Over the airwaves everyone can hear you scream!
Radio researcher and part-time presenter Chloe Lark is certain her big show biz break is just around the corner. Live it Up radio may not be the big time, but surely - one day soon - fame will come her way. And, if she could convince the hunky guy next door to give her a chance, her love life might improve too.
Ex-soldier Ben isn’t sure if his new ‘Z’ list celebrity neighbour is crazy or on medication. Either way he’s looking for a quiet life out of the spotlight. The last thing he needs is an accident prone media hungry blonde complete with mystery stalker. Problem is - Chloe doesn’t seem to have received that particular memo…Finally, the bargain read returns! I'm so bad at this consistency lark, forgive me? Good. Let's move on. Another Brit-lit entry the blurb of Radio Gaga appealed to me, it also meant that I went around the house singing Queen for the day, much to the joy of my flatmates. Anyway...
...by all accounts Nell Dixon is a fairly prolific author and yet I have to admit I've never heard of her. Radio Gaga follows all the ingredients of a good, lighthearted romance read, however, nothing seems to gel properly.
Radio Gaga follows all the ingredients of a good, lighthearted
romance read. However, having said that, nothing in the novel seems to gel
properly. Chloe is a likeable enough character, a bit clumsy and very
reminiscent of Bridget Jones but without the redeeming charm. The sticky
situations she gets herself in as a result of her job are also a bit familiar.
Her sidekick in arms is similarly lacking development, a bit of a party girl
who is on a constant diet we learn very little else about the two-dimensional Shelley.
Ex-soldier Ben (which incidentally seems completely irrelevant to his
character, as does his ‘backstory’) is a bit too sanctimonious for my tastes. I
never did like the overly critical hero, Emma’s
Mr. Knightley is not for me either.
Technically, if one was
feeling generous, Radio Gaga is
actually a mystery romance, although I wasn’t so bothered about this subplot and
the stalker storyline compares badly with the truly chilling turn by Crusie in Crazy for You. I feel as though Dixon’s
novel tries to squeeze too much into such a short space and as such most
aspects are underdeveloped, including the romance. I think the characters suffered a similar fate and are probably much more developed and complex within Dixon’s imagination than they are on the page,
which is a shame as I think they show real promise.
Nevertheless, surprising as it may seem, I don’t mean to sound overly critical of Dixon’s latest. Radio Gaga did keep me
entertained for an afternoon and I was intrigued enough to finish it and tie up
all the loose ends. For a quick read with a few chuckles along the way you
really can't go wrong and for £2.99 on the Kindle, cheaper than most magazines these days, you really
don't have much to lose in giving it a go.
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