NEW RELEASE
Amber Scott is Starting Over - Ruth Saberton (2012)
Amber Scott has just secured her dream job at Senora magazine. She can't wait to tell her fiance Ed, but she can't seem to get hold of him. Never mind - she will just book a table at his favourite restaurant. When she turns up at its door she discovers it was turned into a trendy boutique six months ago. Didn't Ed say that he took some clients there only a couple of weeks ago?! As Amber finally sits down with Ed to break her great news to him, he beats her to it, revealing that he has taken a job at a law firm in Cornwall. Amber is shocked that Ed didn't even think to ask her how she felt about a move, but he insists he is doing it for their future and that the move could be a new start for them. Once down in Cornwall, little seems to change in Amber and Ed's stale relationship, and with Ed working all hours under the sun, Amber is left to adjust to her new life. A local, reminiscent of Heathcliff, isn't making the transition easy. Throw in a key-eating dog, an escapist goat, a Lothario vet, a fun-loving lady of the manor, an enigmatic lord of the manor with a mysterious past and a new age mother and her spirit guide and Amber's peaceful country life becomes anything but. Although Amber's naivety and loyalty to the despicable Ed may seem feeble and incorrigible, I found the plot shed light on the very real issue of the disastrous and self-defeating lengths women go to please their partners. Generally, there is plenty of humour in this novel and aside from the odd dashes of hocus pocus that did not seem to add much to the novel, the book is well-written and engaging. Ruth Saberton certainly seems to have mastered the chick lit formula in this book. (JC)
Moving to the countryside can bring out your wild side. Or so finds the heroine of Ruth Saberton's latest novel Amber Scott is Starting Over. The summary says: "Amber Scott loves her city life - a terrific job working on a glossy magazine, and a fiance, Ed, she's known since uni. Even if Ed doesn't take her job seriously (as a solicitor, he doesn't have much time for women's magazines!), it is Amber's dream job. So Ed's news that he has taken a job in the West Country turns Amber's world upside down. The new life in Somerset does not get off to the best start. The huge house Ed was so keen on is, well, huge - what is Amber going to do with four acres? And do M&S make Aga-ready meals? And when a handsome, if surly, man leads the local hunt over her land, it's more than Amber can stand. So how is it that, before long Amber is friends with the local eccentric Lady of the Manor, making love potions at her mother's recommendation - and answering the door naked to strangers?"