BOOK REVIEW: Whatever Happened to Vicky Hope's Backup Man? by Laura Kemp

Sometimes, life just doesn't go to plan. For Vicky Hope, life is crashing down very quickly indeed, when she finds herself dumped, jobless and back at her parents' place on her thirtieth birthday.

It wasn't what she expected; at twenty-one, Vicky was preparing for her future, about to jet off around the world to embark on a life-changing experience and a bit of fun with her sensible and privileged friend Kat before real life and study took hold. Worrying about her young single status and what the future holds, Vicky and Mikey Murphy made a pact on the night of her farewell barbecue - that if they were still single at thirty, the pair would marry.

Now, eight years later, Vicky's alone. Something she hadn't envisioned all that time ago. And with her life currently in disarray, she decides to track down her former best pals Kat and Mikey, who she hasn't spoken to for years. Only to discover that life has gone on for the others too. Once-quiet Mikey is now a highly successful app designer. Kat, who was always destined for greatness, didn't exactly achieve the glowing future in finance that she had hoped for, and harbours a big secret. Even though they've been separated, Vicky and her friends still share a bond, and it's up to her to not only get her life back on track, but also get back her friends. Including Mikey - but the Mikey that she once knew.

Whatever Happened to Vicky Hope's Back Up Man was a good read. Sweet, nostalgic and warming. Admittedly it did take me a little while to get into it at first - when I began to read about Kat's story, I felt that the book started to pick up. However, it's obvious from the very beginning that Vicky and Mikey share a close bond that's more than friendship, however much they deny it. The chapters are set both in present-day, and also in the past, as we learn more about Vicky, Kat and Mikey's lives throughout their twenties and what happened after the girls went travelling. I did enjoy the sense of nostalgia.

The book includes more than just romance - there is drama, betrayal and tested friendships. I'm not going to reveal any spoilers here, but there are twists in this book that I did not see coming, even though the main plot is quite a predictable one. One thing I particularly liked about the novel was the development of Vicky's character from the beginning to the end, and the prospect of reality. Let's face it, many of us had big dreams when we were twenty-one. Then the real world gets in the way. Laura Kemp has done an amazing job of portraying that young-adult naivete and combining it with the realities of thirty-something life.

Rating: 4/5

Thank you to Netgalley for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

UNCOVERED PICKS - New Year, New Reads! Five January Releases

Hi all! It's a brand new year and Chick Lit Uncovered is back. I always like to kick off a new month with a selection of new and upcoming reads, but before I do, I'd like to wish everyone a super happy new year! Here's hoping 2017 will be fantastic for everyone. It's certainly looking exciting in terms of books!

Here are five new women's' fiction novels that'll be heading our way this month.

Whatever Happened to Vicky Hope's Back-Up Man? by Laura Kemp
Twenty-one and insecure, Vicky Hope comes up with a plan on the eve of travelling the world with her high flying friend, Kat Lloyd: if she isn't married by the time she's thirty, she'll marry her geeky best mate Mikey Murphy.

Fast-forward eight-and-a-bit years, Vicky, now Vee wakes up on her thirtieth birthday in Brighton, expecting a proposal of marriage from her arty boyfriend Jez. Instead he tells her their relationship is over and she has no choice but to return to her parents' home.

Devastated and alone in her childhood bedroom, she decides she has nothing to lose and tracks down her two old mates. With shock, she discovers Mikey, now Murphy, is a successful app designer driven by his tragic upbringing. Kat, or Kate, never made it – but she hides a devastating secret, which threatens the happiness of all three.

The Good Girlfriend's Guide to Getting Even by Anna Bell
When Lexi's sport-mad boyfriend Will skips her friend's wedding to watch football - after pretending to have food poisoning - it might just be the final whistle for their relationship.

But fed up of just getting mad, Lexi decides to even the score. And, when a couple of lost tickets and an 'accidentally' broken television lead to them spending extra time together, she's delighted to realise that revenge might be the best thing that's happened to their relationship.

And if her clever acts of sabotage prove to be a popular subject for her blog, what harm can that do? It's not as if he'll ever find out...

New York, Actually by Sarah Morgan
Meet Molly

New York’s most famous agony aunt, she considers herself an expert at relationships…as long as they’re other people’s. The only love of her life is her Dalmatian, Valentine.

Meet Daniel

A cynical divorce lawyer, he’s hardwired to think relationships are a bad idea. If you don’t get involved, no-one can get hurt. But then he finds himself borrowing a dog to meet the gorgeous woman he sees running in Central Park every morning…

Molly and Daniel think they know everything there is to know about relationships…until they meet each other that is…

White Lies and Wishes by Cathy Bramley
Flirtatious, straight-talking Jo Gold says she’s got no time for love; she’s determined to save her family’s failing footwear business. 

New mother Sarah Hudson has cut short her maternity leave to return to work. She says she’ll do whatever it takes to make partner at the accountancy firm. 

