Take a Look at Me Now by Miranda Dickinson | Chick-Lit, Romance

Take a Look at Me Now
Miranda Dickinson
Genres: Chick-lit, Romance
Age Group: Adult (No Adult Themed Content)
Publication Date: 24th October 2013
Number of Pages: 390
Source: Netgalley

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How far would you go to make a new start? 

When Nell’s on-off boyfriend Aidan calls her into his office, losing her job is the last thing she expects. 

Heartbroken and unemployed to boot, she makes a radical decision to blow her redundancy cheque and escape to the untested waters of San Francisco. 

But is the glamour of the city too good to be true? And can Nell leave her past behind?

Take a Look at Me Now is one of those stories that I read at the right place and the right time. As my own feelings mirrored Nell’s at the beginning of this story, I felt fully connected to Nell and her mundane job and aspirations to start her own business. As an aspiring business-owner myself, I’d be lying if I said I hadn't dreamed about setting-up my own business whilst reading this story and all the little details involved. :-)

The story really takes shape when Nell is made redundant and spontaneously escapes her London woes and flies over to San Francisco to stay with her cousin, Lizzie for 6 weeks. Within the gorgeous setting of San Francisco (one of my favourite places), Nell re-discovers her dream of starting-up her own American Diner business and with Annie’s - the best American diner in the neighbourhood - just on her doorstep, Nell is inspired and starts to work towards making her dream happen.

The business start-up element of this story is probably the part I connected to most; however there are also a number of relationship and romance elements within this book which I also found enjoyable. Nell is in relationship chaos; in London she leaves her on-again-off-again boyfriend, Aidan (who’s actually the one who makes her redundant!), and then in San Francisco she enjoys a ‘holiday romance’ which may be more than Nell had banked for. Lizzie (Nell’s cousin) also has her own love life issues when business and pleasure appear to want to mix and there is also the heart-warming relationship of Saul & Esther Alfaro, who bicker and tease each other but after 50-odd years of marriage still love each unconditionally. These multiple romance elements add the drama to the story and keep it fast paced. I didn’t know where Nell was going to end up in the end but I obviously had my own ideas as to who was right for her! I’m not going to say whether that’s who she ends up with or not. :-)

Overall this book was super enjoyable and I’d recommend it to all chick-literature, contemporary fans. The story’s twist and turns are very predictable however I don’t think that ruined my enjoyment of this book as I was fully submersed in Nell’s dream. I’m even going to own up and say I cried at the end, even if I guessed the ending about midway through the story, Miranda Dickenson wrote the final chapter so well and undescriptive that it wasn’t until the final couple of pages that I realised my ideal ending was true. Great job!