The Secret Shopper's Revenge
Kate Harrison
Rating: 4 stars
Amazon UK (K £2.99 | P £8.99)
Imagine shopping for a living, going undercover in the lingerie department, homing in on size-zero haute couture . . . and shopping the shop girls who think service is a dirty word. Welcome to the world of the Secret Shopper.
New Mum Emily wants revenge on the stick-thin assistants who laugh at her post-baby tummy and post-baby budget. But frumpiness has its advantages when you're wielding a secret camera - and sending the damning footage straight to head office.
Store manager Sandie has a lifelong love of the world of retail - the glitz, the glamour, the stockroom. Then she's fitted up by an ambitious assistant and secret shopping is the only way to keep her one passion alive.
Glamorous widow Grazia can't leave behind the high life, despite her chronically low bank balance. The more she's buying - and spying - the less time she has to mourn her husband or her fair-weather friends who've dumped her.
They're Charlie's Shopping Angels, controlled by a mysterious figure who sends them assignments. But when they're sent to stitch up a doomed shop owned by Will, the angels begin to feel divided loyalties . . .
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I feel like this book took me an absolute age to finish. But I got there in the end and I really enjoyed the overall storyline. Before I started this novel, I was in a bad book rut. Every book I picked up to start, I just couldn't get into for some reason. Then I would try again with a different book, and it will finish in the same way - I couldn't get into it! So, instead of reading the usual books I do (chick lit's set in cafes, countryside, living by the sea etc), I decided to read something a little different.
The Secret Shoppers Revenge by Kate Harrison is set in London and is about 3 completely different women. Emily has just had a baby and is struggling to keep a flat in order when her husband leaves her for another woman. Sandie has just been fired from her dream job and the events that follows her after this makes Sandie re-think about living in London. And Grazia (probably my favourite of the characters) has just lost her famous artist husband Leon and is still learning to live her own life now that her slightly controlling husband has gone.
I'll admit that I found this book to be a little slow in the beginning, but when the secret shopping started, I really got into it. I love all things beauty and fashion, so reading a book that is based around these two things was really refreshing for me and I'm so glad I gave it a go. It's different to what I usually read and even though some characters irritated me a little (Emily when she just can't. stop. listening. to. her. husband! I felt so sorry for Will when they were at the train station!), I really enjoyed it overall. It's quite a hefty book and once you get that initial slow start out of the way, you'll soon be whizzing through the pages.
There are a few twists and turns throughout the whole novel which made it really interesting and I was hooked nearer to the end of the book (especially regarding Grazia's storyline with her husband and his paintings!!!). Overall, it wasn't my favourite novel ever but it did it's job and it was a nice read. Would I rush to read something by this author again? Probably not but if I come across another novel of hers I would pick it up - you can never judge a book by its cover!
I feel like this book took me an absolute age to finish. But I got there in the end and I really enjoyed the overall storyline. Before I started this novel, I was in a bad book rut. Every book I picked up to start, I just couldn't get into for some reason. Then I would try again with a different book, and it will finish in the same way - I couldn't get into it! So, instead of reading the usual books I do (chick lit's set in cafes, countryside, living by the sea etc), I decided to read something a little different.
The Secret Shoppers Revenge by Kate Harrison is set in London and is about 3 completely different women. Emily has just had a baby and is struggling to keep a flat in order when her husband leaves her for another woman. Sandie has just been fired from her dream job and the events that follows her after this makes Sandie re-think about living in London. And Grazia (probably my favourite of the characters) has just lost her famous artist husband Leon and is still learning to live her own life now that her slightly controlling husband has gone.
I'll admit that I found this book to be a little slow in the beginning, but when the secret shopping started, I really got into it. I love all things beauty and fashion, so reading a book that is based around these two things was really refreshing for me and I'm so glad I gave it a go. It's different to what I usually read and even though some characters irritated me a little (Emily when she just can't. stop. listening. to. her. husband! I felt so sorry for Will when they were at the train station!), I really enjoyed it overall. It's quite a hefty book and once you get that initial slow start out of the way, you'll soon be whizzing through the pages.
There are a few twists and turns throughout the whole novel which made it really interesting and I was hooked nearer to the end of the book (especially regarding Grazia's storyline with her husband and his paintings!!!). Overall, it wasn't my favourite novel ever but it did it's job and it was a nice read. Would I rush to read something by this author again? Probably not but if I come across another novel of hers I would pick it up - you can never judge a book by its cover!
Fab review :)
ReplyDeleteTotally agree that it's a good read, not the best but lots of fun.
Cora | http://www.teapartyprincess.co.uk/
Yeah, not the best but still enjoyable :)
DeleteS x