Saturday 22 April 2017

Review: Owning It (It Girls #4) by Leah Marie Brown


The chance of a lifetime . . . or just another bad decision?

Delaney Lavender Brooks needs to grow up. At least, according to her parents. After getting evicted from her apartment and wrecking her car, Laney is almost ready to trade in her paintbrushes and surrender to a more sensible 9-to-5 existence. Almost. Until she’s awarded an internship at a prestigious art gallery in Paris. What else can the free-spirited artist do but follow her dreams? Even if her latest attempt at chasing rainbows might cost her a real future . . .

Once in the city of lights, Laney is almost undone by the glaring truth: maybe she isn’t sophisticated or talented enough to make it as an artist—or an independent woman, for that matter. And when she’s hotly pursued by a seductive Frenchman, she has to wonder if she’s about to be a fool for love, too. Soon Laney’s greatest challenge is not proving herself to her parents, but having the courage to live the life—and love—of her dreams . .

ebook, 350 pages
Expected publication: May 2nd 8017 by Lyrical Press

Terri's Thoughts

I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher via Netgallet in exchange for an honest review.  Thank You!  The expected publication date is May, 2nd, 2017.

This is the 4th instalment of the It Girl series.  I had read the entire series up until this point and was excited for another story in the series as I had thoroughly enjoyed the previous stories.  Filled with hilarious hijinks, severely flawed yet likable characters, and romance, the series has been a go to for a fun and laugh out lead read.

If I have to be completely honest, my love affair with this series has ended with this story.  I really struggled with this one and felt like it was living in the shadows of its predecessors while trying to recreate the magic found in them, and it fell well short of the mark.

Here is why.

I could not identify with Laney at all.  In fact, I barely remember her from the third story and was wondering why the main character in the book did not focus on someone previously introduced to us.  She in fact was but was really just a forgettable character.

Here was my biggest struggle with the story.  Laney was a march to her own beat character, and I get that, but I could not get past the way she talked.  She was a twenty five year old who spoke like a twelve year old.  When I say a twelve year old, that would be a very immature twelve year old.  The words totes, abs, and adorbs among others were used repeatedly.  When I say repeatedly, she used them ALL...THE...TIME.  Now I hate to be the one saying she is looking for prepubescent diversions like her mother did in the story, however I do not know a single twenty five year old who talks like that let alone a single fifteen year old that talks like that either.  I could not take her seriously, and in turn the story, due to this fact.

That brings on another item I struggled with.  There were simply too many pop culture references in this story.  This was a theme throughout the entire series and I had felt it worked up until this point.  I felt overloaded with Big Bang Theory, Disney, BFF and 80's romantic comedy references.  It felt like this was a story that pop culture hijacked.

The romance was ok.  Although if I was Gabriel I would have ditched Laney after she first opened her mouth.  It was probably the best part of the story as the majority of the dialogue (but not all) resembled proper English.

While I sound like an old fuddy duddy with this review, I am not.  I loved the quirky and humorous tone of the first three stories.  I just felt like the series should have ended at three as this story was just trying to ride the coattails of the others without much success.  Sometimes when you have a good thing, you should not try to recreate it.  That being said, at the end of the story it mentioned to stay tuned for Brown's new series (no name given).  I will be looking out for it as I find her a humorous and quirky writer and I feel with a fresh theme, I will continue to enjoy her work.





About the Author


(From her Goodreads profile)

I am an American writer with a penchant for Paris and all things pink!

Before writing novels, I worked as a print journalist for a Pulitzer prize winning newspaper and served in the United States Air Force as a Radio and Television Broadcaster.

An avid traveler, I have had adventures and mishaps from London to Tokyo, which I write about on my blog, On Life, Love & Accidental Adventures, and in my contemporary romantic series, The It Girls.

I was once a collector of truly useless bric-a-brac and cheesy tee-shirts. My cheesiest? A tee with a cartoon Jesus riding a surf board and the words, "And on the eighth day, Jesus went surfing in Greece."

Today, I prefer to gather friendships and memories as travel souvenirs.

I live in the shadow of Pike's Peak Mountain, near Colorado Springs, with my family and shamefully pampered poodles.

In my free time, I like to watch movies, read, and snap photographs. You can view my photography by clicking on the Adventures tab above or by following me on Instagram.


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