One Way or Another: An absolutely hilarious laugh out loud romantic comedy by Colleen ColemanMy rating: 2 of 5 stars
Katie Kelly is the main character of this book, and we meet up with her when life has gone wrong. She’s split up from her boyfriend Ben, her restaurant which was her pride and joy has gone bust, and now to make ends meet she’s working in a kitchen at an old people’s home, while sofa surfing on her friend’s couch.
One of the residents Martha, suggests that Katie applies to work for one of the best chefs in the country, and so she starts to go through the application process when she discovers a fellow contestant, is her ex Ben, but there can only be one winner.
I am going to start by apologising, as I know that books are difficult things to write, and an author will pour their heart and soul into it and lay themselves bare for everyone to either love or hate you, (preferably love you!) but I didn’t like this book at all. To begin with, it bugged me that the plot was so similar to something else I read recently, and I actually enjoyed the other book more. Then I found that I didn’t like the main character Katie, which was a real problem. I turned into a petulant teenager, and just “didn’t care” whether she got the dream job or not, I felt no connection with her. And then there was the fact that it all seemed a bit too unbelievable – her living arrangements drastically changed, and I not sure that would actually happen, the speed at which she got selected, and yes, accommodation would be provided, but not to that degree, and the ending – oh god, don’t even get me started – too perfect for real life.
The story didn’t grip me, and I was racing through it, not for the enjoyment but merely to get to the end. (sorry!)
You know the saying “to cut a long story short?” this felt like completely the reverse. It would have made an enjoyable novella, or short story, but this felt like it was being padded out in some areas, and I would skip along pages and pages of prose just to get to the point.
The book has also been described as “A totally uplifting laugh loud romantic story…” well, I must have completely missed those bits, because there weren’t any bits that made me laugh, let alone out loud.
However, if you love Hells Kitchen, or are a fan of Masterchef, then you will love this book. For me, the one part of it that I did adore was Martha. Her back story is the story that I wanted to read about as she seemed so interesting, and I felt she should have been the main character with Katie being the sub plot.
I’m afraid, this just wasn’t the story for me, but I hope that many people enjoy it.
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