BLURB from the back:

What do you need to be a saint these days? Ambition, determination and good PR. But what do you do if your mother's a saint and you just want to be human?
Anna and Harriet share a burden: hellishly saintly mothers. So armed with a wicked sense of humour, they set out to paint the town red. And for a while life goes swimmingly. But when they tread on one toe too many, the find that they have only their worst instincts - and each other - to rely on.

***

I think the blurb is a bit misleading - at least, I remember feeling, the first time I read it, that I was expecting something a bit different. But it's still a good, fun book - well-written, good characters. I don't know if I like it quite as much as "The Temp" (by the same author), possibly partly because it takes a step a little further into the freakishly unlikely than "The Temp" does (and I'm not talking about the "miracle" that occurs at the beginning of the book). But still fun!

I'm going to bookray this, either with "The Temp" or separately.

See the journal entry for "The Temp" here:
http://bookcrossing.com/journal/3899694/J_6020533

RELEASE NOTES:

FINALLY this book is on its way.
Here's the shipping order (NOTE this has CHANGED from the original order).

LindyLouMac (Italy)
Amberkatze (Austria)
Nell-Lu (UK)
lulubookish (UK)
Shrewsburylass (UK)
Lpree (USA)
blaisezabini12 (Romania)

Please see journal entries to see where it is :)

Oh I am first up for this title! With thanks to Mochagirl who hopes I will enjoy this more than The Temp and also sent me a lovely origami frog as a gift. He is sitting next to my computer!

Well thankyou mochagirl for persuading me to read this second title from Serena Mackesy. I found it so much more enjoyable than 'The Temp' and it is very funny with some witty and intelligent dialogue. This author could go further than the chick lit genre she has written so far. Maybe she has already as this title was written in 2000.

RELEASE NOTES:

Sorry for the delay in posting this! I posted six books on to other bookcrossers today and cannot justify going to the post office again this week.
It is en route to a good BC friend in Austria who is A quick reader like myself so hopefully I am not causing delay problems!

I'm glad you enjoyed it, LindyLouMac :)

As for other books, it struck me that a google search might throw something up. I've found the author's website here:
http://www.serenamackesy.com/#

So I thought I'd post a comment here in case anyone else is interested! :) It's a bit of a rant, so don't feel obliged to read any further ;) If you're simply interested in the book then I suggest you just go to the website!!! :)

She has indeed written another book - it's called "Simply Heaven" and was published in January last year and according to the websites got quite good reviews. Seems to be more in the style of Virtue than The Temp. However, I'm a bit unsure that I want to read it. She's got an Australian narrator this time - the Aussie bloke in Virtue was bad enough (well, I've got to say that at least she didn't sink to too many stereotypes with him, since he was a nice, caring sort of bloke and yes, you find them in Australia just as much as anywhere else, despite the stereotypes ;) She obviously had a good experience with an Aussie backpacker ;) ). I'd give her the benefit of the doubt, but you can get an extract from the book on the website and the tone was just so unlike anyone I know that I stopped without even finishing the 6 pages. I don't like reading books that make me cringe every sentence..... ;)

Well, I won't say that I definitely won't read it, because now I'm really curious as to whether she manages to keep it up throughout the whole book! But I'm not going to go out of my way to find it :) If I come across it for a quid or two I'll probably pick it up.

I've got to say, it's not just non-Aussies who do this. I've only read one of Kathy Lette's books - found it recently and was quite eager to read it, having heard so much that was good about them (and being a great admirer of Kathy Lette generally). However, it was just so cringeworthy and - well - not exactly stereotyped in an obvious way, but just so not real. So, for much the same reason as I don't watch Neighbours or Home and Away, I'm staying away from the rest of her books, although she writes a good story and I'm sort of curious to find out what happens (hang on a sec: that's ambiguous as to my feelings about Neighbours and Home and Away - they don't even have good stories and I couldn't care less what happens in them!!! ;) But I suppose I don't mind that they exist. They provide jobs for people who might otherwise have to get their agents to plump for an ever-increasing growth in reality TV... And even Neighbours and Home and Away win out over reality TV, but perhaps that's just because they're easier to tune out as background noise than the media hype that tends to surround reality TV ;) ). Anyway, I'd say that Kathy Lette's books are written for a UK audience rather than any Australian audience (which makes sense, given the relative sizes of said audiences ;) ).

Having said that, it's my own personal proclivities (ie being Australian) that would put me off reading Mackesy's newest book, and there's nothing to suggest that it is otherwise not up to scratch!

