Librarian note: There is more than one author with this name in the ŷ database. Elizabeth Young started writing after holding a variety of jobs that included modeling for TV commercials in Cyprus and working for the Sultan's Armed Forces in Oman. She has two daughters and lives in Surrey with her husband who never once told her to forget writing and get a "proper" job.
Elizabeth Young is a Chick lit and contemporary romance writer. Her novel Asking for Trouble was the basis for the movie The Wedding Date, directed by Clare Kilner, starring Debra Messing and Dermot Mulroney.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book about Harriet Grey, a single woman from London. Harriet meets an interesting man, John Mackenzie, only minutes after she has seen him with Nina, an old schoolmate who never treated Harriet well. Harriet is immediatately taken with John, but is worried that he is involved with Nina, and she is afraid to ask. John is interested in Harriet, but doesn't understand why she seems to run from hot to cold towards him. I liked the characters in this book, which include several of Harriet's friends who have secondary stories in the book. Harriet is a kind person who spends much of her time taking care of the people in her life. John was a great hero, and I thought that there were some wonderful scenes in the book. The only reason I did not rate it a 5 is because the misunderstandings between Harriet and John and her refusal to step up and find out what was really going on finally became rather tedious for me.
It took a while to read this one. The thick slang and the slow beginning (and the fact that I was only reading it before bed) made me read it very slowly, but I'm glad I did. The ending was amazingly suspenseful and very sweet. Definitely worth the trouble.
Elizabeth Young is my new favorite author and my mission is to devour the rest of her titles right quick. Harriet lives with new mom Sally and best guy-friend Jacko and runs into hunky John while avoiding her high school arch-nemisis, Nina, aka The White Witch of Narnia, who John just happens to be dating. Could it get more complicated? Of course, but that's the fun! Funny, light-hearted and just enough plausible misunderstandings to make it real - this British novel was well worth the read.
This London-set Christmas story had its fair share of charming moments and near-perfect comic timing. It also had more than its fair share of unnecessary drama, dangling loose ends and general awkwardly weird moments. I did enjoy the good parts, but this was a pretty average read overall.
The book started off well. Harriet Grey finds herself daydreaming while staring at a fertility god statue in a window. John MacKenzie notices her and after some awkward-but-cute banter, she realizes she's lost her wallet. John gets her a lift home, and to pay him back, she takes him out - and it all goes from there.
The start of John and Harriet's relationship is adorably awkward, fun and funny. Harriet is living in a home inherited from her great-aunt, sharing space with a university friend as well as with her best friend and the best friend's new baby. I enjoyed seeing the dynamic between Harriet and her housemates develop, at least at first.
However, as we get closer to Christmas, it starts to go off the rails. Various contrivances whisk the roommates away for Christmas Day, so that Harriet ends up spending it with John. This is all good so far as it goes, but then all the roommate drama keeps adding various rabbit trails to the book such that the plot started to feel rather unfocused. Add into this Harriet's sudden concern about upsetting an old school acquaintance that she never liked in the first place, and what started off as lightheartedly holiday fun turns into a bit of a mess. It does pull together at the end, but still, it was an uneven read.
In ‘A Promising Man�, Harriet instantly falls for John when they first meet but a series of misunderstandings hinders them from being together. This mainly stems from her belief that John is dating Nina, a gorgeous girl she used to go to school with and the one who has always been patronizing towards her.
In the meantime, Harriet is caught in the middle of everyone else’s dramas � her best friend Sally is a jobless single mother, Jacko is recovering from an accident, Jacko’s sister Tara has run away from home, her father has met a new woman and her mother pesters her to find out if that woman is right for her father. Simultaneously she longs to be with John yet she doesn’t like feeling like the side dish when Nina is the main course. Plus, if John can cheat on Nina with her, that makes him untrustworthy. Will Harriet get her happily ever after?
The answer is of course a no-brainer. Initially I didn’t enjoy the multiple storylines because there was too much going on coupled with too many characters to keep track of. Later, I started to warm up to some of those particularly because the author truly took the time to flesh out most of the characters hence each storyline’s resolution mattered at least to a certain degree to me. The incorporation of different storylines also helped to prevent repetition and instead paved the way towards revelations and diversity. The latter was successful as different issues were explored - relationships, being a single mother, rebellious youths, moving on etc.
That being said, the book was a little long-winded at times especially if you’re mainly interested in Harriet and John because the focus tended to shift towards the other minor storylines. Plus, it was frustrating that she didn’t just straight up ask him whether he was indeed dating Nina. Considering her personality, it was strange. I did like Harriet though as she was quite funny, lively and honest. John was a great match for her as he could keep up with her jokes and sarcasm. Their conversations flowed naturally, leaving me with absolutely no doubt that they belong together.
