MARSHMALLOWS FOR BREAKFAST by Dorothy Koomson

Publisher: Delta
Date published: January 2009
ISBN: 978-0-385-34133-2
Interracial Romance
Paper
Reviewed by Pam


Kendra Tamale returns to England after falling in love with Will, an Australian, causes problems she doesn’t want to deal with. She rents a studio apartment sight unseen over the Internet, then finds herself drawn into the life of Kyle Gainsborough and his six-year-old-twins, Jaxon and Summer.

Kyle is struggling to keep working and to keep his wife from causing anymore problems. He mourns the fact his love for Ashlyn is slowly withering beneath the weight. Meanwhile, Kendra is also weighted down by her love for Will, and what had happened to her before she’d left England.

Kendra works for her long-time friend Gabriel, finding the right people for jobs, but dealing with the receptionist, Janene, makes her working life miserable. Her life begins to unravel even more after Kendra attends a conference and has to face up to yet another part of her past.

The broken girl—broken boy scenario trying to heal scenario, becomes very unbelievable as neither of them ever gets past talking. No normal woman receiving a letter from the love of her life, would leave it lying around unopened for months. As the heroine is also blind when it comes to Kyle the hero, with no real resolution after reading 468 pages it isn’t really worth reading about at all. The story has a disappointing ending, plus the part where Will visits seems to be missing. For a woman longing to have a family and love, then turns it down on every level, the plot and characters need a serious rewrite.

For this reviewer the way it kept switching from 1st person to 3rd, was also a trifle disconcerting at times. This is a tale of unrequited love that sadly never lived up to the readers expectations.

MY BEST FRIEND’S GIRL by Dorothy Koomson

Publisher Bantam Discovery
Date published
ISBN 978-0-553-59141-5
Chick Lit
Mass Market Paperback
Reviewed by Pam



Best friends Adele and Kamryn met in college and thought nothing could come between them. What neither had reckoned on, was Nate, Kamryn’s fiancé.
After Adele seduces Nate, and then finds herself pregnant, the love and friendship dissolves as if it had never been. What Kamryn never expects is to find herself a mother to Tegan, Adele’s daughter. What is even harder is the fact, Tegan looks like Nate reminding her of the love and the friendship she had lost. She struggles to be a mother and to hold her feelings for Nate at bay. As she struggles with welfare and prejudice her love for her best friends little girl grows. She knows deep down she loves Nate, but can never forgive him. Now she needs to look toward a future, but can she let go of the past and allow love back into her life.

MY BEST FRIEND’S GIRL is a funny but sobering view of life when love is betrayed. It was very witty in parts, poignant and heart breaking in others. It will remind the reader, life is often unpredictable and very hard to understand why things happen the way they do. It is also a reminder that quite often families are often made up of the most unlikely people, but love is always at the core. The heroine’s journey is in parts harrowing, but she always manages to find the light at the end of the tunnel. Kamryn is an everyday person, one most readers will be able to relate to. Her love life might fall apart and there is trouble at work but she picks herself up and keeps going. This is an inspirational story one which could happen to anyone of us, told with compassion and skill.