists, but the reader can see where this is headed if not exactly how it's getting there. There are a few subplots involving Abby's assistant Martin and his fight with his ex Christian for their dog Debbie Harry and another with Abby's parents.
This was a lot of fun and fluff. Nothing too taxing, perfect as a summer read.
April 9, 2024
This was an easy and amusing read
September 24, 2009
Every girl dreams of making it on her own, and Abby is set to do just that has she has her own floral store; however, it turns out that all Abby has right is her business acumen. She lets herself be constantly disappointed by a foppish boyfriend--he's always making excuses and is always late...Where are Abby's friends here? Everyone knows (say it) he's just not that into you girl--and the kicker is that she accepts his half-hearted proposal! UGH! Abby’s proposal acceptance made me want to go find her and pull her off her bar stool of desperate obliviousness. Of course, once Abby is engaged, she meets a man with potential, and one who is certainly more interested in her…
For me the book needed some rework. I liked the premise, but the friends, the loser boyfriend, the sudden love interest--all formula. There was no spark, no push to make this interesting. Tell me all about flowers—or characters with spirit and maybe even a totally wonderful (likeable) heroine--that's it--even for chic lit, this story needed more DEPTH. A beach read, but not at the top of the list.
For me the book needed some rework. I liked the premise, but the friends, the loser boyfriend, the sudden love interest--all formula. There was no spark, no push to make this interesting. Tell me all about flowers—or characters with spirit and maybe even a totally wonderful (likeable) heroine--that's it--even for chic lit, this story needed more DEPTH. A beach read, but not at the top of the list.
October 28, 2009
Started this one, and it's complete dreck, couldn't get past the first chapter. I ...
Gave it a second chance, and okay, the plot and the characters are somewhat entertaining, maybe even charming. Turns out it's the WRITING that is awful - I got run over by the exposition train in every other paragraph. And the constant explaining was awful. It was like watching a movie with an annoying friend who had to point out every detail, AND explain it, just in case I missed it.
Enough with all the details!!! And I don't CARE what the characters eat at every meal, I don't CARE what color her scarf is or what kind of skirt she's wearing, I really need all these details.
Clearly Ms Margolis slept through that critical part of writing class that explains: "show don't tell." I was going to give her the benefit of the doubt and assume this was her first book, but, no. It's not.
To make matters worse, I really didn't like the main character, she was a complete snob who judged everyone and everything on whether they had a good sense of "style" or not.
Gave it a second chance, and okay, the plot and the characters are somewhat entertaining, maybe even charming. Turns out it's the WRITING that is awful - I got run over by the exposition train in every other paragraph. And the constant explaining was awful. It was like watching a movie with an annoying friend who had to point out every detail, AND explain it, just in case I missed it.
Enough with all the details!!! And I don't CARE what the characters eat at every meal, I don't CARE what color her scarf is or what kind of skirt she's wearing, I really need all these details.
Clearly Ms Margolis slept through that critical part of writing class that explains: "show don't tell." I was going to give her the benefit of the doubt and assume this was her first book, but, no. It's not.
To make matters worse, I really didn't like the main character, she was a complete snob who judged everyone and everything on whether they had a good sense of "style" or not.
July 15, 2009
It's not that it was a terrible book, it just wasn't exactly my style. The plot seemed a little cliche and the writing didn't seem incredibly mature. It was a light read, great for the beach or vacation. I haven't read any of her other books, so I am not sure if this is just her style, or if this is only characteristic of this book. I was not expecting the graphic sex scenes near the middle of the book.
August 21, 2017
This is a delightful romantic comedy! The action moved like a roller coaster and I found myself laughing out loud most of the time. True, it did follow the old format of boy-meets-girl- loses girl-gets girl back, but there's so much fresh material in here that it's well worth the read! Abby, the protagonist, is a real charmer and I loved spending time in her world, even if it was only for one novel!
July 1, 2009
Thanks, Goodreads, for this freebee. I am not a big fan of chick lit, so maybe I am not the best person to review this book. The story was predictable, the characters, especially the ethnic ones, were very stereotypical (almost to an extreme). This was an easy read, that I would have given a higher rating had it not gone into the porno category toward the end.
July 29, 2009
I actually stopped around 200 pages - the book is ok, but I just didn't find myself all that interested in the characters or the outcome - sort of ho hum.
September 12, 2017
This was a fun, easy book to read. It tended to be a little stereotypical and everything worked out a little too cleanly. I appreciated the fun nature of this not-serious read. I wouldn't mind picking up a sequel in the hopes of a little more depth in the characters.