I'm just wondering why she decided to write in the first person. I suspect that she could have given the character a decent treatment had she used the third person, but as she's writing the character's thoughts she seems to feel the need to use Croc Dundee/Neighbours-type language for the whole book. Ugh! It annoys me a bit, because surely she wouldn't write from the perspective of an Aussie if she hadn't at least known some (or maybe even spent a decent amount of time there)??? Or maybe making the character Australian was simply a good way to make her absolutely oblivious to class distinctions, which seems to be crucial to the plot (and that much is true about us - as a comparative thing, although everyone here tells me that class is no longer important, but as an outsider, let me say that it's still evident, if utterly unintelligible to me...).

Anyway, if you're not Australian, it probably won't grate (you'll probably just think it's quaint ;) ) so if you're interested in the book then please don't let me stop you :) And besides, maybe once she gets into the more English part of the story she'll be less try-hard-ocker...

For the record, I'm quite happy for people to write about things which they haven't directly experienced - I mean, that's what imagination's for, right? And that's what being a fiction writer is all about! I've no problem with that whatsoever. What I have a problem with is people doing it badly/using stereotypes. That's just lazy!

Ok, that's my rant for the day ;) I hope everyone enjoys Virtue (and The Temp too, for those who are on both rays) anyway, and that you also enjoy Simply Heaven if you decide to chase it up :)

Thank you LindyLouMac for sending this to me (and so quick!) and thanks Mochagirl for organising this ring!

I am nearly finished with the book I am reading so I should start this book later today. I hope to have it finished and sent off to the next person next week!

I am looking forward to reading another Serena Mackesy book and from what I have read about it so far it looks like it could be good. So watch this space for my next journal :)

Last night I read the prologue. I have never been so confused in my life. First I was wondering what the hell it all had to do with the book and I still don't know why I needed to know it all.

I have throughout today managed up to page 127, Chapter 17 and I am giving up. There have been some fun parts but I don't like the characters at all. I also have had to go back and re-read parts because instead of saying 'We work in a place where.......' she has written everything so you have to guess. However everything else that seems less important is explained in so much detail that my head starts to hurt.

I am a little worried if this author has gone from such a good book 'The Temp' to this. It is not at all what I expected and it is basically 2 rich girls waiting for their trust funds who don't like their mother's, dead or alive.

Well maybe I will take another look over the weekend...however I have the address for blaisezabini12 but will PM her to tell her it will be on it's way to her and put this in the post next week.

Oh and thank you to LindyLouMac for sending this on to me even though I didn't finish reading it! :( Also thank you to Mochagirl for sending this out on a ring.

I hope the other people in the ring enjoy this! I look forward to seeing what everyone else thinks of it.

blaisezabini12 has told me she is leaving in a week or so for a long trip to the states. Seeing as the book won't get to her in time I will be sending the book onto Nell-Lu.

This just arrived. Considering my lukewarm response to The Temp and the other journal entries here, this should be an interesting read! I'm going to put down my current book (which is taking an age to read) and start this one tonight.

Thanks Amberkatze for the great postcard and thanks Mochagirl for starting the ray.

I enjoyed this. Like LindyLouMac, I thought this was much better than The Temp. The writing is much more readable and the characters stronger. In some ways, Mackesy makes her own life really hard. She can clearly write interesting and believable characters (I got quite attached to Anna) but far too many things in the plot and backstory are 'freakishly unlikely' (good phrase!). So, I found this a page turner and an entertaining, engrossing read, yet on another level it was rubbish.

Thanks, Mochagirl, for organising the rays for this and The Temp. I've enjoyed the experience!

I've PMed to make sure lulubookish still wants to read this, and will send it on when I hear back.

On its way to lulubookish...
Happy reading!

Received in the post this morning thanks will read shortly then send it onto next person in book ring. Thanks Mochagirl for arranging the bookring. Thanks lulubookish for passing the book on shame you didnt get to read it.

I have tried to pick this book up to read quite a few times and each time i put it down I forget whats happened. Didnt/Couldnt get into this book will get in touch with next person on bookring. Thanks for sending it Mochagirl.

I preferred The Temp to this one

RELEASE NOTES:

Safe Journey book - hope you enjoy it :)

I'm a bit behind in logging this in, sorry. It arrived about a week ago. I just finished "The Temp" and this is next on my list. I'm looking forward to reading it!

I finished this some time ago - sorry for not journaling sooner!

Anyway, I read this right after "The Temp". I have to say I didn't like this one as much. It was an okay story - I did find it interesting to read about their childhood and why the two girls perceived their mothers as they did. But I think "The Temp" was better.

I've sent a PM to blaisezabini12 and will get this on its way soon.

Thanks for sharing it!

This book made it to my place last week and as I have a one-week holiday it was perfect! I've enjoyed this book more than The Temp...maybe because I liked the characters more. And the articles inserted all around the books were really funny:)
I must say that the end was surprising for me (I wouldn't have expected ... to be the stalker/aggressor).
Thank you again for organising this ray!