Fifteen Minutes of Shame

by Lisa Daily

[Leah]

When I decided to purchase Fifteen Minutes of Shame, there was no reasoning toward that. Lisa Daily isn’t anybody I’ve ever heard of. Basically, I went into the book blind. I didn’t look at reviews, I skimmed the synopis, I just bought it because I liked the look of it. Yup, I judged a book on its cover and I dove straight into the novel. And do you know what? It was the greatest thing I’ve ever done. Because I had no pre-conceived notions, nobody’s reviews buzzing in my mind, no low star GoodReads ratings to fling around my brain. I just had the book in front of me. Let me tell you, Fifteen Minutes of Shame is one of the best books I think I’ve ever read. I adored every page, and I like that for the most part, the book didn’t conform the way most Chick Lit novels do.

Fifteen Minutes of Shame, to sum it up, made me happy. Any book that starts with the heroine stalking her husband in a bush is going to win my approval immediately. Throw in puking on Matt Lauer’s shoes a few pages later and I was hooked. Seriously, this is one funny and heartfelt novel. Obviously it’s a bit formulaic, with Darby getting dumped by her husband – on national TV no less! – when he decides to go back to his ex-wife, but the book runs deeper than that. While Darby’s understandably upset to lose her husband, she’s also upset to lose the two kids she’s looked after for four years, Lilly and Aidan. And Darby decides to go for custody of the two kids, bringing Holt into her life. Of course, Will comes back for a second chance (don’t accuse me of spoiling it, it’s obvious!) and I did think ‘Oh here we go’, but what Darby does is surprising. It truly surprised me, and it just made me so happy.

What really made the book for me was probably Darby herself. I mean, come on, you’re obviously going to root for someone who stalks her husband in a bush. Not to mention making a fool of herself on TV numerous times. She’s someone you can truly root for, somebody you want to have a happy ever after. Sure she wallows for a bit after the ending of her marriage, but once she decides to fight for the kids and prove to the world she is worth of giving dating advice, she really lights up. I probably say this too much, but I loved her and she’s one of the most likeable heroines ever. Sometimes a female character like Darby comes along and blows you away. Darby blew me away, I seriously loved her. She made the book, and she’s one of them characters that will stay with me long after I’ve read the book.

The rest of the characters make for a fantastic read, too. There’s Darby’s ‘Dreamgirls’, her best friends forever, who help her when Will dumps her. I loved how they were non-judgemental, even when Darby was wondering whether to give Will a second chance. I wasn’t convinced by Will, as you might expect. I thought what he did to Darby was horrible – what kind of person dumps their wife on national telly by doing a press conference with their ex-wife? Oh, right, Will does that. Gigi, Will’s ex-wife, was also uninspiring, but, like Darby, I could understand her motives and why she did what she did. Still didn’t like her, mind. But my absolute favourite character was Holt, Darby’s lawyer. He had some super Southern charm and I was a sucker for him from the first time we met him. Talk about swoon-worthy. It’s almost worth getting married, just so Holt can be your divorce lawyer. I know he’s fictional, but a girl can dream, right?

Fifteen Minutes of Shame, from page 1 to page 301, was a pleasure. I was hooked from the beginning, and everything that happens in Darby’s life kept me hooked to the very end. Like I said, I did worry it was going down the predictable route but that was a mild panic at best and didn’t happen, thankfully. Whenever I come across two characters I think are perfect for each other, I get that lovely warm feeling in my stomach, and with Fifteen Minutes of Shame, I knew from the first meeting just who Darby would end up with. Not that I’m going to tell you who it is. Psh, it would ruin it and there’s nothing like an ending you didn’t expect. Well, you know. I was absolutely gutted to go onto Amazon and find no second novel from Lisa. I mean, she’s super talented and her writing just flows, so I’m hoping madly that a second novel is in the offing at some point. I adored Fifteen Minutes of Shame and would recommend it to all.