Review: Anything but Easy

Anything but Easy by Susie Tate
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Four and a half stars.

Fair warning, I love Susie Tate's novels so this is a bit of a fan-girl review and I get that she might be a bit like Marmite to some readers but I loved this book.

Kira Murphy is a sexual health Registrar (doctor) with pizazz - in my mind I see her like the character of Scarlett in the film Four Weddings and a Funeral, diminutive with pink and red hair and a wacky dress sense. She is great with her patients and passionate about immunisation against genital warts (I am just wondering how I am ever going to get this review past the puritanical censor on the B&N website). She also has a secret crush on the latest Tory wunderkind MP Barclay Lucas (think British Justin Trudeau), the current Minister of State for Business, Energy and Clean Growth, who is trying to get a revolutionary new scheme through parliament.

Kira and Lucas' paths cross when she gives a verbal tongue-lashing to one of her boss' HIV patients who isn't taking his meds, the patient turns out to be Lucas' younger brother.

Kira's crazy antics, such as making tea for all the press lurking outside Lucas' palatial London home, belie a dedicated healthcare professional who is devoted to the National Health Service. Lucas just can't understand why Kira won't accept private work treating his brother away from the local NHS hospital, but when the press see her leaving his house his approval ratings soar and so he suggests they play along. What I loved most about this was that Kira went off into a romantic comedy monologue where she old Lucas she would be his fake fiancé but they would fall in love for real etc, etc (all very tongue-in-cheek) and Lucas was horrified.

This is contemporary British romantic comedy at its finest IMHO, great characters, great plot, impressive use of cockwomble as a pejorative, and truly laugh out loud at times.

A minor niggle, which might be deliberate, towards the end, on what felt like consecutive pages, there was a line which felt like a direct quote from Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman, followed by a visual reference to something that Natalie (Martine McCutcheon) does in Love Actually. Could be allusive, could be unintentional but they pulled me away from the plot a little.

Anyway, channelling Cherish Finden, one of the judges in the under-rated TV show Bake Off: The Professionals loved it, loved it, loved it! Now I am sad because I am going to have to wait months and months for another book - maybe I will re-read all the other books ...

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

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