Living Dangerously by Katie Fforde

Living Dangerously Reviews

• 
  Hannie

  Ik heb vaker boeken gelezen van Katie Fforde. Hoewel haar boeken geen hoogdravende literatuur zijn, heb ik wel van haar boeken genoten. Dat kan ik over dit boek niet zeggen. Er zitten wat leuke stukjes in. Daarom heb ik het twee sterren gegeven. Verder is het zo’n clichéverhaal en Polly echt een tuthola. Ondanks de leuke mannen in haar leven blijft ze maar volhouden dat ze liever single is. Ook zeurt ze over het feit dat ze bepaalde dingen niet kan, omdat ze arm is en ondertussen zegt ze dat ze niet om geld geeft. Dit boek vind ik geen aanrader.
• 
  Gillian

  OKAY SO this very easily could have been a 3 or even a 4 star read until it took a hard swerve into Problematicville, very much showing its age. I've had a mountain of my mom's old Katie Fforde books for ages, and I've been meaning to read them my whole life. Yesterday the urge gripped me after twenty or so years of seeing them around. I picked Living Dangerously at random and was instantly engaged.
  
  Fforde's writing is HILARIOUS, witty, and nimble. Her books are cozily, clunkily, old-fashionedly English, with lots of talk of AGAs and Rayburns and public schools and English Warms and Wellingtons and tea kettles. I loved the main character, and I even quite liked the main dude. BUT OH GOODNESS, does the fact that this was written in 1995 show up in GRAND FASHION near the end, when Fforde has the hero (who, up until this point, was sort of lovely and stuffy and vERY INTENSELY STIFF UPPER LIP BRITISH) develop this terrifying and horrid and sexist temper and all these absolutely terrible randomly abusive things and OOF and NO and ARGH and WHY and WHERE DID THIS COME FROM and CRINGE
  
  So, yes, delightful and hilarious and made me laugh out loud many a time, but oh dear, Katie Fforde, why????
  
  I'm so going to read the rest of her books, aren't I? SIGH.
• 
  allbooksnoheart

  I always feel slightly mean giving a book 1 star but I have to say I didn't enjoy this book and I think the worst part of it was I felt like it COULD quite easily have been a book I enjoyed- if the characters communicated even slightly better throughout the majority of the book instead of perpetually arguing and yet insisting they were in love with the other in a way that just felt rather confusingly rushed. I'll be honest, though, the main thing that put me off and threw me out of the story were the sex scenes- I'm not a fan in general but these were just so awfully graphic and yet terribly clinical. Also, have to say whilst it is acceptable, if cliche to describe a man's physique as like a 'greek statue', describing his privae parts as 'like a greek statue' implies something rather less flattering.
  
  I'm sorry. I wanted to like it but I found myself growing to dislike the characters with their perpetual bad tempers and very odd ideas about being in love.
• 
  Neenee

  Enjoyable. A typical chic-lit. When your brain wants a quick chocolatey sugary fix, this is for you. Though its cover illustrator obviously hasn't read the book. Polly's not that skinny as in the cover.
• 
  Diana

  This is another modern take of Pride and Prejudice, but in Fforde's deft hands, it truly shines. It's her first book and unlike most romance authors, her inexperience does not show. In fact, this and The Rose Revived are her best books. She's gotten too formularic as she has continued writing.
  
  As in all of Fforde's books, you've got the artsy heroine (Polly) who's set in her ways (making pottery, living frugally and celibate) but has her whole world changed when she meets a rich, but aloof man (David). The trials Polly goes through (dating hot young thing Tristan) are comical as is her resistance to love. A great book from start to finish.
• 
  Kate’s Book Spot

  I found that this story took me a while to get into but once I did it was definitely addictive – I really wanted to find out what Polly would decide to do with her life.
  
  Polly is a cautious character who is happy living the single and celibate life, she had some not so great experiences when she was younger and this has left her unwilling to jump into the dating scene. Her friends and mother all urge her to give men a chance and they keep trying to set her up, this has some funny consequences that had me laughing out loud.
  
  There were many great characters in this story – Tristan is cheeky and persistent with a unscrupulous edge, Patrick is a young, misunderstood boy who I thought was actually really nice and had a good head on his shoulders. David is a character who I continually changed my mind about, I disliked him then liked him, then disliked him then liked him again! He’s a gentleman but also very mysterious, he doesn’t always show his true feelings and to me this sometimes came across as being rather arrogant.
  
  I have to admit that some of the decisions Polly made confused me, she seemed to push people away without giving them a chance and I couldn’t see the reason for it. I really did like her character though and I found myself getting annoyed with her for having so much self doubt.
  