July 18, 2018
I rather enjoyed the witty dialogue and vivid characters. Each lead character was funny and made me laugh out loud. I liked the fact this was a British author, too. Yes, the plot leaned more towards the predictable, but I personally enjoyed the way the story flowed and came together.
Read
March 4, 2022I am not a huge fan of British chic lit and this would be categorized as that. Luckily for me, it was lighter on the British slang. This was a fun, light story with a main character you simply like. While story was a bit predictable, it was a fun read that I finished in a day.
March 23, 2022
I chose this book as a fun read to break up a string of more serious books. This it did, however about 2/3 into the book it oddly seemed as though it was written by a different author. It became more simplistic and less interesting.
September 23, 2024
This book didn’t really have a plot. Closest thing to it was Martin and Debbie Harry. The timeline felt rushed and the smut scenes were horrifically descriptive, though I was glad there were only a few. Overall I just didn’t really like it.
May 21, 2017
typical romance, a bit higher than a Harlequin. I knew what was going to happen before it happened. Still it was entertaining. will see what the author's other book are like, she has a nice style.
August 19, 2017
There was just way to much going on in this book without any depth in any one of the story threads.
October 11, 2020
Such a cute story that I couldn't put it down!
April 27, 2021
A lovely easy to read story
October 22, 2021
A great British chick read. I relaxed and smiled through the whole book.
June 3, 2023
Abby’s guy is gay,
which she finds out the hard way. Sigh.
Then she falls in love.
which she finds out the hard way. Sigh.
Then she falls in love.
July 26, 2019
I love this thread! I am always so worried about spoiling the book that my reviews are usually just a few sentences and basically pointless
February 11, 2012
Featuring an irrepressible heroine, Forget Me Knot blooms with charm, wit, and fun.
I had passed by this book a few times at work until one day I finally decided to pick it up (I think it was in the last few weeks when I knew I would be leaving soon and wanted to get as many books with my discount as possible. Hey, don't judge. You would do the same thing!) I'm glad I did read it, even though it wasn't one of my favourites. Let me explain...
I think the thing that bothered me the most was that there was so much going on! Let me show you what I mean with this oh so fantastical character web:
As you can see, there are a ton of characters. You can also see that this is not the world's best representation, but just go with it, ok? My point with this is that there are just so many characters and so many links. The other thing is that they all have back stories! Every single one of them. Extensive back stories. So much so that I want to yell at the book and say "Get to the point!" Ahem. This makes it seem like it was 1. confusing and 2. a totally awful thing. It actually wasn't at all confusing and I did like the other stories, I just thought it left the novel being a bit disconnected and fragmented.
Here's an example. I picked up the book thinking the main story was Abby and her fiance Toby, and how they had hit a rough patch and she just happens to meet Dan while stuck in an elevator. Take another look at the synopsis. You think so too, right? Well, we're wrong. This story gets settled halfway through the book! I honestly wasn't sure what to expect after that, and I think that's where Margolis lost me. I felt like a lot of the second half of the book wasn't necessary. There's a whole other story going on with Abby's mum and dad (they're British, hence my use of "mum" instead of "mom") that, while I understand why it is important to Abby, didn't really see the point of. There was an intriguing twist with Dan, but I did see it coming (read it and let me know if you did too!)
I did love Abby, even though I thought she was a bit daft (still trying to be British while writing this review) by staying with Toby when it was so clearly not working out. She was a self made woman, who owned her own flower shop (so cool and different!) and the flat above it. She was even doing well enough to have an assistant, the prerequisite gay friend, Martin "Scoredaisy". The shop had been featured in several magazines and news articles and Abby was getting a lot of high end clients from these reviews. Way to go, girl! Her best friend Sophie is always there for her, as a best friend should be, and plays the "short, jelly bean shaped" card against the tall, slender, attractive Abby. Our heroine has a man who loves her, albeit one who always seems to be at the law office trying to make partner, but then she gets stuck in an elevator on the way to meet the future mother-in-law and it all goes to hell in a hand basket.
I won't give away all the extra story lines, some of which were cute, others were just excessive. I do recommend this book, even if it seems like I hated it. I didn't, honestly. And, if we're being honest, I finished it in the midst of one hell of a headache, so perhaps that coloured my judgement slightly. If you like cute and fun books, with pretty kick ass main characters, this is worth checking out. I have another of Margolis' sitting on my bookshelf, waiting patiently for its turn (Perfect Blend, in case you were wondering) and I look forward to reading that one too. If I were to rate Forget Me Knot with stars, I think I'd give it 3.5...just not quite at 4, very close though. Check it out from your library, and let me know what you think.
