Just Say Yes is a contemporary romance, full of up to the minute cultural references, set in both London and Cornwall. Lucy Gibson is the girlfriend of Nick Laurentis, a popular winner of the reality TV show Hotshots (thinly veiled The Apprentice). Nick proposes to Lucy live on air in the final show, Lucy says no (they hardly know each other and the L word has never been mentioned) and is subsequently hounded by the paparazzi and treated like the worst woman in Britain.
Lucy has had enough of the paps stalking her on her doorstep, so she decides to flee to Cornwall and live in her friend Fiona's cottage for a month. Whilst she's down there she meets Josh and his girlfriend Sara, feels like a gooseberry but is also, disconcertingly, extremely attracted to Josh.
Josh is the sort of man who doesn't like being lied to, who likes the truth and doesn't give any second chances. The problem is, as soon as he says this, you know Lucy isn't going to tell the truth about why she is down in Cornwall. I've spoken about this kind of frustrating misunderstanding in books before, where she is obviously not telling him the truth just for the sake of the plot so it all reaches a climax towards the end. Last week, Keris spoke of predictability in chick lit. Whilst we often know in chick lit who is going to end up with who, it is the journey of how they get there that makes a great story. I knew who Lucy would end up with straight away, but slightly infuriatingly I also guessed how they would get there.
Also, as far as I can see, she has nothing to be ashamed of. So she turned down a chap's marriage proposal. Is that such a bad thing? Surely Nick was the one who should be ashamed for putting her in that position in the first place?
With the clunky plot in mind, there were a few other aspects of the story that didn't make it flow easily. One minute it is early evening and the next it is afternoon (on the same day). Then the spiky plant. One minute she has taken it home, then towards the end of the book it is back at the office...It is just little things, but mildly infuriating when you are opening up your imagination to believe the story and the characters.
Now that I've had my moan though, I did enjoy the book. It was a pleasant, easy read. There were great descriptions of Cornwall that made me want to pack my bags and live there immediately. Josh was a heroic swooning character ideal for a romance novel and Lucy was the sort of girl who doesn't recognise her own beauty. A bit dim at first but comes up trumps in the end.
Rating: 3/5
Like this? Try Decent Exposure by Phillipa Ashley
