Pedalo Pandemonium
(Scott Family Short Story, Book 4)
by Amanda Paull
Laura and Ben are still together, against all the odds. Laura’s Family the Scotts are adorable – but they wreak havoc wherever they go. The couple has survived first date silicon dog poo, Christmas mayhem, and even dodgy marshmallows.
Their future together may have looked doomed on more than one occasion, but here they are at the airport – eating bacon sandwiches and watching planes take off, as they wait to board their flight to Mallorca.
A whole week in an idyllic Spanish fishing village. Just the two of them. Away from their families and the usual chaos. Wonderful.
What could possibly go wrong…?
My Rating:
Favorite Quote:
She’d noticed that Ben had recently started calling Fenella, Mother, again in front of Laura. He seemed to have forgiven Laura for criticising him. Likening her wonderful boyfriend to Norman Bates in Psycho could have turned out to be the worst mistake of her life.
‘My brother has a pretty fierce wife.’ Ben gave Laura a wry smile. ‘Mother is no match for Millie.’ Laura felt uneasy. ‘Oh my. Ben, I really don’t think I could cope with ever meeting her.’ Ben laughed. ‘None of us can cope with Millie. Looks like a kitten, mauls like a tiger. My brother is a brave man.’
‘You looked quite stressed while you were chatting to your mam earlier,’ she said, trying not to laugh. ‘Shh, she’ll hear you and call me back,’ he said, looking around the room like a sniper and cackling.
Can you imagine being abandoned by your family?’ said Maureen, aghast. ‘Sometimes,’ said Laura.
My Review:
This was a quick and amusing diversion with those meddlesome Scotts taking their intrusive natures on the road by inserting themselves in Laura and Ben’s Mallorcan vacation. Poor Ben, I think they would need to book an outer space mission to ever escape their parents’ interference. I picked up two new words for my Brit Word List with stotted – which is British for banged, and pedalo – British for paddle boat, something poor Ben will never want to ever see again.
About the Author
My name is Amanda Paull. Well, that’s my pen name, not my real one, which helps to keep my writing separate from my day job.
I grew up in the North East of England and couldn’t wait to move away. However, after studying and then living both in England and abroad, I returned to the North East and wouldn’t dream of living anywhere else now.
Going to Grammar school in the days when teachers wore black caps and gowns and walloped at will, wasn’t much fun for a shy, quiet child like myself. So, I just kept my head down, did my homework and tried to stay invisible.
I used to love daydreaming and making up stories in my head, but I never thought about writing them down. In those days, the writing wasn’t an enjoyable pursuit, it was more of a time to tow the line and avoid being hit by a flying blackboard rubber. I was the type of pupil who would have been mortified to have ‘made’ a teacher launch one at me, so I would have shown respect by not ducking.
A short career in teaching was a revelation, to put it mildly. After going back to University, I settled into my current post in the public sector, where I am very happy.
It was Jim, a work colleague, who suggested around 12 years ago that I write a book. Apparently, my contribution to coffee break conversations always seemed to be either tragic or hilarious. But to me, it was just normal stuff. No-one would want to read about that.
Then, a couple of years later, while sunbathing in Mallorca with my boyfriend, who is now my husband, and a glass of Cava, the idea of writing a humorous fiction novel came to me. I didn’t need to make it all up though as I had a plentiful supply of funny real-life snippets.
To get started, I studied creative writing through the Open University, which fitted nicely around my job and, to my delight, was absolutely nothing like school. The Scott Family Short Stories started out as an assignment for this course. A Christmas Day Kerfuffle was the result of the fictional account of the first Christmas brunch my husband spent with my family. Of all the short stories, this one has more true snippets in it than the others. The taxi driver and bike box scene in Pedalo Pandemonium were pretty true to life, too. The driver looked different, but the airport to hotel transfer only required slight embellishment.
I also write Women’s Fiction. Pictures in the Sky was my debut novel, and I am currently writing my second, Painting Bananas.
Social Media Links –
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Apaullfiction
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Apaullfiction
Website: https://www.amandapaull.co.uk/
Gla you learned new words
This sounds fun.