Guest Book Review: Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off

By Michelle Drodge

I have a confession. A confession I am embarrassed to admit for fear of ridicule...I let Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off sit in my inbox for several months before even opening it to the first page.

I’m a mom to a four year old, have a corporate job that requires commuting, and not a lot of free time. I kept thinking about it but kept pushing it off. Who has the time to read a book these days?

However, had I simply opened to that first page, I’d have realized that I could have finished this book in a mere few hours, as I simply could NOT put it down.

Forgive me, for I have sinned.

The book begins with Anna looking for a pair of earrings in her roommate Sophie’s bedroom and instead finding Sophie’s diary. After a short internal conflict outlining the one hundred and one reasons why one shouldn’t read the diary of her best friend, including “I am not the sort of lowlife person even consider such a thing”, she decides to take a ‘tiniest, sneakiest peek’. What she finds is more than she could have ever imagined in her wildest dreams: Sophie has a secret boyfriend, who happens to also be Anna’s fiancé Ed!

With the support of her longtime best friend Ben, Anna flees the city while she tries to make sense of (read: ignore) the situation, as her wedding is set to take place in a mere few days. She leaves Ben to be alone and opts for a room in the five-star Grand Hotel, treating herself to comfort and luxury, including several bottles of champagne and Prosecco.

In the days following, Anna meets some people with whom she shares her story, including Mandy and Bob, owners of the Rocky Road Café, and the waiter at the hotel, Neil. She also meets some who she isn’t quite honest with, including the mysterious Dave, who is ruggedly handsome and seems quite keen on her. The big question is: Will Anna forgive Ed and go through with the wedding? How could she disappoint everyone (including Mum)!

This book was so well-written, it enchanted me from the first few words and I couldn’t put it down. I was so interested in Anna’s internal conflicts, as she received an array of advice from the people in her life, and wasn’t sure up until the final pages what her decision was going to be. I was so surprised at how the book took a few twists at the end, and was very happy at the final outcome, but it wasn’t a simple ending. The confrontation between Sophie and Anna was so entertaining, and had me shaking my head wishing I had a voice in the conversation!

Jill Steeples did some fabulous writing in Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off. It was gripping, exciting, but easy to read. I definitely recommend this book and look forward to reading more from Ms. Steeples.

If she’ll forgive me, that is.

Thanks to Jill Steeples for the book in exchange for an honest review.

Michelle Drodge is 28 and lives in a small town north of Toronto in Canada with her daughter, who is four going on fourteen. She works in Restaurant Development during the day, but moonlights as an aspiring writer after her daughter goes to sleep. One day she hopes to see her own book on the shelf alongside her favourite Chick Lit authors!

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