SOPHIE KINSELLA is a former financial journalist and the author of the bestselling novels Confessions of a Shopaholic, Shopaholic Takes Manhattan, Shopaholic Ties the Knot, Shopaholic & Sister and Can You Keep a Secret? She lives in England, where she is at work on her next book. How would you have responded to the questions that introduce Chapter One? Have you ever been accused of being addicted to stress? What’s the difference between having a busy life and being a workaholic? Apart from my brother Peter, of course. He had a nervous breakdown. But the rest of us. I love my job. I love the satisfaction of spotting the loophole in a contract. I love the adrenaline rush of closing a deal. I love the thrill of negotiation, and arguing, and making the best point in the room. What follows is equal parts fun and amusement as Samantha struggles to make breakfast has no idea about how to work the oven or the washing machine. The next day when she wakes up, she is the housekeeper of a beautiful big mansion in rural England and has no clue how to go about her new job. (I have not mentioned any spoiler; all this is already mentioned in the blurb).

I enjoyed the Shopaholic series, Amanda - I Just didn't feel that this was up to the same standard. I’ve read your answers carefully,’ Maya gives me a thoughtful look, ‘and you’re obviously quite a stressed-out woman.’ Before Samantha leaves London, what are her highest expectations regarding love? Was there anything appealing about six-minute sex with Jacob? What stokes her attraction to Guy?Access-restricted-item true Addeddate 2020-12-10 04:46:14 Boxid IA1999708 Camera USB PTP Class Camera Collection_set printdisabled External-identifier

In 2014 she published a Young Adult novel Finding Audrey about a teenage girl with social anxiety and her madcap family, and in January 2018, Sophie published her first illustrated book for young readers about the charming adventures of a mother-daughter fairy duo, Mummy Fairy and Me (also published as Fairy Mom and Me). I don’t have time for this. I really do not have the time. But it’s my birthday treat and I promised Aunt Patsy.To be more accurate, it’s last year’s birthday treat. Aunt Patsy gave me the gift voucher for an ‘Ultimate De-stress Experience’ just over a year ago. She’s my mother’s sister and has major worries about women with careers. Every time I see her she grasps my shoulders and peers at my face with an anxious frown, and in the card that came with the voucher she wrote ‘Make Some Time For Yourself, Samantha!!!’ As Samantha clumsily navigates the unfamiliar world of domestic chores and learns to bake, clean, and garden, she begins to embrace the simpler joys of life. Along the way, she encounters quirky characters, including the eccentric yet endearing gardener, Nathaniel, and the Cook, who becomes her unexpected mentor. With their guidance, Samantha starts to discover there is more to life than power suits and corporate success. Her achievements are extraordinary and her life can be summed up in a neat phrase – “always on the run”. I’m . . . busy. Plenty of people are busy. It’s the way the world is. I have a high-powered job, my career is important to me and I enjoy it.

I had so much fun charting Samantha’s comedy disasters in the kitchen, her battles with the ironing board, her gradual slowing down and relaxing and finding love… It’s a story of an uber-professional realizing there’s more to life than work, and starting to appreciate the little things.

There was a point when I wondered if I would be able to finish this book. It was only the fact that it was a borrowed book that stopped me ripping it up and throwing it in the bin. I found the character of Samantha Sweeting infuriating and totally unbelievable. At the beginning of the book we see her as a competent, if over-worked, lawyer, very much in control of what's she's doing. She's within moments of achieving a partnership when an error comes to light. We then have a complete change of personality. Instead of staying to sort the matter out and acting with integrity she does a runner. She does what an immature schoolgirl would have done. If she was so incapable of handling the pressure she wouldn't have been successful in her job. A good lawyer is calm in that sort of emergency.