Cupid Effect

Format:	Paperback 336 pages

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Synopsis

Ceri D'Altroy's hero-worship of Oprah Winfrey is beginning to have serious repercussions. Bored with London life and writing yet another 'black is the new black' fashion feature, she's decided to take Oprah's advice and follow her heart's desire. Going back to college might not be everyone's dream but all Ceri's has ever wanted to do is teach...But though her professional life seems to be sorted, Ceri's personal life is still a no-go area. After six long, long, months without so much as a snog, she's given up hope of ever finding anyone who'll put up with her various idiosyncrasies. In fact just lately, her pent-up energies and frustrations seem to have been diverted into solving other people's romantic problems. Since arriving in Leeds she's reunited a happily uncoupled couple, encouraged her new flatmate to do something about his unrequited love and outed the closet relationship of two of her new colleagues. All this, in spite of her new life resolution to mind her own business. But is Ceri destined to always play Cupid? Or can she use some of her powers where they're needed most - to help herself?

Book details

Published
06/02/2003

Publisher
Piatkus Books

ISBN
9780749933432

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Jacket review

A delicious romantic comedy about love, life and good intentions - although her professional life seems to be sorted, Ceri's personal life is still a no-go area. All her pent-up energies appear to simply solve other people's problems. Is Ceri destined always to play Cupid or can she use some of her powers to help herself ?

UK Kirkus review

Ceri enjoys a wonderful life in London as a journalist, with her own flat and plenty of friends. But she's always yearned to return to academia. So, turning her back on her glamorous lifestyle, she heads to Leeds in pursuit of her heart's desire, to become a lecturer in sociology in her old university. But she can't seem to stop herself from interfering in the lives of her friends and total strangers who seem to sniff her out from a great distance in order to unburden themselves. She is sure that if only she could apply her principles to her own life she would find fulfilment. Instead, her attempts to help wreak havoc on the world around her. Dorothy Koomson has a flair for writing about relationships. She shows real insight into the problems met by two people attempting to find romance and employs a sparklingly wicked sense of humour in describing their failure. Her dialogues are crisp and witty, and her approach to her story is fresh and full of unusual features. First novels inevitably have imperfections, and despite the author's undoubted writing skills and obvious understanding of her market, some problems remain. There is no attempt to provide a context or explanation for the heroine's odd choice of lifestyle change, which is the central focus of the book. Koomson also spends too long tediously explaining the background to events, which would be better dealt with by dialogue or through narration by the participants. It is too much to expect the reader to work through one hundred pages before anything of importance occurs. But Koomson shows originality in her approach to her work and her writing is lively. If she tightens up on her storytelling she will be a writer to treasure. (Kirkus UK)