Bargain Read/Review: A Day at the Office - Matt Dunn

Julie kissed Mark at the office Christmas party. She doesn't seem to remember, but he's not been able to forget. What better day to jog her memory than Valentine's Day?

Calum's found the girl of his dreams on the internet. Trouble is, he's not been completely honest about himself. Tonight he's meeting her for the first time. But will it also be the last?

Nathan's organised his usual Anti-Valentine's party for the office singletons. Sophie's going - again. Though this year, if she gets her way, they might just be leaving together.

One office. Five lives. On the most romantic day of the year.

I have never been one to need an excuse to eat chocolate but at the moment there is the perfect reason to have that cheeky little bar. Galaxy currently have a promotion running in conjunction with Kindle on all of their irresistible reads packs; if you buy a single bar of chocolate you can claim a free Kindle e-book from a small selection, and their bigger bars give you the chance to win your very own Kindle (to read all those new books on). Being a chocolate fiend I have had the chance to read a few of the books on offer and decided to review them for you guys, first up is Matt Dunn's A Day at the Office.

Irresistible Reads Promotion:

Firstly, the selection of books isn't that big but there is at least one book in there to suit everybody:

                

        

Each 'Irresistible Reads' promotional Galaxy pack comes with an offer code to download one of the above free books, and considering that Galaxy bars are normally under 80p, I think that's a pretty good bargain - especially when you're getting some chocolate too! If you don't have a Kindle you can still enjoy the promotion as most devices (iPad, Tablet, Android, iPhone etc.) will have a free Kindle app that you can download.

Review:

A Day at the Office appealed to me for two reasons: firstly, a book spanning only one day (that dreaded V day at that) but from many different points of view seemed different and made for light reading; secondly, it's rare that you find this sort of book written by a man - aside from the likes Nick Hornby, David Nichols and Tony Parsons - and I'm always on the look out for more. 

A Day at the Office is told from the different points of view of five office workers who each work for the same company in central London. A well balanced mix of men and women, the characters are each well realised and easily distinguishable, witty and just that little bit imperfect to make it all the easier to relate to them. The inevitable mix ups and awkward situations in the novel are well thought out and are funny without being overdone or veering towards the slapstick. Dunn himself has a brilliant way with words and some of his puns are well worth reading the book for alone. 

Considering the story only takes place over the one day, Dunn manages to stretch out the tension maintaining my interest right until the end, which is perhaps a little anti-climatic after all the ups and downs of the meat of the novel. However, A Day at the Office is that little bit different and just what I needed as a break over the weekend, the narrative split makes the book easy to pick up and read in stops and starts (although I raced through the second half in one two hour sitting). Funny, uplifting and warm, I'd recommend A Day at the Office to anyone who wants something familiar and comforting but with a bit of a twist

Having really enjoyed A Day at the Office there are a few more books in the offer that have peaked my interest, I suppose I'll have to choke down another chocolate bar then. Sigh.