Welcome to the Real World
The heartwarming rom-com from the Sunday Times bestseller
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4.3 • 18 Ratings
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- £4.99
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- £4.99
Publisher Description
The funny, uplifting novel from the Sunday Times and multi-million-copy bestseller
Fern has the voice of an angel but as an underpaid barmaid and pub singer, she's going nowhere fast. Then she enters the TV talent show Fame Game and this could be her big break. But then, things are never that simple.
Evan David's exquisite tones have enthralled opera buffs throughout the world. Everyone around him panders to his every need but what he really needs now is a break - from everything.
Two worlds collide when Fern becomes Evan's assistant and neither is prepared for the dramatic effect they have on each other. Something happens when they're together, and it's more than just music . . .
Your favourite authors love Carole Matthews:
'A gorgeous novel that will delight'
KATIE FFORDE
'Fun, fantastic and brimming with Matthews magic'
MILLY JOHNSON
'A life-affirming story full of joy and hope'
CATHY BRAMLEY
'An irresistibly warm-hearted story'
TRISHA ASHLEY
'Warm, witty and hopeful - I was charmed'
SARAH MORGAN
'The queen of funny, feel good fiction'
MIKE GAYLE
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Fern Kendal, London bartender and underappreciated lounge crooner, wants a break as a singer. But, she asks herself in Briton Matthews's latest (after With or Without You), how can she get her big break when she's working two jobs to help support her brother, Joe (he cares full-time for his severely asthmatic son), and to subsidize her gambling father, who takes up residence on Fern's lumpy couch. She lands a part-time job as personal assistant to Evan David, a handsome opera singer, and, not shockingly, sparks fly. She's hesitant to tell him when Carl, her high school boyfriend and current accompanist, talks her into trying out with him for the reality talent show Fame Game (her "attempts seem so feeble compared to "). The show's judges ask her to appear on the show but without Carl's accompaniment. Fern is torn between her deep friendship with Carl, her developing relationship with Evan and her quickly building career, but the knockout punch comes when Lana, a fiery Maria Callas like diva, appears to set her sexy hooks into Evan. Matthews has a knack for snappy dialogue, though the plot twists involving Evan and Lana feel contrived. An apropos tearjerker ending caps this likable heroine's journey from lager-slinger to pop singer.
