So, I was in the mood for some fluffy romance and this Kinsella novel was just what I needed. I have read the Shopaholic series a long time ago (though not the last couple of installments, I believe) and I felt like it was just the perfect style for my current mood. And the topic of striving for perfection and presenting a false, "perfect" image of your life online is something I have been thinking about lately.

    Now, this is the story of Catherine, a young woman working in marketing. She's a country girl, from a Somerset farm, specifically, but she has always dreamed of a more glamorous life and had her eye on London. She finally found a job at a marketing agency and the story begins with her narrating about her amazing life... And then we peel back the Instagram filter and see that she is working a job she doesn't love (research), her salary is terrible, she lives in a small apartment with two other people where there is not even a closet in her bedroom, her commute is horrendous, and she really has no friends.

    We are then introduced to her boss, the amazing Demeter, who is always in charge, full of ideas and has everything under control. It's who Katie aspires to be like - or well, she'd like just a small portion of Demeter's seemingly perfect life, full of fabulous parties, an amazing family, a great job, killer looks and a house featured in a prominent lifestyle magazine. But, well, we'll soon learn that not everything is as it seems...

    As some trouble arises in the office, Katie meets Alex, with whom she has a lot of fun and who seems like a great guy. Her confidence is shaken somewhat when she learns that he's the son of a veritable magnate in their field and a partner in her firm - so, technically, her boss. Though she tires to stick it out, make things work - get a boyfriend and a promotion, everything comes to a halt as she is fired.

    Not wanting to admit defeat to either herself or her London-hating father, she attempts to find a job as soon as she can, but is forced to move back home. Under the pretense of taking a sabbatical from work, she goes back to her family farm where her father and stepmom are opening a glamping site. Out of all her father's ridiculous (and abandoned) business ideas, this one seems to stick and she throws herself into making a brand of the place.

    Things get further complicated as her former boss, Demeter shows up there with her family, and Katie cannot resist the temptation to get back at the person who fired her. And the person who she thinks is having an affair with Alex. Yes, there's that storyline too. As a further complication, Alex shows up to the farm as well. It's a jolly few days. Reading about her petty reasoning and the revenge on Demeter made me chuckle a bit but I was mostly horrified by how childish this grown woman seemed to be. Her assumptions and her poor behavior made me livid, especially as you can plainly see that something is going on in Demeter's life very early on (before it's all spelled out) and Katie is pretending that she's being mean for the hell of it. (She never actually came across as mean to me, to be honest; simply an efficient woman who had a job to do, a team to manage and expectations placed on her by the higher-ups in the company.)

    We get resolutions when these people finally learn to communicate and not just come to conclusions. Alex needs to learn how to plant roots and stick around, Demeter needs to open up more and communicate clearly, and Katie needs to learn how to distinguish real life from the image we project on social media, as well as how to communicate with her dad in a way that doesn't end up hurting them both.

    The ending did seem a bit rushed. As much as the office part and the farm life stretched (especially the glamping bit) the resolution happened in less than 10 pages. The final twist was just... there. It felt like a draft that was supposed to be expanded but the author hit a deadline and she released it as is. I don't know, it was kind of satisfying, but I do wish we had seen more of it, not the CliffsNotes version. Still, it was a light summer read that I finished in the course of an afternoon. So, I suppose I can recommend you give it a go but don't expect too much. Katie has nothing on Becky Bloomwood.