I appreciated how two-dimensional most characters were, even the ones who weren’t featured much. For instance, Harriet’s gossiping friend Rosie wasn’t merely the nosy type; she did show some tact and understanding as she didn’t always pass on whatever that was said to her in the strictest confidence. Nina was interesting � she certainly had a superiority complex yet it was hard to describe her as mean because she was good at being subtle. Sally was a superb, supportive friend and I liked that she could be grumpy and somewhat self-absorbed sometimes. It made her feel real, rather than a mere ‘best friend� prop. Jacko was fun and likeable.
Despite being a chick lit book, this one didn’t mention fashion at all and that was a relief compared to some books which constantly bombard you with designer names and descriptions of every character’s outfit. I don't quite mind that as long as the story is well-written but anyhow this was still a refreshing change for it had some substance and generous doses of humour albeit being longer than necessary. The ending was perfect � it was sort of a sweet revenge only with more emphasis on ‘sweet� rather than the revenge bit. It was also funny and ended the book on a high note.
Overall, ‘A Promising Man� was hard to get into in the beginning due to several storylines and characters being introduced at once but persist and you might just enjoy it.
I enjoyed very much reading this romantic comedy about Harriet a 29 year old who lives in London. This story was very easy to read and made you not want to put the book down. I mostly enjoyed it for two reasons. First because Harriet the main character and the narrator. Another reason is because the book does not only talk about the same thing over and over. The story has many things happening at once. With Harriet which was m favorite character made it more of an exciting story to read.
Harriet was a single woman who lives in London with her friend sally who just had a baby and now is single mom, and Jacquo in her grand aunts house. Harriet is my favorite character because she one of the most caring and loving person i have read about. She helps her friend Sally raise her new born baby Tom and cares about both of them a lot. She is also caring and never should an act of selfishness because she fell in love with John and never showed her love for him until she was sure he wasn't with her old friend Nina who has done many bad things to her in the past.Nina had stolen one Harriet's old boyfriends in college but even though Harriet disliked Nina very much she never revenged Nina. Which is why i believe Harriet deserved to be with John in the end . He selfless personality made her deserved to know that man she loved never loved her enemy Nina, but actually tried to get rid of her on the fist date.
The stories told by Harriet were not only one. She had many things going in the story. Harriet through out the book had to help Jacquo's sister who is a teenager.She helped her get a job and a house and finally convinced her to go back home to her parents. Another story happening was her friend Sally and her son Tom. Sally was having a hard time because she was short on money and had to deal with Tom's dad Steve be married to another woman. This made ally never tell she had his son , until one day he comes back and wants to be part of Tom's life too. The other story,the main story, of A Promising Man is a funny and heart warming story is because of Harriet and John's romance. They both adore each other very much, but both act as if their just friends.
Over all, the story happening in the book were exciting and interesting. Harriet was very loving and caring. She helped her friends as much as possible. Her selfless attitude helped her be happy with John in the end of the story. Also the many happening in the book made me not wanted to put the book down. The confusing with Nina made the book ending very funny and what no reader expected to happen in the end. Also Sally and Jacquo's decision to be together was not called for because of the insults to each other. I reccomend the book for others to read if you want to have great laughs.
Well, this is my first Elizabeth Young novel and I'm not sure if I will continue reading more. There were several moments of witty banter but I never fully connected with Harriet or Jon. In some ways, I felt like the book evolved more around the secondary characters (and there were a lot!) than the main ones.
2.5 Stars
*sigh* Please, someone who reads this review, recommend me some British Chick Lits similar to , or . I've already tried L. Kelk, J. Colgan, L.A. Holmes, J. Green, J. Costello, S. Kinsella, M. Keyes, H. Evans, M. McFarlane. Any recs would be much appreciated.
This was a enjoyable fun read. I would definitely recommend this book. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book about Harriet Grey, a single woman from London. Harriet meets an interesting man, John Mackenzie, only minutes after she has seen him with Nina, an old schoolmate who never treated Harriet well.
Funny, light-hearted and just enough plausible misunderstandings to make it real - this book was well worth the read.
Awe, really good. I had a hard time getting into it at first because the Brit-lish was a bit over my head, but once I got a hang of it I loved it!! I also liked how it wasn't like all other chick-lit going on about designer this and expensive whatever that.
I didn't like the beginning very much. Too many British slangs made it difficult to follow. Who speaks like that? But they seemed to disappear as the book went on. And I was surprised with the plot twist.
