When Leila finds herself on the painful end of yet another disastrous break-up, no amount of Ben & Jerry’s and trashy rom-coms can cheer her up. And so – to the amusement of her friends and family – Leila takes a more drastic approach to dealing with heartbreak: she swears off sex for an entire year.
Luckily, she has plenty to keep her mind off men. Between starting a business with ice queen Lucy, straightening out her sister Tasha’s tangled love life, and running a blog read by thousands of single ladies, Leila is soon snowed under. But she can’t help finding a little time for irresistible architect Nick – Lucy’s funny and infuriatingly sexy brother.
After an unplanned encounter under the mistletoe, the Man Ban looks like it might be skidding to a halt. Has Leila found love when she least expected it?
What does TWG think?
I gotta be cool relax, get hip, get on my track’s, take a back seat, hitch-hike, take a long ride on my motor bike, until I’m readyyyyyyyyyy.
Crazy little thing called loveeeeeeee.
Please say that I’m not the only person who started singing that song as soon as they read the title of this book? What a belter song, and what a fandabbydozy book!
With Leila’s history regarding relationships, when it came to light that she was going to be ‘wearing’ a self-imposed chastity belt, I couldn’t help but laugh out loud. It was as though Russell Brand had that he was going to give up sex and his bad boy ways. I mean, can you imagine it? Not that I doubted Leila at all, don’t get me wrong. I was just a bit ‘reaaallllyyyyyyy?’. Obviously because of that whole situation, I became as hooked on the book as Cookie Monster is hooked on cookies – and I’m not even joking! It was like someone had superglued my hands to my kindle for the duration of the novel! Not that I was complaining of course.
Of course the whole blog idea was absolutely genius, completely taking the novel up several notches from ‘romantic comedy’ to ‘OHMYGAWDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD’. Despite being a total unromantic person, I LOVE reading romantic comedies and, seeing as Leila came across as a lot more feisty than some other protagonists in this particular genre, I felt that I was able to relate to her a lot more due to her realistic personality traits.
What I loved most about this novel was how the main characters love life didn’t take over the full storyline, meaning that other characters were able to cause more bother. I mean that in a nice way by the way, because the other characters in this novel DID cause a lot of bother! With some other romantic comedies I have read, I have found that the main character’s love life dominates the storyline and everything else, with all the other characters coming across as though they’re playing ‘extras’ in book as opposed to being memorable. In ‘Crazy Little Thing Called Love’ however, that was not the case. Whilst Leila and her man ban does take control the storyline most of the time, characters like Leila’s brother and sister make themselves known in more ways than one. I do realise that I am being exceptionally vague in this review, but I don’t really want Harper Impulse to put me on the naughty step for giving out spoilers. Just trust me on this; you HAVE to read it.
Yes, I’ll admit, there was a character who drove me completely up the wall with her selfishness and basic vibe, so much so, I nearly came close to shouting at the book for her to ‘SHUUUUPPPPPPPPP’ (I’m from Essex, it works, believe me). Obviously she wouldn’t have heard, ahem, but it would have made me feel better! I would love to say that when other circumstances became even clearer as more of the storyline unfolded, my opinion of this character eased and I showed empathy towards her – but I’m sorry to say, I didn’t. I probably should have done. But, I didn’t. Again, seeing as I am being as vague as Louis Walsh’s sexual orientation, I’ll let you ponder that!
I thought Charlotte Butterfield’s novel was absolutely brilliant! My sides were sore from all the laughing! I’m not going to lie, I was afraid that the storyline was going to take the ‘predictable’ route at first, but as I got to know more of the characters and watch situations unfold, I knew that ‘Crazy Little Thing Called Love’ was anything BUT predictable. It’s different. It’s fun. And, most importantly, it was such an easy read which meant that I was able to lose myself in the characters lives, as well as the authors fantastic way with words. What’s not to like about that?
‘Crazy Little Thing Called Love’ had me hooked from the get go, made me cry with laughter, and made me feel exceptionally cosy whilst reading it. Charlotte Butterfield is a new author for me, but I can guarantee that this book will not be the last book that I read of hers.
If you’re after a light-hearted, relatable, and giggly read with so much storyline to sink your teeth into, you will absolutely adore this. Believe me!
Thank you Harper Impulse.
‘Crazy Little Thing Called Love’ by Charlotte Butterfield will be available to buy on the 7th September, but it is available to pre-order now from Amazon UK
The Writing Garnet 