Costa del Churros
by Isabella May
Goodreads
Amazon / B&N
The rain in Spain doesn’t mainly fall on the plain…
Brits abroad Belinda, Julia, Laura, and Georgina need more than the sweetness of churros with chocolate dipping sauce to save them from their unsavory states of affairs.
Cue Carmen Maria Abril de la Fuente Ferrera, the town’s flamboyant flamenco teacher! But can she really be the answer to their prayers?
One thing’s for sure: the Costa del Sol will never be the same again.
My Rating:
Favorite Quotes:
I suppose you are another pair who keep Gwyneth Paltrow and the sad food of deprivation in business?
Oh… you’re scared, admit it. A woman with a heavenly figure like you, petrified to show it off, and here’s me willing to jiggle my bits in front of an audience.
“Is this some kind of early mid-life crisis?” He furrowed his brows to study her, confusion washing over his face, as if his wife had suddenly upgraded to version 2:0 and he failed to recognise her new format.
Money was merely an exchange of energy and she had no reason to hide from her good fortune. Joy was the meaning of life, after all, hadn’t Carmen also taught her that much?
No matter how much divine inspiration Carmen had bestowed upon them, in the end, each of them had their own path to follow. And sometimes that meant sticking two fingers up to the rules, embracing rebellion and kicking ass.
My Review:
I loved the premise as well as the creativity and humorous storylines, but much of the delightful cleverness of Ms. May’s writing flew right over my head, as I felt lost with so many unfamiliar British social and pop cultural references. I am sure if I were British I would have been laughing aloud. But as I am not, I was wearing out the Wikipedia and translator on my Kindle and seriously toying with the idea of a DNF at 20%.
The colorful and dubious main cast of characters featured four initially annoying and/or pampered British women living in Spain with personalities and behaviors ranged from exasperating to repellent, and a magical/psychic dance instructor who changed their life paths. I was proud for sticking with it. Ole’! and was quite satisfied with the ending, but I continue to take considerable issue with the first half of the book. But, score! I have 2 new additions to my Brit List with the realization that “digestive biscuits” are actually just cookies (duh – I knew Brits called cookies biscuits but had thought digestive biscuits must be a medicinal product); and “numpty” which Mr. Google tells me is informal British for a stupid person, hiss – that is me today… I’m a numpty for not previously catching on to digestives being just another cookie.
Author Bio –
Isabella May lives in (mostly) sunny Andalucia, Spain with her husband, daughter and son, creatively inspired by the sea and the mountains. When she isn’t having her cake and eating it, sampling a new cocktail on the beach, or ferrying her children to and from after-school activities, she can usually be found writing. As a co-founder and a former contributing writer for the popular online women’s magazine, The Glass House Girls – www.theglasshousegirls.com – she has also been lucky enough to subject the digital world to her other favorite pastimes, travel, the Law of Attraction, and Prince (The Purple One). She has recently become a Book Fairy, and is having lots of fun with her imaginative ‘drops’! Costa del Churros is her third novel with Crooked Cat Books, following on from the hit sensations, Oh! What a Pavlova and The Cocktail Bar.
Social Media Links –
Twitter – @IsabellaMayBks
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/IsabellaMayAuthor/
Instagram – @isabella_may_author
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Next thing you know, you’ll move there!