14 Jan 2014

ON THE RAILS.

ON THE RAILS by SUZAN COLLINS.

SOURCE: A blogoversary win courtesy of JB at BROOK COTTAGE BOOKS.

For sexy thirty something widow Nikki, a freelance reporter, life is pretty much on track. She has some good friends, a great job, and no money worries. So what if her heart is a little bruised. 

When an assignment to cover a children’s charity do in London comes up she leaps at the chance to rub shoulders with a few celebrities. Here she meets Simon, a star from a TV soap. It’s lust at first site, and Nikki quickly wrangles a job with the charity, hoping to catch his eye.

Her new commute quickly becomes enlivened by a series of entangled affairs 'of the heart'. There’s Richard, a member of station staff, who’s 'slow and subtle attention' entices Nikki into foreign adventures but it seems he’s a long way from all he appears. There’s the gorgeous Luca, her new colleague, with his smouldering Italian good looks who is well on the way to derailing all her good intentions. And finally there’s Simon, who seems to be emerging as a narcissistic man, far more in love with himself than with any of women that have fallen for his undoubted charms.

With an assortment of warm friends, complete with ready shoulders, wicked humour and endless advice, Nikki’s travels on the rails are an adventure dotted with sex, celebrity and some hard choices.

Will she find happiness in the end, will her heart be mended and her life, at last, complete?
...... Outer back cover.

FIRST SENTENCE (Chapter 1): Nikki was in love.

MEMORABLE MOMENT (Page 81): As she lay on the floor she saw the bare hairy legs in front of her, and realised it was the man's trouser leg she had been holding onto and that she had pulled them clean off, as she fell.

MY THOUGHTS: Essentially chick-lit but with the addition of some real life events that affected England and Londoners in particular. I was delighted that rather than being too much of a 'sexy rollercoaster of a ride' as stated on the front cover much of the novel (and laugh out loud moments) revolved around Nikki's (mis)adventures 'on the rails', Tube and buses.

Whilst I felt On The Rails wasn't a novel that flowed especially well or had a particularly strong plot it certainly had several other things to recommend it, the main one being lead character Nikki herself.

Though not a character I was instantly drawn to, Nikki slowly but surely became a character I grew to really like and in some ways identify with. Vulnerable and, despite being in her thirties, rather naive when it comes to men (the phrase 'wore ones heart on their sleeve' could have been coined for her). Kind, compassionate and very observant, it is through her eyes that we get such a compelling snapshot of modern British living.

The first in a series of books, I'm looking forward to reading more of what I hope are Nikki's escapades in Back On The Rails.




Copyright: Tracy Terry @ Pen and Paper. All original content on http://pettywitter.blogspot.co.uk/ is created by the website owner, including but not limited to text, design, code, images, photographs and videos are considered to be the Intellectual Property of the website owner, whether copyrighted or not, and are protected by DMCA Protection Services using the Digital Millennium Copyright Act Title 17 Chapter 512 (c)(3). Reproduction or re-publication of this content is prohibited without permission. In addition I would also urge that if you are reading this on any other page you contact the original blog owner/reviewer.

12 comments:

Kelly said...

I can see how this might be a fun, enjoyable book, but I'm not sure it's really for me. Especially in that it will have follow-up books.

I've just begun an older, historical fiction series that may well take me months to read. I'm sure I'll break it up with lighter books like this, though. We'll see.

Literary Feline said...

I am glad you enjoyed this one, Tracy. I like books that have me laughing out loud now and then. :-) It sounds as if there is more to this book than one might first think from the cover and description. Always a plus in my book.

Karen said...

Love your review. I don't think I would have given this a second look based not he description. I just seemed like a series of flings and Nikki unlikeable.

Cherie Reich said...

This book definitely sounds like a fun read! Thanks for the review!

Lindsay said...

It's always nice to win a book as a prize, nice review of this one Tracy.

Trac~ said...

Another one to add to my continuing growing list of must read books. Hope all is well! We are back from vacation and trying to get into the swing of things again. xoxoxo

Suko said...

Excellent review, Tracy! Nikki sounds like a character I'd grow to like as well, because she's kind, compassionate, and very observant.

Yvonne @ Fiction Books Reviews said...

Hi Tracy,

Whilst this probably doesn't sound like a bok for me, I appreciate your excellent, well balanced review.

The book is amassing some quite impressive ratings and reviews and as a debut novel, from an author who has so far written on such serious subjects and issues, 'On The Rails' is doing rather well.

I guess that with her career history in the care sectors, Suzan has had ample opportunity to observe human interaction and behaviour firsthand.

Glad that you enjoyed this one enough to want more!

Hope that you are well,

Yvonne

Melissa (Books and Things) said...

Still sounds like a sweet novel. I don't mind her wearing her heart on her sleeve and that actually makes me want to read it more. Thanks for the review!

Stephanie@Fairday's Blog said...

Wonderful to hear that you are looking forward to reading more of the books in this series. :) Also- I like that the main character grew on you. Sounds like a fun read. Thanks for sharing.

Betty Manousos said...

hi tracy,
thanks so much for another brilliant review!

this book definitely sounds like a fun, delightful read!
xx

So many books, so little time said...

Great review Tracy, not an author I am familiar with but it sounds good.

Lainy http://www.alwaysreading.net