Bored, over-eating housewife Carrie Radley says she just wants to shift the pounds – she’d love to finally wear a bikini in public.

The unlikely trio meet by chance one winter’s day, and in a moment of ‘Carpe Diem’ madness, embark on a mission to make their wishes come true by September. 

Easy. At least it would be, if they hadn’t been just the teensiest bit stingy with the truth…

With hidden issues, hidden talents, and hidden demons to overcome, new friends Jo, Carrie and Sarah must admit to what they really, really want, if they are ever to get their happy endings.

Almost a Bride by Jo Watson
That moment you catch your boyfriend in bed with another woman and then mistakenly get arrested. #awks

Annie doesn't want to dwell on the fact that she walked in on her bf wearing nipple clamps on the day he was meant to propose to her. She just wants to move on - cue escaping to a tropical paradise.

Life is dreamy on the beaches of Mauritius, until the nightmarish appearance of her ex and the 'other woman'. Faced with the enemy, Annie refuses to look like the sad, lonely single she actually is. She needs a decoy - and fast. Enter Chris, a sexy screenwriter who agrees to play her pretend boyfriend.

But as a battle of the exes commences, the white sand, tropical heat and a pina colada (or five) might just be the cocktail for a real romance - and the adventure of a lifetime.

UNCOVERED PICKS: 5 Books for Mother's Day

This weekend we'll be celebrating Mother's Day here in the UK, and in honour of this special Sunday, here's our selection of five reads - for and about mums!

Take Mum Out by Fiona Gibson

"What do you need a boyfriend for? You're a mum." Fiona Gibson's eagerly awaited new novel is full of dating disasters. Sharply observed and laugh-out-loud funny, its perfect for fans of Tracy Bloom, Kate Long and Tess Stimson. Three blind dates Two teenage boys messing up her plans And one man who'll melt Alice's heart. 'You need to get back in the saddle...' Alice despises that phrase. She's fine being single - with two slothful teenage boys and a meringue business to run, she has enough on her plate without negotiating the troublesome world of modern dating. However, Alice's three best friends have other ideas. Each one will present her with an utterly delicious, eligible man - all Alice has to do is pick her favourite.

Mums on Strike by Laura Kemp
It was just a squashed grape on the kitchen floor. Hardly a reason to get upset, right?

But six years of motherhood has left Lisa Stratton feeling like a skivvy.

Every morning before she's opened her eyes, she starts her mental inventory of jobs to do. And just like yesterday, the day before and every day since she became a mum, she's woken up knackered.

So when her husband deliberately steps over the grape because it's 'her responsibility' to run the house, it tips her over the edge.

He wasn't always like this - they used to share everything.

Then the kids came along and he saw it as an excuse to sit back.

But this time things are going to change. Lisa has made a decision. She's going on strike.

Mother of the Year by Karen Ross
 'I often think my mother would prefer colonic irrigation to hanging out with me...' Beth Jackson is a national treasure, celebrated for her television shows and winning the Mother of the Year Award three times in a row. Only, her daughter just wishes that Beth would be more like a normal mum...

A Mother Dimension by Mink Elliott
 Kate O’Reilly, mother of three on the cusp of her 45th birthday, has got a thing about the past. Her husband, Seamus and long-standing best friend, Georgia, both call her chronic nostalgia an obsession – but Kate sees it as her safety harness, her private Prozac, her coping mechanism of choice. Because when being a wife and mother is weighing her down, making her feel trapped and overwhelming her, all Kate needs to do is take a quick trip down memory lane - to where the music was better, her social circle was wider, her self-esteem higher, her hair thicker and her waist much, much thinner - and voila! All is right with her world again.

But when a freak electrical storm propels her back in time to 1996 for real, Kate can’t believe what’s happening. Soon, however, she’s elated, because this is the moment she’s been waiting for all these years – her chance to re-live those good old days and actually do all those things she’s been fantasising about.

Armed with little more than the optimism of youth, the benefit of hindsight, a taut-again tummy and just the one chin, Kate sets out to discover what might have happened if she’d only done things a little bit differently. And why some things really are best left in the past...

Balancing Act by Joanna Trollope
Susie Moran is a success. She has founded and run her own highly profitable company, and now her three daughters are all involved in the business. Rooted in the traditions of the Stoke-on-Trent potteries, and producing charming, useable objects of distinctive design, Susie is justly proud of her family and her achievement - and has no intention of letting it change.

But what of the men in the family? Susie's husband, a musician and artist, has always seemed happy to take a back seat. One of her sons-in-law has few ambitions outside the home. Another daughter, though, has brought her husband into the company - and they want to change things, much to Susie's distress.

And then, into the mix, arrives Susie's father, an ageing hippy who abandoned Susie as a baby. Now he's alone, and wants to build bridges, although Susie's daughters are outraged at the idea. Can the needs of a family business override the needs of the family itself? In wanting to preserve her business, will Susie lose something much more precious?