  This is a lovely light book that is great for curling up on the sofa with, perfect escapism. I will definitely be reading more from Katie Fforde.
• 
  Tali

  Although I took longer to read this novel than I usually do with Katie Fforde novels, I actually really liked this book. The composition of the heroine, Polly, is really well done and although she has her issues and quirks, like most romantic heroines do, Fforde has managed to write her in a way where she doesn't become too quirky or contrived as a character. Being able to stand reading the protagonist's POV without wanting to bang your head against a desk is always a nice surprise. As for the story and Fforde's hero, they're more traditional in the sense of this being a relatively straight love plot without veering all over the place which I appreciated, rather than there being excessive plot tangents which you sometimes find in Fforde's novels. My one gripe with this story is the sex scenes - they're not particularly sexy and you can't help feeling that while the author has got the romance pitched just right, she hasn't been particularly successful with the erotic part of the relationship. There's few words as un-sexy during lovemaking scenes as 'vagina' and unfortunately in trying to go into more detail than a strategic fade to black, Fforde has approached these scenes far too clinically for them to be an appealing part of the story.
  A lovely love story, but not really hot enough when it tries to be sexy. 4.5 stars.
• 
  Helena Chiara

  Just like the slogan, love will definitely find its way...
  
  The book starts off pretty slow and quiet confusing but its not short of funny musings from a 30-something woman. Polly is witty but her stubborn feminist self gets on my nerves. No wonder there's so much on feminists. Although i agree that women should independent on this day and age but i would've liked Polly more if she understands the time and place to show that side of her. For a 30 something she's quiet childish at some parts that it almost made me hate her.
  
  David Locking-Hill (such an interesting double name) is a male character that will have a place in me. Of course a man like him doesn't exist but he still received my admiration for his patience in dealing with the ever indecisive Polly. I just love reading the interactions between them even though its icy cold and stiff every single time they start conversing. It gets warmer with their witty and mature jokes. I don't intend to spoil anyone but at one point i literally feel sorry for David and would've be at all surprised if he gave up on her. But of course. Happy endings always befall on the heroine. Perhaps not to my liking but then again, i'm just another avid reader.
  
  I'm a bit hesitant in reading Katie Fforde's other works (i've purchased a number of them on a bookfest). Crossing my fingers that the next book will worth my time.
• 
  Sandee

  This is one of my favorite books. I read it over and over again. It includes three of my favorite things--A strong sassy heroine, a village in England and a truly amazing romance. I love, love love this book!
• 
  Jewel

  Poorly edited and lacks the character development I've grown to expect of her, but I love this author and if you're a romantic at all, she's always a nice read.
• 
  Nienke

  Awesome book, it went totally the unexpected way, but the good way :)
• 
  Alison

  Three and a half stars.
  
  Gah! Forgot what I wanted to say about this book. Polly is a 35 year old single woman, she works at a health food shop and has dreams of making a living from her pottery. She bumps into an old school 'friend' who invites her to a dinner party. All of the other guests (and the hosts) are wealthy middle-class and fairly smug, especially the single man, David. Later Polly comes to know David better through acquaintance with his rebellious teenage son Patrick.
  
  There is a love triangle/square between Polly, a journalist called Tristan, David and his son Patrick, although I think most readers can see which way Polly is going to jump. I understand that this was Katie Fforde's first novel and it exhibits some rather dated views of how a hero should behave, at times I thought David was like a teenage boy in his ridiculous jealousy when he wasn't even dating Polly - that sort of behaviour screams stalker to me. Also, as I have mentioned previously, Katie Fforde doesn't really flesh out her heroes, they remain shadowy characters whose motivations are vague and never truly explained. David is no different.
  
  If you like novels where friends and family are desperately trying to set our heroine up with a man, she's artsy and involved in saving a local parade of shops from being torn down by developers, where there are snobby dinner parties and surly teenagers and scary housekeepers you'll love this.
• 
  Teàrlach

  The protagonist got on my nerves more often than not (okay, I get it, you're unhappy and you're fat and poor, Jesus, I felt sorry for you at first but there's only so much self-pity I can take), and her relationship (if I can call it that) with her love interest developed entirely inexplicably, with absolutely no chemistry.
  Her (lack of a) sexual past was only ever discussed with her friends and inside her head, and I thought maybe the guy she's knockin' boots with should be told about it as well. I actually rooted for them to not get together.
  The blurb on the back of the book also made the protagonist's involvement with the building preservation thing sound like it would make more of an appearance in the book than it actually did, and I was disappointed by that as well as the happy-ending solution on the whole thing.
  
  

  Romantic Interest: You're a great person, Polly, clearly these buildings are such a great cause to support, I've definitely seen the error of my rich man ways, realised my friends are all assholes, let me just casually donate £10,000 to the fun. Can we fuck again now?
• 
  Lita

  After going through a number of quite serious/complicated books, it was nice to fall back on light and funny chick-lit for my book club readings. All I expect from a good romance novel is that it is entertaining, and this one certainly was that. Would something like that happen in real life? No. Should you read it? Yes, if you want to enoy some sweeping off the feet and all that jazz.
  
