I'll just start this review off by saying: I'm torn after reading this book.The Little Lady Agency is the first in a three part series starring Melissa Romney-Jones, a girl who has been fired - once again - from her job and has no clue where to go from there. Extremely organized and good at soothing the ruffled feathers of her co-workers and friends, Melissa, after a string of highly amusing events and coincidences, decides to open her own agency specially marketed to those blokes who have more than a little trouble organizing their lives. Whether it be a clothes makeover, someone to advise them on asking a girl out, posing as a girlfriend to get matchmaking mamas off their backs, or just firing the hired help, Melissa can handle anything with her no-nonsense attitude - everything except for laundry and sex that is.Only thing is, Melissa doesn't want to be recognized due to her politically prominent family and thus dons a blonde wig and an alternate personality, Honey during 'business hours'. As Honey, Melissa wears tighter clothing and can make the honest yet somewhat brutal remarks accommodating Melissa would never dream of uttering. Even though her wonderful friends Nelson and Gabi insist that side of Melissa has always been there, she can't see it.Okay, so now for my reasons for not totally being wowed by this one. I mean, at times, it's hilarious. Melissa gets into some laugh-out-loud situations with her awkward bachelors and her family had me in stitches to no end. My beef comes with her choice in men. I know Ms. Browne was going for a whole passion-over-friendship thing but I really don't see her decision working out for her in the end. I don't want to spoil it here, but if you too are feeling less than pleased with how things end up, let me know cause I am more than a little miffed at her decision. Other than that, I really enjoyed this book - the characters were great, it was surprisingly clean for a 'chick book', and it dealt with all things London and English. My idea of a good time. ( )

2007

Posh girl loses temp job, sets up her own escort and male grooming agency. I have often noted the ease with which women in chicklit, no matter how hopeless in other ways, always manage to think of a gap in the market and set themselves up in a self-employed capacity to plug it. I probably should be ashamed of myself, reading this sort of stuff. Another odd thing about these books is that the BFF character (there is always a BFF) is inevitably more interesting than the protagonist, cf: Rose Red in the 'Katy' books. ( )

I picked this up hoping it would be similar to Shopaholic. It's only similar in that they both center around single young women in England. Still this was fun and more substantial than Shopaholic. I do plan on reading the next in the series. ( )

I found the Little Lady Agency to be a charming book. I was very impressed at the detailed and meticulous way in which Browne developed her character and the story line. Often in books such as this, the story goes along just fine, and then rushes into a whirlwind end where everything magically clears up. It is refreshing to read a book that gave as much care and detail to the last fifty pages as it did to the first fifty.
Beyond all that, I enjoyed reading a fairly fresh and non-traditional storyline. I can't wait to get my hands on the sequel! ( )