Holly's Inbox: Scandal in the City by Holly Denham (Book Review)

Title: Holly's Inbox: Scandal in the City
Author: Holly Denham
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca


My synopsis: We catch up with Holly as she is still working as a receptionist at DK Huerst bank.  She is now living with Toby as well as a rabbit that she is keeping a secret from him.  She shares receptionist responsibilites with Trish, Claire, Marie and her friend Aisha.  The bank is aware of her talents though, and are soon grooming her to become the manager of her department.  She has about a month to improve their ratings in order to keep her management job. 

Again, we learn everything about Holly's life, as well as the lives of her friends and family, through her inbox - with an occassional glimpse into some of her friends' inboxes. 

Toby travels alot,  (he works for DK Huerst also) so Holly is feeling a little down.  She is feeling neglected and doesn't like sitting at home alone - so she ends up going out with friends a little too much and partying a little too heavy when Toby isn't around.  A wedge seems to be coming between them and she doesn't know how to fix it.  She keeps dropping hints about the promotion, hoping that Toby will pick up on it and tell her how proud he is of her.  As things progress though, she becomes convinced that he is having an affair, or at the very least, that he is not in love with her anymore.

Then there is Tanya - she is the head of the catering department and is very manipulative!  Every chance she gets she makes Holly look bad and is also making a play for Toby.  I don't know how I would have kept my mouth shut around her - she was even pushing my buttons! 

My thoughts:  This book was as much fun to read as the first one - Holly's Inbox (review). There is a surprise at the end that I did not see coming but it was perfect - actually brought tears to my eyes, which I would not have expected from this book.  I guarantee that this is a quick read and that you will be laughing, yelling (at Tanya!), talking to the characters and smiling by the end. 

~I received a copy of this book from Sourcebooks in exchange for my review.~

Holly's Inbox: Scandal in the City

Publisher/Publication Date: Sourcebooks, Aug 17, 2010

ISBN: 978-1-4022-4114-7

535 pages

Holly's Inbox by Holly Denham (Book Review)

Title: Holly's Inbox
Author: Holly Denham (Bill Surie)
Publisher/Publication Date: Sourcebooks, June 2009

First sentence: Holly, Exciting news about your job, are you enjoying it?

About the book: (from the back cover) - Dear Holly, Are you sure you know what you're getting into...?

It's Holly Denham's first day as a receptionist at a busy corporate bank, and frankly, it's obvious she can't quite keep up.

Take a peek at her email and you'll see why: what with her crazy friends, dysfunctional family, and gossipy co-workers, Holly's inbox is a daily source of drama. Laughter, friendship, and romantic interludes keep her going, until one day, Holly's secret past begins to catch up with her. . .

Written entirely in emails, this compulsively readable UK smash hit will keep you laughing and turning the pages all the way to its surprising and deeply satisfying ending.

My thoughts: Who would have thought that you could learn so much about someone from reading their email? This book was hilarious - and very believable. Even though I have not been in the work force for 5 years - I remember how people would email me rather than just picking up the phone! I am sure that email has only gotten more prevalent since then. The entanglements and problems that Holly gets into are pretty common - but the presentation of those situations - learned entirely through email is very original! I flew through this book quicker than I ever though possible. It was very clever the way it was laid out - 5 months - week by week - day by day - mainly being Holly's inbox with the occasional detour to one of her friends. There is Trish - the other receptionist - who at first you think is going to be really tough to work with, but that soon changes. Then there are her friends Jason and Aish - Jason being more of her confidente and problem solver while Aish gets into a lot of trouble on her own that she needs help getting out of. Charlie, her brother, who is trying to open a fetish club and always seems to need Holly's help. Alice and Matt, her sister and husband, who have the interesting occupation of raising snakes. . . And then of course Holly's Mum and Dad and dear old Granny - who seems to get into as much trouble as Holly - w/o even trying! You can begin to get an idea of what the book is alike by visiting Holly's Inbox online. Warning - You will be addicted!

Holly's Inbox
Publisher/Publication Date: Sourcebooks, June 2009
ISBN: 9781402219030
668 pages