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Bearing this in mind, [Fiona Walker]'s latest venture into eccentric Middle England -the fictitious Cotswolds village of Oddlode -does not get off to a good start.
As this is a Walker rom-com, it doesn't take long for a colourful cast of characters and assorted oddballs to liven things up, particularly bad boy Jasper Spurs Belling who [Ellen] meets at an auction.
With the exception of Tolkein's fictitious Middle Earth and its environs, I always find it annoying when authors feel compelled to include simplistic maps within their books.
Surely the reader is supposed to use his or her own imagination to visualise the world and characters created by an author.
Bearing this in mind, Fiona Walker's latest venture into eccentric Middle England -the fictitious Cotswolds village of Oddlode -does not get off to a good start.
Best described as The Archers meets Dynasty, Lots of Love follows Ellen as she returns to home from Australia after being dumped by her surfer boyfriend Richard.
But as this is a Walker rom-com, it doesn't take long for a colourful cast of characters and assorted oddballs to liven things up, particularly bad boy Jasper Spurs Belling who Ellen meets at an auction.
She buys three wishes, which are to be granted by Belling -and that's when the trouble starts.
If you can totally suspend disbelief to follow the somewhat convoluted plot, which I won't attempt to unravel any further, it makes for an entertaining, if somewhat forgettable read.
Not wanting to give too much away, the ending is slightly predictable but there's enough fun between the pages, sheets and cold showers to make it worthwhile.
So if you have nothing better to do than to lie on a beach, soak up the sun and lose yourself in a girlie novel, you could do a lot worse.
(Copyright 2003 Birmingham Post and Mail Ltd.)