To close with this review, I want to include a quote that I thought was just perfect in describing romance and chick lit novels. Abby and Dan are talking about the plot of Dan's film and how it is a romance that follows a formula...
"But all the way through, you know it's going to work out for them in the end."
He looked apologetic. "That tends to be how rom-coms work. They're like Greek tragedies. They always follow an identical pattern. You know the routine: man meets woman, usually after some kind of complicated mix-up. They begin a tentiative relationship. Smething happens to split them up. They either get back together or form new relationships."
"No, I get that - I really do. Everyboday adores those plots. You love knowing but not knowing."
I feel like that quote sums up how we all feel about these kinds of books and movies. We know how it'll end up, but we don't know how it's going to get there. And that's what we love.
I had passed by this book a few times at work until one day I finally decided to pick it up (I think it was in the last few weeks when I knew I would be leaving soon and wanted to get as many books with my discount as possible. Hey, don't judge. You would do the same thing!) I'm glad I did read it, even though it wasn't one of my favourites. Let me explain...
I think the thing that bothered me the most was that there was so much going on! Let me show you what I mean with this oh so fantastical character web:
As you can see, there are a ton of characters. You can also see that this is not the world's best representation, but just go with it, ok? My point with this is that there are just so many characters and so many links. The other thing is that they all have back stories! Every single one of them. Extensive back stories. So much so that I want to yell at the book and say "Get to the point!" Ahem. This makes it seem like it was 1. confusing and 2. a totally awful thing. It actually wasn't at all confusing and I did like the other stories, I just thought it left the novel being a bit disconnected and fragmented.
Here's an example. I picked up the book thinking the main story was Abby and her fiance Toby, and how they had hit a rough patch and she just happens to meet Dan while stuck in an elevator. Take another look at the synopsis. You think so too, right? Well, we're wrong. This story gets settled halfway through the book! I honestly wasn't sure what to expect after that, and I think that's where Margolis lost me. I felt like a lot of the second half of the book wasn't necessary. There's a whole other story going on with Abby's mum and dad (they're British, hence my use of "mum" instead of "mom") that, while I understand why it is important to Abby, didn't really see the point of. There was an intriguing twist with Dan, but I did see it coming (read it and let me know if you did too!)
I did love Abby, even though I thought she was a bit daft (still trying to be British while writing this review) by staying with Toby when it was so clearly not working out. She was a self made woman, who owned her own flower shop (so cool and different!) and the flat above it. She was even doing well enough to have an assistant, the prerequisite gay friend, Martin "Scoredaisy". The shop had been featured in several magazines and news articles and Abby was getting a lot of high end clients from these reviews. Way to go, girl! Her best friend Sophie is always there for her, as a best friend should be, and plays the "short, jelly bean shaped" card against the tall, slender, attractive Abby. Our heroine has a man who loves her, albeit one who always seems to be at the law office trying to make partner, but then she gets stuck in an elevator on the way to meet the future mother-in-law and it all goes to hell in a hand basket.
I won't give away all the extra story lines, some of which were cute, others were just excessive. I do recommend this book, even if it seems like I hated it. I didn't, honestly. And, if we're being honest, I finished it in the midst of one hell of a headache, so perhaps that coloured my judgement slightly. If you like cute and fun books, with pretty kick ass main characters, this is worth checking out. I have another of Margolis' sitting on my bookshelf, waiting patiently for its turn (Perfect Blend, in case you were wondering) and I look forward to reading that one too. If I were to rate Forget Me Knot with stars, I think I'd give it 3.5...just not quite at 4, very close though. Check it out from your library, and let me know what you think.
To close with this review, I want to include a quote that I thought was just perfect in describing romance and chick lit novels. Abby and Dan are talking about the plot of Dan's film and how it is a romance that follows a formula...
"But all the way through, you know it's going to work out for them in the end."
He looked apologetic. "That tends to be how rom-coms work. They're like Greek tragedies. They always follow an identical pattern. You know the routine: man meets woman, usually after some kind of complicated mix-up. They begin a tentiative relationship. Smething happens to split them up. They either get back together or form new relationships."
"No, I get that - I really do. Everyboday adores those plots. You love knowing but not knowing."
I feel like that quote sums up how we all feel about these kinds of books and movies. We know how it'll end up, but we don't know how it's going to get there. And that's what we love.