  The story centers on a 35-year old spinster that is trying to make it on her own, professionally and otherwise. She doesn't believe in marriage, cannot understand what's all the fuss about sex... until the prince charming comes around and shows how it really needs to be done between the sheets (and no, you won't see it coming). Well, who knew! Of course, situation gets complicated mostly because Polly (the main character) is overthinking everything (women tend to do that a lot...). But things get sorted out in the end (and this is not a spoiler because they always do get sorted out in proper romance novels).
• 
  Jennifer

  compared to erica james, this book has a more realistic take on life. the heroine of the novel is a character im sure many people can relate to. it was however a lot more raunchier than erica james. but it is a book you can curl up in bed or on the sofa with, and thats what i look for in books. it was lovely, light and really good for the first time i ahd read katie fforde. on the whole though, i would say i prefer erica james.
• 
  Bettina

  Actually not really a good book, or a good story... BUT just too good to read! Very amusing, very romantic, I enjoyed it a lot.
• 
  Marie-Louise

  This is a Bridget Jones meets hunky highlander (like those books with pictures of half-naked men on them) kind of story. On the one hand, this book is quick witted and actually funny, but on the other there are some passages that just drag on for way too long, Polly, the main character, has a weird idea of feminism and independence that just becomes annoying with time, and also, she thinks her main love interest capable of rape at least twice which scares her (kind of) but, uhm, in a hot way? Like wtf? Anyways, that was incredibly weird and just so wrong, but apart from that it was a decent enough read, I guess.
• 
  Karen Mace

  Normally a big fan of all things Katie Fforde, but for some reason this book just didn't leave me with any happy, fluffy feelings! Found the story to be very slow and most of the characters a little dull and flat.
• 
  Kristin

  2.5 stars
• 
  Tan

  as a hapless romantic I certainly enjoyed the book. It was a good short read.
• 
  Heleen

  Oh, how I enjoyed the book! But not because it was such a good story. But having decided to (re)read all of Katie Fforde's books from first to last, I had to begin with this one.
  I started off thinking I had already read the book. Such is the way of a chick-lit, which all follow the same structure/story, but about one quarter in, realized I had not. Of course I knew how the story was going to end, but not the events that would take it there.
  Here characters, especially David, felt a bit flat. He seemed to have no personality and that which he did showed was changing depending on the need of the scene. But even though the story was really bad, I could not help to read this and felt this book gave me the opportunity to look into the mind of a first time writer, especially one I know I enjoy reading come her later books.
  I enjoyed the book because it had some very funny a-typical Katie Fforde turn of events. Some word choices am not used to her using, more sexual scenes, which I find uncomfortable to read; they just don't fit her style. You can really feel her trying to find what she herself is comfortable with and trying to find her voice. There are already some things that she also uses in her other stories (which sets Katie Fforde apart from other chick-lit writers), the running thread of the story; a hobby or other time-consuming thing in the main character's/heroine's life, a few feminist ideas and a quaint British setting.
  However, I felt like the feminine ideas were a bit too much focussed upon and were set aside quite easily (though not as easy as in Outlander by Diana Galbaldon). I also felt the sexual scenes a bit too much like Outlander as well, this British UPPER class (not middle, like suggested in the book), stiff-upper-lip, "middle-aged" man who suddenly has no problem prancing around naked, and in front of fireplaces up in the highlands as well..... Also I felt like the deceased wife did little for the story. It might've been nice if this were still an issue for either the lead male character or someone close to him to make the love story extra difficult.
  Overall, not a good book. But if you know Katie's later books and enjoy them, you would appreciate this one too.
• 
  Catherine

  I've not read much by Katie fforde - except the nice things she says for other people on their dustjackets/back covers - but I was still trying to avoid the book at the top of Mount Toobie when I bought this for someone else, so I had to read it.
  
  At the start of the story Polly is a fairly happy celibate thirty-five year old and at the end she is engaged to just the person you predict in Chapter One (see, it wasn't really a spoiler was it?). Of course there are the inevitable other nice things (a chance for her real career to take off, some doing good with a light-hearted touch) and nasty things (a cad, a pregnancy scare and assorted mis-understandings) along the way and it is these that provide the entertainment and diversions from the formulaic that make it jolly good fun.
  
  I probably won't go all out to collect everything by this scion of the fforde family, but I'll not ignore anything more that happens to come my way.
• 
  Teresa

  I'm torn between giving this three and four stars. I did enjoy reading this book, but for me, there probably wasn't enough of the hero on the page. And when he was on the page, albeit it was from Polly's POV, I was never sure if he was "attractive" enough - he did have his moments when he was though.
  
  I suppose this book didn't grab me like some others have, and I'm thinking about the characters even when I'm not reading it. However, it delivers the HEA ending we all want in a romance, and I did empathise with Polly throughout the story.
  
  It's riddled with witty humour, which gave me laugh out loud moments, so definitely an enjoyable read.