29 July 2015

Book Review: Girls On Tour by Nicola Doherty

"Longing for that well-deserved getaway? Desperate for a mini-break? Breathe a sigh of relief because you are cordially invited to join The Girls on Tour - the ultimate reading remedy to banish your blues. This fun, globe-trotting series unleashes unadulterated escapism and entertainment in perfect bite-size episodes. If you enjoy Lindsey Kelk and Mhairi McFarlane, you'll love Nicola Doherty so let her whisk you away with the girls. 

Join Poppy in Paris, on a work trip with more than a few surprises in store. Find Lily in LA, where her dream role is ambushed by an all-American dreamboat. Take to the slopes with Maggie in Meribel, where a romantic skiing holiday turns topsy-turvy. Ride a Vespa with Rachel in Rome, where a girls' holiday is gate-crashed by a blast from the past. And jet with the girls to Manhattan where they take the city by storm and are shocked by a big secret in the big apple."

Rating: 4/5

You can buy Girls on Tour as a paperback or an eBook now!

This book was initially released as 5 individual novellas, with each of the stories following each of the girl's taking the lead. I hadn't read any of them so I was really excited when they were all published together in 1 book, called Girls on Tour. The idea of following individual stories coming together by the end was great, and I was really excited to read it, especially because the previous few books I have read by Nicola have been great reads!

The stories follow 5 girls as they go off on their holidays around the world, all for different reasons. The first up is Poppy, heading to Paris on a work trip with her colleague Charlie. She has to woo a famous author in order to get him to sign for their publishing house, but it isn't going to be the straight forward trip she thought it would be. After that, her friend Lily jets off to L.A. to help her cousin plan her big American wedding. She decides to go on an audition when she's there but thinks she may have met her new leading man elsewhere. Then there is Maggie, who goes to Meribel with her boyfriend his friends on a skiing trip, but as the trip goes on, she isn't sure her relationship is going to last the distance. Finally, there is Rachel, who goes to Rome on a girl's holiday, determined to do different things with her life. She's determined to follow her guide book and cram all of the sights into her trip, but the girls have other plans. After their individual trips, the women reunite once more for a final trip to Manhattan for Lily, but she's keeping the reason under wraps...

As you can see, there's lots going on in this book, and I enjoyed how the stories all linked together, albeit some less than others, but then the final gathering of all 4 women in the end at Manhattan was fantastic and a fitting end to the girls adventures. I love travel books, especially ones that go to places that I have never been to, and I was pleased to therefore read about L.A., Rome and Meribel in this book. Nicola Doherty does a wonderful job of bringing the places to life, from the streets of L.A. in the sunshine with Lily to the snowy slopes of Meribel with Maggie over New Year's. I think my favourite setting for a story had to be Meribel, it sounded so picturesque and I felt that I would be just like Maggie - hopeless on the slopes but good at enjoying a warming hot chocolate in the snowy surroundings! The other settings were, of course, brilliant too but it was Meribel that stood out to me, although I did enjoy seeing different parts of Paris with Poppy too.

Each of the women are very different, so it was easy to tell them apart, especially when they made appearances in each others stories. They are all linked, some moreso than others, so it was fun to work out how they all knew each other. My favourite probably had to be Poppy or Lily, they were the most relatable for me, and I felt that their stories were believable and I enjoyed reading them. Poppy had a dream job in publishing, and I liked that Lily eventually took a risk on something and was successful in what she chose to do. The other two women, Maggie and Rachel, were good too, but I just felt Poppy and Lily were stronger characters for me. You do get to know the women well though, because each of their stories is told from a first person perspective, so it allows you to really know them well, before the final story is narrated by Poppy again.

This is a really fun read, and it was nice to read something that was written a bit differently! Each of the stories were really good to read, and were a great length too - enough that there was plenty going on, and you could connect with and care about the characters, but not too long that it dragged on a bit! I liked the women all being interlinked too, and having to support each other through the differing things going on in their lives. They each go through that many women reading this will be able to relate to, and I really liked that they were believable characters. Nicola Doherty's writing was really easy to read, allowed me to get really into the stories, and I loved her descriptions of the places in each of their stories. A fantastic, fun summer read that I thoroughly enjoyed.

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