October 25, 2009
Maybe 2.5 stars. While this book qualifies as chick-lit, making you know from the start how the story will, in general, play out, it could still have been fun. However, there are too many filler scenes, superfluous backstories, and stereotyped characters for it to be very great.
Abby owns a flower shop, conquers her fear of elevators one day to get in one while running late, only to have it malfunction and keep her stuck in it for a long time with a strange man. She ends up telling the man all sorts of secrets (a la Sophie Kinsella's Can You Keep a Secret?), then later discovers that the man is a movie director interested in using her shop as a backdrop. The plot itself sounds cute, but then there are so many little subplots that are nothing but filler plots: Abby's parents are on a cruise that's not going well, Abby's gay coworker is having a spat with his ex-boyfriend about custody of their dog, Abby's best friend is nervous about taking her new half-black, half-Jewish boyfriend to meet her parents, etc.
One of the worst things about this book is that the characters were not very fleshed out. Everyone and everything were very shallow and superficial, despite the author going into a long-winded explanation of everyone's histories whenever they were introduced. Long descriptions do not make people suddenly three-dimensional. There are pages of conversation meant to fill the reader in on the events of people's lives and there are long, unnecessary diatribes about, for example, the history Abby has with her boyfriend's friends.
This book was in need of some serious reworking. If the characters had been deeper and a lot of the subplots had been cut, it could have been better (not perfect or even great, but better). Unfortunately, there were SO many cliches used in the story and so many of the characters relied on stereotypical behavior from someone of their background (ie, the nosy Jewish girl, the pompous rich guy, the gay best friend, cute pet names for everyone...) that I didn't feel like I was reading about real people but about caricatures. Everything wrapped up extremely neatly (not a bad thing, but it was almost too neat) and the final "twist" in the love story near the end of the book was just eye-rollingly dumb, like it was trying to prolong the life of this book that had enough plot to fill maybe 50 pages yet used almost 400.
The cover is cute, but it stops there. There are much better books out there and much better chick lit.
Abby owns a flower shop, conquers her fear of elevators one day to get in one while running late, only to have it malfunction and keep her stuck in it for a long time with a strange man. She ends up telling the man all sorts of secrets (a la Sophie Kinsella's Can You Keep a Secret?), then later discovers that the man is a movie director interested in using her shop as a backdrop. The plot itself sounds cute, but then there are so many little subplots that are nothing but filler plots: Abby's parents are on a cruise that's not going well, Abby's gay coworker is having a spat with his ex-boyfriend about custody of their dog, Abby's best friend is nervous about taking her new half-black, half-Jewish boyfriend to meet her parents, etc.
One of the worst things about this book is that the characters were not very fleshed out. Everyone and everything were very shallow and superficial, despite the author going into a long-winded explanation of everyone's histories whenever they were introduced. Long descriptions do not make people suddenly three-dimensional. There are pages of conversation meant to fill the reader in on the events of people's lives and there are long, unnecessary diatribes about, for example, the history Abby has with her boyfriend's friends.
This book was in need of some serious reworking. If the characters had been deeper and a lot of the subplots had been cut, it could have been better (not perfect or even great, but better). Unfortunately, there were SO many cliches used in the story and so many of the characters relied on stereotypical behavior from someone of their background (ie, the nosy Jewish girl, the pompous rich guy, the gay best friend, cute pet names for everyone...) that I didn't feel like I was reading about real people but about caricatures. Everything wrapped up extremely neatly (not a bad thing, but it was almost too neat) and the final "twist" in the love story near the end of the book was just eye-rollingly dumb, like it was trying to prolong the life of this book that had enough plot to fill maybe 50 pages yet used almost 400.
The cover is cute, but it stops there. There are much better books out there and much better chick lit.
June 25, 2009
I hadn't read anything from Sue Margolis before, but I have to say that I will in the future. With typical British humor and wit, I literally laughed out loud several times while reading this book.
Abby Crompton worked incredibly hard to build her floral business, and now she's engaged to a handsome, wealthy corporate lawyer--
Toby. On the way to meet her future mother-in-law, Abby gets trapped in an elevator with a stranger. His name is Dan, and he helps her get through the blind panic of being stuck in the elevator. In the meantime, Abby reveals some incredibly personal information about her sex life with Dan. Later, she's humiliated when she realizes what she's done. But thinking that she'll never see him again, she heads off to dinner to meet her mother-in-law looking rather shabby and puts the whole incident out of her mind.
