Written by Linh Le James⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
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#toots is the debut novel of new indie author Linh Le James, and has recently been announced as a finalist in the 13th Annual National Indie Excellence Awards contest. Congratulations Linh!
I would now like to take this opportunity to thank Linh for a free digital copy of her book to review and for taking part in my feature today,
'Interview with the Author'.
I would now like to take this opportunity to thank Linh for a free digital copy of her book to review and for taking part in my feature today,
'Interview with the Author'.
The blurb:
LONDON: Four sisters swipe left on everything they hate, one cocktail at a time.
Louise dreams of an exotic lifestyle, miles away from Hackney. Nick comes along. Famous, fit, funny and filthy rich. Louise will stop at nothing to seduce him.
Louise will fake it till she makes it. All the way to the ka-ching bling ring.
But the little white lies soon snowball into a mountain Louise’s Louboutins can’t climb.
Jess juggles work, two babies, a cheating husband and nannies from hell.
Carla goes on a bender, and wakes up next to her young assistant. Freddie.
Emily is getting over her cheating ex by throwing herself into the dating scene.
When work, dating and proposals all go wrong, the four sisters’ friendship is their only lifeline.
Humorous Fiction
National Indie Excellence Awads Finalist
My thoughts:
Set in London, and told mainly in the first person from the perspective of each of the sisters, #toots is an enjoyable present-day story about friendships and relationships. I have to say that the cover with its hand-me-down shell-suit led me to think that the story was about children rather than adults, and was probably set in the late 1980s. Fortunately, the accompanying blurb suggested otherwise. It sounded interesting and chaotic enough to suit my taste, and convinced me to choose this one.#toots is a well-written, funny and engaging story about the lives and loves of four sisters. The sisters are in different stages of their lives, one is married with children, one hopes to be married, one is looking for a husband who will improve her social status, and the youngest is studying at university, and just looking for love.
Jess's story is one which will resonate with a lot of mothers. While Dad seems to have all the freedoms of a single man, contributing little to the upbringing of offspring, Mum picks up the lion's share of the work, and feels overlooked and neglected. Jess suspects her husband is cheating on her, and and sets about gathering evidence. The way she goes about it, makes her sisters think that she is the one having the affair.
Carla has wasted years on Ben, a man who will not marry her. She finally wakes up to this fact and leaves him for good. At this point Freddie, a much younger man and intern in her office, makes his interest in her known. She is loving how he makes her feel, yet feels guilty about the age difference.
Louise is now calling herself Louisa. She thinks it's a more powerful name, and will help her snag her Prince Charming. She has set her heart on marrying a wealthy young man called Nick, and in order to make herself more appealing to him, is pretending to be a vegetarian, non-smoking, recently tee-total, spa manager. The reality is that she smokes, has not given up alcohol, eats meat, and is a therapist at the spa, not a manager. I don't feel that she even loves him. He just seems to be a means to an end. How he does not see her for what she is, fails me, but he does seem a bit otherwise preoccupied. The web of lies she is spinning must surely be her downfall in #toots2.
Emily is getting over her cheating ex-boyfriend with the help of flatmate Lola, who has encouraged Emily to rejoin the dating scene, and filled her phone with online dating apps. While Lola is wild, carefree, and dangerous to have as an enemy, Emily is more reserved, unsure of herself, and a tad clumsy. She meets Max, an outgoing sports enthusiast who she believes has started ghosting her. He's not, and when that issue is resolved, there is another one that Emily thinks will definitely ruin her chances of happiness with Max.
The four sisters have a strong bond with each other, and also with Lola, although she's a more extreme character than the rest. She's the one you want in your corner when the chips are down, and you are looking for payback; she's the one with the best ideas. She is described as 'Crazy Lola' - in my opinion an that's an understatement, when your see how she springs into revenge-mode after Carla leaves Ben.
There are several laugh out loud moments in this entertaining story. My favourite being Emily phoning Louise's work, pretending to be Louise, and calling in sick. Emily is then unintentionally steered into giving the reason for absence as 'syphilis'! Of the four sisters, Louise is the one I like least. To me, it felt like divine justice, as she had gone off to do her own thing, and only as an afterthought, had put the responsibility of lying to her employer on Emily.
I found the main characters to be realistic and likeable, each with their own issues to overcome. The secondary characters add the necessary intrigue and colour to the story. I had nothing against Rosie the Ginger Dinner until Jess confronted her. That's when we see Rosie's true nature, and it got my hackles up! I particularly liked Pat, Jess's work-colleague. She would drive me nuts too. However, when Jess snaps, and I thought Pat was going to get a piece of Jess's mind, what actually is said, provided constructive criticism rather than the expected tongue-lashing.
As an added bonus, there is a cocktail recipe at the beginning of each chapter, named after the chapter title. If I had been reading this book correctly, I probably should have read no more than two chapters per night!
I enjoyed reading #toots, and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys a humorous observation of modern relationships.
Linh Le James is currently working on #toots2 which she expects to publish later this year. Can't wait!
Thank you Linh, for taking the time to join me today to answer a few questions for us. We wish you well with your forthcoming book, and look forward to reading #toots2 soon.
Q1. What do you like most about being an author?
Being able to create a whole world out of thin air. I realized my characters all have psychotic tendencies. I think they might be an expression of my dark side!
Q2. Do you have a specific routine for writing? Is there a special place or particular tool you use?
I try to write a bit every day. Mornings are best when your mind is fresh. But I also always have a little pad in my handbag and jolt down notes and ideas when I’m out and about.
Q3. What inspired you to write #toots?
There is nothing comparable to the dynamic between sisters. It’s a love hate relationship. I have four siblings. We’ll love to hate each other one day, and hate to love each other the next. We fight and then make peace. But at the end of the day, we always have each other’s back like no-one else in this world has.
Q4. Do you have another story planned or in progress? When can we expect to see that?
I’m working on the sequel to #toots! I’m about a third in.
Q5. What do you like to do when you’re not planning or writing your next book?
I’m a workaholic so spend a lot of time at the computer. I’m also a mum so lots of entertaining, juggling, vomit cleaning and hair tearing with my 2 little ones.
| Author Bio – Linh Le James |
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 I was born and grew up in France. After college, I moved to Southern California and lived there for a few years before settling in the UK, first in Wales, then in Surrey. In 2018, we packed all our stuff and shipped ourselves to Dubai, hubby, the 2 little ones, the Chihuahua and myself to follow hubby’s job. Story telling has been a passion since a child. Things about me I don’t want you to know: I rely on my 3-year-old to wake me up in the morning, and consequently blame her if she sleeps in and we’re late for school. I would rather drink an 'I’m on a Celebrity' insect cocktail than go to the gym. I pretend to have meditation sessions in order to have a nap. My kids eat more greens than I do. 80% of my daily water intake is made by coffee, the rest by wine. |
| Social Media Links – | |
| Web site | http://www.linhle.co.uk/ |
| Facebook Author Page | Linh Le James Writes |
| X | twitter.com/LinhLeJames |
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