Starting from January 2016 till date, I have read 13 books in total which is like my lowest mark in a very long while. Juggling an 8-5 job didn't make things easy for the most part of the year but notwithstanding, I tried my very best to keep the reader in me alive and active.

Now let's dig into our book for last month, 'I've Got Your Number' by Sophie Kinsella. Firstly, Sophie is the queen of romantic comedy as far as I'm concerned and her writing is so concise and impeccable. She's the author of the popular 'Shopaholic Series' which includes 'Confessions of a Shopaholic'. 

'I've Got Your Number' is about Poppy Wyatt, a physiotherapist who recently got engaged and lost her engagement ring at an outing with her friends at a tea party in a hotel. To make matters worse, her mobile phone got stolen in the process of finding her ring but luckily for her, she found another phone in a waste bin close to her. Poppy quickly grabbed it and was soon called by a guy named Sam. She answers the call and pretends to be the voicemail while Sam dropped a message. Shortly after that, Sam calls again and this time she couldn't pretend.

 He demanded to know who she is and how she got a hold of the phone but that was the least of his problems as he wanted Poppy to locate a Japanese client of his company at the hotel lobby and stop him from leaving. While they were still arguing, Poppy sighted a Japanese man with a small convoy and described him to Sam. He affirms that he's Mr Yamasaki and Poppy should by all means not let him leave the hotel. She finally agrees and then walks up to Mr Yamasaki. Not knowing what to say, she told him she was a singing telegram and had a message to deliver to him from his fans and starts singing to the tune of Beyonce's Single Ladies.

This was the most hilarious part of the book!

Mr Yamasaki looked delighted while she asked in the phone if Sam was still there and he was just across the room watching her perform. He quickly walks up to them and meets up with Mr Yamasaki which thereafter, he tried collecting the phone from Poppy but she refused, stating that she found it in the trash and so "finders, keepers".

She explained what happened to her ring and phone and that the his PA's phone was her only hope of finding the ring as she had sent the number to her friends and given it to a few cleaners in the hotel. Sam lets her have it but only for a few days. But on the condition that she must forward all his mails to him as the phone belonged to his former PA, Violet, who happened to throw the phone in the waste bin. This starts a funny and weird relationship between Poppy and Sam and it soon led to something even bigger.

On the other hand, Poppy is distraught about the missing ring as it's a family heirloom and doesn't know how to tell her fiance, Magnus, about it. Magnus informs her that his parents would be arriving London the next day and that they were not so excited about his engagement to her. This frightened Poppy the more and she began to panic. In the process of communicating with Sam via email, she informs him of her plight and he offers to help her get a replica of the ring before the original is found. They met at a cafe from where Sam took her to the jeweller's place. Poppy was very impressed with the replica but feared that Magnus' parents might notice the difference.

A few days later during a rehearsal for her wedding at church, her wedding planner Lucinda shows up with the missing ring and gives it back to Poppy in the presence of her future inlaws. There was a sudden confusion as there were now 2 rings of which one had to be fake. Poppy quickly gives a flimsy excuse about what happened and she was easily let off the hook. It didn't end there as she overheard Magnus in an argument as regards his engagement to her and she was all the more sad and frightened. She confided in Sam about her predicament and he told her that she needed to be bold, stand up for herself and stop feeling inferior around Magnus' family because they're academics and seem to be way more intelligent than her.

In a twist of events, Poppy helped to solve a crucial case at Sam's company involving him and his boss and this brought them even closer. While Sam helps Poppy to figure out that Magnus had been cheating on her with Lucinda after she got an anonymous text message informing her of Magnus' infidelity. It turned out that Magnus and Lucinda had once dated and he almost proposed to her but didn't go through with it because of his phobia for commitment. And all the while, Magnus' parents were not even upset that he chose her as a bride but were concerned about their son's decision and wanted to be sure he was doing the right thing as Poppy wasn't the first lady he had proposed marriage to.

To cut this very interesting but long story short (the book is 433 pages long!), the wedding didn't take place as Poppy called it off at the altar when Magnus was taking his vows like he was being forced and also because she knew she had found love with Sam.

I enjoyed every bit of this book and I almost didn't realize it was that long because I was so engrossed in it. Poppy is a shy and funny lady who puts other people's emotions before hers and doesn't mind being ridden over. She exhibits this character in her relationship with Magnus' family and Lucinda. Sam on the other hand is cool, calm and collected and is quite the opposite of Poppy. He has this bad boy persona but he's actually a very compassionate guy looking for true love.

I like the fact that Sam brings out the best in Poppy as he brings to light her weaknesses and helps her overcome her fears. Another thing I liked about this book is that it made me realize how easy people's lives can become complicated and intertwined just by sharing the same mobile phone. Imagine someone else, a total stranger, going through your emails and text messages and replying messages for you in just one day. The chaos!! I also liked that the ending was not the typical fairy tale ending of happily ever after. Poppy realized that she would have a lot to deal with after she called off her wedding at the altar and went off with another man to her supposed wedding reception.

The twist of events and suspense kept me on edge too and I really loved how Sophie unraveled the true nature of some characters such as Magnus, Wanda(Magnus' mum) and Lucinda. Wanda ends up playing a very critical role by making sure Poppy knew who exactly Magnus was, a commitment phobe. This is one book I'd read again and I would make sure to get the hard copy coz it's worth shelving.



Our book for December is '29, Single and Nigerian' by NaijasingleGirl. That's one item off my wishlist! I got it off Okada books for 900 Naira but I would still get the hard copy when I can. I'm done reading it and I can't wait to share it with you!

Christmas is almost here and I'm thinking of doing a Christmas themed shoot for a style post. Well, let's see how that goes.

Compliments of the season my awesome readers!

Be back soon,
Evita. xx

Now, about lemons and lemonade. Have you ever been in a situation where it seems like there's no way out and you're just stuck somewhere? I know how it feels like and I'm sure you do too coz life isn't a merry go round. We then refer to situations like this as "lemons". And when we struggle and fight our way through these situations and come out better and stronger, "lemonade" has then been made. It's an interesting analogy but let's break it down literally.

Imagine being stuck in a room where you have a table and chair, and a shelf with a lemon in it and a jug filled with water. You're broke, no hope of getting cash anytime soon and you had your last meal 2 nights ago. It's as if the universe and all its elements are working against you. There's no way out, so it seems. 

The hunger pangs are becoming unbearable and you really don't want to bother the few friends that have been of help to you lately. You feel embarrassed. You take one more look at your shelf, knowing full well its contents but you still look anyway...hoping for a miracle of some sort. Tada! The same lemon and jug of water are staring back at you. 'What type of life is this?!'

In such a situation, making a glass of lemonade is luxurious. Where's the sugar to start with? What do you do? Well, how bitter can the lemon get? You take a knife, cut it into 2 halves, squeeze the juice into a cup and dilute with water. Man must survive.

Life can be really unpredictable. There are some really tough challenges that may come our way such as this and then, there's no sugar to make a cup of lemonade. The truth is, your lemons (predicament) need no sugar to become lemonade. They can be transformed in a million and one other ways. Sugar just happens to be one of the most popular agents of transformation for your lemons but in its absence, what shall become of your lemons? Think beyond lemonade.

I'll be back soon.
xx, Evita.