Abby's flower shop has been chosen to be featured in an independent film. When the director and his scout show up, it's Dan--the guy from the elevator. Dan is filming a romantic comedy, and Abby's shop makes the perfect backdrop.
When Abby discovers Toby's shocking secret, Dan is there with a shoulder to lean on. But Dan has a few secrets of his own.
One complaint I had with the ending: Everything wraps up a little too neatly and perfectly and a little too fast.
Margolis weaves a clever tale with strong secondary characters, including Martin (Abby's assistant), Soph (Abby's best friend), and Christian (a floral competitor and Martin's former lover). She also includes a couple of subplots, one of which is the custody battle over a St. Bernard. If you enjoy chick lit--and, in particular, British chick lit--you're going to love this book.
Abby Crompton worked incredibly hard to build her floral business, and now she's engaged to a handsome, wealthy corporate lawyer--
Toby. On the way to meet her future mother-in-law, Abby gets trapped in an elevator with a stranger. His name is Dan, and he helps her get through the blind panic of being stuck in the elevator. In the meantime, Abby reveals some incredibly personal information about her sex life with Dan. Later, she's humiliated when she realizes what she's done. But thinking that she'll never see him again, she heads off to dinner to meet her mother-in-law looking rather shabby and puts the whole incident out of her mind.
Abby's flower shop has been chosen to be featured in an independent film. When the director and his scout show up, it's Dan--the guy from the elevator. Dan is filming a romantic comedy, and Abby's shop makes the perfect backdrop.
When Abby discovers Toby's shocking secret, Dan is there with a shoulder to lean on. But Dan has a few secrets of his own.
One complaint I had with the ending: Everything wraps up a little too neatly and perfectly and a little too fast.
Margolis weaves a clever tale with strong secondary characters, including Martin (Abby's assistant), Soph (Abby's best friend), and Christian (a floral competitor and Martin's former lover). She also includes a couple of subplots, one of which is the custody battle over a St. Bernard. If you enjoy chick lit--and, in particular, British chick lit--you're going to love this book.
June 28, 2014
While I'm not much a fan of reading chick lit books, I will say that "Forget Me Knot" was an enjoyable book with some good comedy, a sweet romance, and a set of a few nice characters.
The story begins pretty typical: Abigail Crompton is a florist and owner of Fabulous Flowers, (a flower shop)who's been engaged to her long time boyfriend, Toby Kenwood, a successful lawyer and son to a wealthy family. Her relationship with Toby though isn't as perfect as Abby would liked as her fiance always seem to be working long hours on the job and making Abby feel pretty much neglected. Then one night, while trying to meet her future mother-in-law, Abby soon get trapped in a elevator (the worst possible moment that could happen as she has a phobia from riding it)with a stranger name Dan. He consoles Abby through her fears and, in turn, Abby reveals intimate details about herself and her own fiance. The pair soon gets rescued and Abby believes that there will be no possible way that they'll ever meet again. (As if!) The very next day, Abby's shop is chosen as an location for an romantic comedy movie and is surprised to meet the director himself: Dan.
What I really enjoyed about this book was the British humor that it had, from what the characters said or from the scenes being played out in the story. I had already figured out what the plot was but the way the author told the story was interesting. There wasn't much I didn't like; it had laughs, it had romance, it had drama (though not much)but it was still enjoyable. I might look for more books from this author.
The story begins pretty typical: Abigail Crompton is a florist and owner of Fabulous Flowers, (a flower shop)who's been engaged to her long time boyfriend, Toby Kenwood, a successful lawyer and son to a wealthy family. Her relationship with Toby though isn't as perfect as Abby would liked as her fiance always seem to be working long hours on the job and making Abby feel pretty much neglected. Then one night, while trying to meet her future mother-in-law, Abby soon get trapped in a elevator (the worst possible moment that could happen as she has a phobia from riding it)with a stranger name Dan. He consoles Abby through her fears and, in turn, Abby reveals intimate details about herself and her own fiance. The pair soon gets rescued and Abby believes that there will be no possible way that they'll ever meet again. (As if!) The very next day, Abby's shop is chosen as an location for an romantic comedy movie and is surprised to meet the director himself: Dan.
What I really enjoyed about this book was the British humor that it had, from what the characters said or from the scenes being played out in the story. I had already figured out what the plot was but the way the author told the story was interesting. There wasn't much I didn't like; it had laughs, it had romance, it had drama (though not much)but it was still enjoyable. I might look for more books from this author.
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