A cute story. I do like a Holly Golightly type character. ( )

This one took a while for me to get into, but I ended up loving it! It's a love letter to love. How could I not enjoy it? I also love that I can see myself in both Georgie and Andrew, even though my life is totally different from either of theirs. ( )

Lauren Layne's books have always been just enough to keep me reading. WALK OF SHAME seems to be the favorite among my friends. And while I do think it was cute, sexy, and fun at times I couldn't shake the fact that it felt like a version of THE HATING GAME with more designer brand name dropping. Sure, it takes place in the lobby instead of the office, but some of the plot similarities and elements were SO familiar it really had me suspicious. Georgiana was a bubbly, fairy-tale-believing, generous and kind woman. (Who was really called Georgie, but only Andrew called her Georgiana) Andrew was neat, never really fits in, quiet, routine, and serious but seriously competent divorce lawyer.

I found the heroine essentially vapid for the better part of the book. I don't care if people enjoy fashion or their brands, but for fuck's sake I was ready to close the book at that point. She was funny though, and a good friend, and for that I could keep reading. Then she had this encounter with her parents and winds up being upset that their lives do not revolve around her and I wasn't sure if I would ever like her. She was basically a socialite who stayed out partying and doing the 'it' thing and arrived home at 5am every morning to meet Andrew going to the gym at 5 am every morning.

Andrew always says things wrong. He's a super star lawyer, a little socially inept or perhaps, more likely, socially indifferent. And while the majority of the book is from Georgie's point of view in first person, we have the added bonus of 3rd person of his every so often. It is so hard to make this narrative style anything other than jarring, and always leads me to believe that the author is too weak to have the other POV revealed via plot instead. It feels like cheating, and I generally do not like it. However, Georgie wouldn't have stood a chance without her 'ridiculous' POV.

From nursing each other back to health as the first time they really get an inkling of how the other feels/really are vulnerable (and I know this is common) to two words (not 3) on an unsigned bouquet to the hero's secret alienating the heroine for no reason other than the heroine's perception of betrayal, to the heroine's desperation that the hero like her--it just felt really familiar.

But I could've gotten over that. As I stated, Andrew is a high profile divorce attorney. As such, he protected his client's confidentiality. I won't spoil the ultimate causes of conflict for these two other than the parts where Andrew's said something the wrong way, but I will say that it comes down to him maintaining this confidentiality. And that it causes him to make the grand gesture because she is just so upset and she leaps to all sorts of decisions in her own stupid, self-centered, illogical way.

So Georgie had grown on me, but I'm in an industry that takes confidentiality really seriously too and now I hate her for not understanding that. What an entitled brat.

So, yes, everyone loved it and I felt the need to write a lot of reasons I didn't, but the primary reason I didn't is because it felt so directly derivative of The Hating Game, (which I *just* read) with none of the finesse and a super unlikable heroine.

I think it's become safe to say Lauren Layne and I just don't have chemistry. ( )

ARC Review: Walk of Shame (Love Unexpectedly) by Lauren Layne

He's a cynic. A divorce lawyer to the stars Andrew has seen it all and is not impressed. She's a party girl. Georgie has everything money can buy, but lately she's looking for more. Walk of Shame is a delightful look at the pitfalls of celebrity. As always Ms. Layne brings a smart wit to her characters that is a pleasure to behold, but she also exposes behind the curtain. The labels, unhappiness and loneliness that life on a pedestal entails. Georgie is more than the pampered heiress people assume her to be. Andrew is more than a pompous jerk. Their human and can feel pain and bias just as easily as we can. This is why I love Lauren Layne. She creates characters that seem larger than life, yet she exposes their frailties, while stealing her readers hearts. ( )

I have been a big fan of Lauren Layne for a while now, and I was intrigued by the description. The misunderstood socialite and a divorce lawyer!! I wasn't even sure how this would playout!! But when I started the story, I was honestly blown away by the characters vulnerability and resolve.

When you first start reading about Georgie, you honestly don't think there is anything you can relate too, with the over pampered socialite, but that is not the real Georgie. The real Georgie asks after her concierge and brings them doughnuts. Basically she cares about people! About their lives and families and she wants to share some of their joy, something she seems to be lacking in her own.

Andrew is a tough nut to crack, and you don't really warm up to him, until he accidentally hurts Georgie with his Sharpe tongue and then cracks of compassion starts to poke through.

To say I love this book might just be an understatement, the plot is almost Cinderella like, but rather than needing saving from poverty and hardship, Georgie wants to be loved, for exactly who she is, and damn it! This book reduced me to tears, but then I tend to when reading a Lauren Layne books, as her writing is just SO beautiful.

After all that gushing, there is only once score I could give this book...5 stars!
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