Hacía rato q no me encontraba con esta clase de novelas y me divertí un montón. Harriet es una chica q tú dirías del montón, pero realmente o mejor dicho, precisamente x eso es q te puede identificar muy bien con su historia, xq a quien no le ha pasado? Harriet es una chica normal, trabaja en una agencia de empleos y le gusta mucho viajar. Pero x esas cosas de la vida la encontramos estancada en una casa vetusta - herencia de una tía - con dos mejores amigos metidos cada uno en sus propios rolletes. De repente aparece un galanazo de revista y resulta demasiado bueno para ser verdad, y de hecho, la regla se cumple xq John - no había un nombre menos común?? - resulta estar (posiblemente) saliendo con la némesis de Harriet en el instituto. Pero la cosa se queda ahí? NO!!!! Entre q Harriet sigue dando encontronados más o menos calculados con John, q le gusta un montón pero en quien no termina de confiar x el detalle de la otra, tenemos toda una vorágine de personajes q van y vienen contando sus pequeños rollos y esperando q Harriet - y eventualmente también John - lo resuelvan. Y es q precisamente lo q me encantó de esta historia es q cuenta varias mini historias de varios otros personajes y ninguna tiene desperdicio, al contrario, son un complemento espectacular para el lío del triangulo amoroso entre Harriet&John para hacer q la dinámica de la trama no decaiga nunca, xq apenas estas terminando de dejar a Tara lavando váteres en el Hen&Peacock, ya te estas metiendo en el lío filiatorio de Sally y su bebé, y luego aparece Jacko con sus líos q no terminan de ser tan liosos, y Helen q una vez quiere y luego ya no tanto. X no hablar de los padres de Harriet q terminan siendo los divorciados mejor avenidos en la historia de la humanidad. Y si quieren saber más, leanse el libro. Con todo y gustos dispares q puedan existir, este libro de seguro promete...y era hora!!!!!
I'm swooning! This book is responsible for rekindling my interest in romance books.
Imagine meeting a gorgeous hunk in a public place randomly and you get entangled in an awkward situation that resulted in you both getting each other's numbers and you meet up next time for a not-a-officially-a-date-but-certainly-feels-like-a-date and then you realize you like seeing the guy and you develop a crush on him and you think that he feels the same since he wants to spend more time with you and so you meet up again and the next thing you know you're meeting his family and he's spending Christmas with you but only because he got sick and now you're caring for him ala Florence Nightingale. All of this is a perfect situation to be involved with him romantically except for the fact that this guy might or might not be involved with your high school nemesis. That's basically the premise of the great romance between Harriet and John.
Harriet is hilarious and John is such a dreamboat. I honestly want a John Mackenzie in my life. Their romance developed slowly but the buildup is so cute and sexy that when they got together, it was perfect. This book is 100% British. There was a lot of British slang here. This is genuinely a funny book; there's something about British humor that is so funny. The author was also so eloquent with words and she uses them so effectively in this novel which adds up to its charm. The other characters are endearing in their own ways. I think this is an underrated book. It's a fun and cozy read without too many dramatic and heavy moments. It's almost basically a feel-good story. I only pegged down a star because I didn't like the cover. Honestly, it doesn't fit with the story.
J’ai commencé ce livre histoire de faire le tri dans ma pile à lire. Je l’ai sorti, car il a une très mauvaise note sur Livraddict et que du coup, je me suis dit que potentiellement ce serait un abandon, soit un livre qui s’enlève assez rapidement de ma PAL. Je m’étais dit : « si je n’accroche pas dès les cent premières pages, je passe à autre chose ; vite fait, bien fait ». En bref, cela pourrait être une bonne méthode, à condition de ne pas accrocher. Et roulement de tambour, j’ai accroché plus plus. Ce livre est une comédie romantique so british, kitch et fondée sur des quiproquos. Il réunit quelques clichés ajoutant un brin d’humour, mais sans lourdeur. L’auteure se permet également de se moquer des clichés des comédies romantiques tout en les utilisant. Un petit esprit d’autodérision !
Harriet est une jeune Anglaise qui a bon cœur. Elle a reçu une propriété en héritage et quand ses deux amis se retrouvent dans la panade, elle ne peut rester les bras croisés. Elle les héberge. Sally est une jeune maman. Elle est la meilleure amie d’Harriet, pour elle, pas question de la laisser à la rue avec Tom, son poupon tout mimi, quand il veut bien faire ses nuits. La suite de ma chronique :
This was a reread for me. I first read this book back in roughly 2003, 2004. “Chick lit� was very popular then and was one of my preferred genres, though I now tend to stick to young adult books and cozy mysteries. This book made me want to read everything else the author wrote though, as I really liked it back then, but it’s been sitting on my shelf neglected for many years. I didn’t like it quite as much as I used to, but it was still a fun read. There’s a twist which I didn’t see coming the first time, and even knowing it’s there now doesn’t take away from the fun. I like the characters, but the slang is a bit much to read as an American.
Lo leí hace tiempo pero ahora lo he visto por casualidad y voy a leerlo de nuevo. Es muy entretenido y la trama principal se completa con las historias secundarias. Y John me encanta. Sin duda la recomiendo para pasar un buen rato.
A cute story with a number of interesting characters. I wished some of the characters had more prominence in the story (or a stronger character development). For some reason I started / stopped this book a few times, so the lower rating might be the way I read through it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.