LUCY BLUE, WHERE ARE YOU?

Author: Louise Harwood ISBN: 0425213587 1/2007 CHICK LIT Publisher: BERKLEY TRADE

Realizing she's got a job that doesn't suit her and a suitor who doesn't do the job, Lucy makes the bold decision to spend New Year's Eve in Scotland, away from family and friends. But on the way back home, she finds herself snowbound at the airport and forced to share a ride with a handsome stranger. Normally, she's not the sort of girl to pick up a stranger, much less sleep with him—but this is a moment out of time and place and Lucy goes for it. Back in London, just as Lucy decides to put this little secret adventure behind her, she encounters something shocking. Namely, a brightly-colored train-station poster asking "Lucy Blue, where are you?" And thus begins a journey that just might make Lucy see her chance meeting as the chance of a lifetime...

RRAH's THOUGHTS AND PONDERINGS:

I found LUCY BLUE, WHERE ARE YOU? by Louise Harwood, to be entertaining and witty. I flew through it, captivated by the author's expertly woven tale, so swiftly that an afternoon elapsed without my even realizing time was passing!

This is a book about choices. Lucy chooses to flee her stifling boyfriend on New Year's Eve and attend a party in Scotland without him. Before she leaves, she breaks up with him. But Scotland is dreadfully dull and Lucy decides to return home. It's a good thing the party was a bust, because she meets a handsome man at the airport where they're both stranded by a snowstorm. She and Jude share a car ride back to London... taking a small, erotic detour on the way.

I liked this book because Lucy took control of her unhappy situation and went in search of someone new. She made a choice to improve her situation. And by the end of the book, she's got several choices to make. I spent the last few chapters on the edge of my seat, hoping Lucy would make the same choice I'd make! No, I won't give anything away. If you want to know how this ends, you'll have to read it yourself. All I'll say is the author's voice is refreshing, her writing seamless and the story is well told.

All in all, LUCY BLUE, WHERE ARE YOU? is a great way to spend any afternoon!

Kay James