Leah
Written on Jul 17, 2017
Camilla Isley has quickly become one of my favourite Chick Lit writers. Her style, her plots, her fabulous characters, they all add up to pretty fantastic reads - and quick ones, too! I didn't plan to devour I Have Never in pretty much one sitting, but I did and I don't regret it. I loved Blair, and Richard, and Chevron the dog (oh, did I love Chevron the dog!) and I loved that after her firing (redundancy?) and her break-up, Blair decided to tear up her old list, of ways a lady should act at all times (not making a scene, don't go skinny dipping, don't get arrested) and do the exact opposites of all those don'ts on her list. And it's brilliant.
Blair was such a brilliant character - I loved her from the word go, and it's pretty hard NOT to like somebody who throws a plate of spaghetti onto someone else's head. That immediately gets hero status from me. That's the kind of stuff I dream of being brave enough to do, but I could never do, because it would be so out of character for me, so I love to live vicariously through my MCs in books. To then tear up her list of rules for being proper and ladylike, made the book even better (obviously), leading to many hilarious scenes including (but not limited to): acquiring a dog at a petrol station, getting arrested and spending a few hours in jail, and waking up in a strange man's bed and finding out he's the hottest man, ever. It was thoroughly entertaining.
The banter between Richard and Blair was pretty off the charts. It was frustrating, because you could tell Richard was holding back, but it was also exciting. I love when a romance makes me excited, when I'm ready for them to kiss, and even that ridiculous Aurora subplot didn't dampen my excitement (especially because Blair got to explode like a firecracker). I just loved everything about I Have Never, *especially* the game of Never Have I Ever near to the end. I got all those swooshy feelings and UGH it was incredible. I'm such a sucker for these types of books, and I loved rooting for Blair on every page. It was just a brilliant, brilliant read and I can't wait to read more from Camilla Isley, she's a cracking writer.