Product Description What’s a round-the-world honeymoon if you can’t buy the odd souvenir to ship back home? Like the twenty silk dressing gowns Becky found in Hong Kong…the hand-carved dining table (and ten chairs) from Sri Lanka…the, um, huge wooden giraffes from Malawi (that her husband Luke expressly forbade her to buy)… Only now Becky and Luke have returned home to London and Luke is furious. Two truckloads of those souvenirs have cluttered up their loft, and the bills for them are outrageous. Luke insists Becky go on a budget. And worse: her beloved best friend Suze has found a new best friend while Becky was away. Becky’s feeling rather blue—when her parents deliver some incredible news. She has a long-lost sister! Becky is thrilled! She’s convinced her sister will be a true soulmate. They’ll go shopping together, have manicures together.…Until she meets Jessica for the first time and gets the shock of her life. Surely Becky Bloomwood’s sister can’t…hate shopping?
Sophie Kinsella is a former financial journalist and the author of the bestselling novels Confessions of a Shopaholic, Shopaholic Takes Manhattan, Shopaholic Ties the Knot, Can You Keep a Secret?,and The Undomestic Goddess. She lives in England, where she is at work on her next book.
"You're a skinflint miserable cow who doesn't know how to have a good time!"November 22, 2008 1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Sophie Kinsella has done it yet again, and taken the presumably one-note concept of a shopaholic to new heights of character development, plot twists and comedy!
The introduction of skinflint Jess, a newly discovered sister, holds a mirror up to Becky's obsessive devotion to conspicuous consumerism and lays the groundwork for conflicts so far reaching as to put Becky on a life-threatening mountain climb (in kitten heels!) and further throw her into conflict with her new husband's major client by staging a protest march against him!
The story has Becky on a roller-coaster ride from one crisis to another, and in-between there is plenty of pathos and sentimentality as our favorite chick lit heroine learns by hard experience the precious value of friends and family.
I simply can't wait to read more by this author!
Will Becky ever learn?October 8, 2008 This time around Becky, the spoiled, materialistic bumblehead is unemployed and married to her sure to be long-suffering lover Luke. They spend the early part of the novel honeymooning around the globe for a year while Becky secretly spends all sorts of dough on silly trinkets and other assorted things (such as two dining room tables!) that Luke doesn't want or need. How the business savvy Luke remains oblivious to her spending is beyond me but oblivious he is until they return home and the huge trucks arrive with all of her secret purchases. He frets about the finances and puts her on a budget and, of course, she has a secret credit card that allows her to continue to do major damage. Luke nearly works himself to death while Becky is off putting his career in jeopardy so she can buy a trendy bag. Serves him right for marrying the bubblehead, if you ask me.
When Becky returns home from her travels she discovers she has a half sister and is overjoyed with visions of shopping, sleepovers, popcorn and spending endless hours watching Pretty Woman and Sleepless in Seattle with her new sis. It's difficult to believe this woman is nearing 30 because she thinks like a tween, but what do I know? Much to Becky's dismay she quickly learns that her new sister isn't all she dreamed her up to be. First off she hates shopping, is super thrifty, is an environmental activist and wisely wants nothing to do with Becky. Due to Becky's wildly self-destructive antics the new sis warms up to her and opens up. This part of the book partially redeems Becky's silly behavior. As always, Becky means well in this novel and down deep has a good heart but she's such a materialistic airhead she makes me want to scream throughout most of the book. I'm sure I'll be back for more punishment when the next releases comes my way . . .
The Honeymoon is Over!!July 31, 2008 Another great addition to the Shopaholic series - Sophie Kinsella once again brings Becky, a quirky but lovable character back into the fray with a wonderful mix of weary world traveling, sisterhood and of course, more shopping!!
We pick Becky up at the end of a 10-month honeymoon with her new hubbie Luke - they've been all over the world and Becky's got a lot of shopping to show for it - but it's easy - she just buys and has it all shipped home - she'll worry about where to put it all later! Becky decides to surprise her parents and her best friend Suze - by arriving in England unexpectedly. Becky's in for a rude surprise - she seems to have been forgotten by her best friend Suze, who's had twins since Becky left for her honeymoon. Along with the twins, Suze's got a brand new buddy that doesn't seemed too thrilled about Becky's return. Even her parents don't seem too thrilled to see her and there's some girl lurking in the background - who can she be? Well, Becky finds out that she's got a sister! It seems that before her parents met, Becky's dad had a romance with a flight attendant and never knew that she'd had a baby girl that she named Jessica. Becky is thrilled to hear about her sister and decides that the best way to bond is by...what else? Shopping!! She quickly learns that Jess doesn't like shopping (Gasp!) and basically finds Becky to be irresponsible and shallow. Becky is determined to change her sisters' mind and travels to the English countryside where Jess lives in order to bridge the gap and find her way into her sisters' heart. Will Becky and Jess become soul mates? Will Jess learn to love shopping? Sophie Kinsella delights her readers once again as she takes us on adventure to find out!
During all the action, we get the story from Luke's perspective a little more - we see why he loves Becky so much and in seeing her through his eyes, we learn to love her just a little bit more!
I read a few books between the last book (...Ties the Knot) and this one, but I found myself falling back into the story easily - It was nice to hear about Becky again! This was a fun story and the ending leads you right into the next book in the series - that's right, I think it might be time for our Shopaholic to have a Baby!!
Good but not as good as the othersJuly 13, 2008 This was a good book but it was my least favorite of the series. It is worth reading if you've already started the series.
Becky has done it againJuly 3, 2008 Becky Bloomwood Brandon has done it again... she really cannot be upfront with anyone when it comes to mishaps, but isnt that why we all love her. This book is very comical, and you will still root for Becky even if you know that she should really let others be privy to important information. I did find Becky's sister a little on the snobby side (snobby as in attitude not moneywise). I thought Becky tried very hard to make a relationship with her, and the sister was very resistant to this. In the end, things turn out all right, but Becky's journey to "everything will be fine" will have you laughing. Pick this one up for a funny light read.
Keywords: Shopaholic & Sister, Comic, All Products, parfum, discount perfumes, fragrance, cologne, French perfume, skin care, cosmetics, parfum la femme, eau de cologne, eau de parfum, eau de toilette
