93. Holly's Inbox: Scandal in the City by Holly Denham...

Title: Holly's Inbox: Scandal in the City
Author: Holly Denham
ISBN-13: 9781402241147
Paperback: 535 pages
Publisher: Sourcebooks, Inc., 2010
Purchase at IndieBound, Amazon, The Book Depository

FTC Disclosure: My copy of Holly's Inbox: Scandal in the City was provided by the publisher for this review. I am an affiliate at IndieBound, The Book Depository, and Amazon, and any purchases made by clicking on the cover or the links provided may result in monetary compensation.

drey's thoughts:
I never did get a chance to read Bill Surie's Holly's Inbox, but am glad I did get my hands on the follow-up, Holly's Inbox: Scandal in the City. One thing I want to point out--the cover of my copy is pink, not the blue-ish tone as depicted, but I can't for the life of me find a pink cover image.

Anyway! About the book itself! It's fabulous! Especially if you like British chick-lit. Holly's life is looking good. She's in love with the yummy Toby, gets promoted at work, and her family drama is at a minimum. Unfortunately for her, things don't stay that way for long. Toby's trips to France has her paranoid that he's got a French mademoiselle on the side. And the new catering manager is trying to put her down and steal Toby.

Holly and her friends are wickedly entertaining, and the emails flying around can be absolutely hilarious. This is one that'll go down as smoothly as a perfectly-made flan.


drey's rating: 3.5/5Very Good

Challenges: 100+, Pub

Tour: Bill Surie on Writing...

drey's library is happy to participate in the blog tour for Bill Surie's (a.k.a. Holly Denham) Holly's Inbox!!

About the book: (from Amazon)

System alert: Inbox full of scandal, romance, and office hilarity!

Meet Holly Denham. It's her first day as a receptionist at a London investment bank and inexperienced Holly is struggling. How's a working girl supposed to have a love life with a demanding job, crazy friends, a dysfunctional family, and gossipy colleagues? Not to mention that Holly's been keeping a secret from everyone - and the past is about to catch up with her.

An affair with a sexy VP heats things up at the office, but when Holly's first flame (who, she thinks, left her in the lurch) gets a job at the same company, complications abound and Holly's inbox becomes a daily source of drama, laughter and scandal.

About the author:
Bill Surie is the owner of a placement service for receptionists and secretaries in London. He started the Holly’s Inbox website as a place to serialize his first novel; his second is now in the works. Bill currently lives in England and Spain with his wife and daughter. To see the site that started it all, please visit www.hollysinbox.com. You can also follow Holly on Facebook and Twitter!

What Bill says:

I remember the exact night I chose to be a writer.

I was 23 at the time, it was my fourth gig and I was scared. Next time you come across someone mean, someone who makes your blood boil, don’t get flustered, don’t insult them, just laugh at their jokes and recommend they try stand up comedy. That night we were meant to be doing five minutes each, the previous comedian lasted just two, he came off in tears. I did a full five minutes and the audience got to their feet, so they could hurl things from a better angle.

The girl after me was also new. I wanted to tell her to run for her life, but it turned out she didn’t need to, they loved her… (her name was Catherine Tate – and she went on to be a huge star in the UK). That night she gave me some advice, she told me to talk more about things people could relate to ie falling in love, getting dumped, problems at work and less about sex with gremlins. This wouldn’t have been a problem if I’d ever had a stable relationship or a job, so I had no idea what she was on about. She also said I should try looking a little bit more confident and happy (not easy with a hundred people shouting gettttofff-you-ugly-tosssssa). Either way I decided that night I was more of a writer than a performer – which was a truly fab excuse for never having to put myself through stand-up hell again.

I took a job in a bar and in my spare time began writing TV soap scripts. I tried various settings and characters but couldn’t get an agent or anyone to read them, as a last resort I took them to show my parents. My dad told me to grow up and get a proper job, so I would have something to write about, oh and to get my hair cut while I was at it.

I ignored him of course, dyed my hair jet black and began writing an edge of your seat thriller slasher romantic horror novel, full of gangsters and drugs and death; it took me a couple of years to finish and I hated every minute of it. The feedback I received wasn’t encouraging either; apparently there wasn’t a market for that kind of thing. The agency told me they weren’t interested in taking me on, but maybe I should try writing something a little bit more commercial. I listened to their advice, nodded intently then slammed the phone down, threw my keyboard across the room, and vowed never to write again.

After sulking for a good few years, I ended up getting a job in recruitment and getting married.

Now I know that finding the love of my life, and getting a ‘proper’ job, surprisingly did give me something to write about. I was 27 when I took my first office job and was bullied horrifically by a woman there. I remember telling her I would probably write about all this in years to come – which made her laugh (but not in a good way). I did though, I used her as a character in Holly’s Inbox – but I can’t really tell you which one or she’ll probably sue me for slander. She was a treat.

I wrote it much faster than anything I’ve written before which I think is a good sign; if you enjoy writing something and it’s not a struggle then you’re probably on the right track. It began as a website alongside a forum so I received some criticism to begin with, but this time I learnt from it and I think this helped me improve.

I absolutely loved writing it, it made me laugh and cry and I hope it does the same to you, and leaves you with a punching-the-air-get–up-and-go feeling.

www.hollysinbox.com is back up and running with Holly sending and receiving emails and Holly’s Inbox is out now in U.S. shops (by Sourcebooks)

Thank so much for having me,
Bill/Holly

Come back anytime, Bill/Holly! =) I can't wait to get my hands on a copy, but y'all go first...

Giveaway!
There is ONE copy of Holly's Inbox up for grabs, if you live in the US or Canada (no PO Boxes, please!). I've never worked as a receptionist anywhere--I think sometimes I might've enjoyed it wayyyyy more than the headache my current job is giving me, lol! To enter this contest, comment & dish--Have you worked in an office environment? Was it large or small? Did you like it or did the people (or job!) drive you absolutely bonkers? =)

As always, +1 for following, +2 for sharing. This giveaway ends 6:00pm CST June 25th!