Review by
K.T. Sullivan
Tanya
Travis lives a dream life with her budding rock star boyfriend, successful
television show, and foul mouthed maid. Then, she’s fired, dumped, and evicted.
When she hits bottom, the only way back to the top is a humiliating reality
show set in Nepal. Celebrity Spa Trek is her redemption ticket. Her
fellow contestants are on the comeback trail as well. Tanya quickly realizes
she’s in over her head when presented with a disgusting challenge. She refuses
and is banished. She finds herself as a helper in a local orphanage. The
children spark her to recalculate her net worth. The handsome local guide,
Ardash, grew up there and is never far from Tanya’s thoughts. To add to the
tension of the show, Tanya’s former fiancé, Nathan, becomes a contestant as
well. At first, she hopes for reconciliation, but after time, realizes she’s
been saved from a disastrous marriage. Tanya grows as a human being and falls
in love, but will she be named Queen of the Mountains?
The
author incorporates the glittering celebrity culture into the story. Tanya must
live without her killer wardrobe and designer hair products. She brings her
back to the basics to prove life has to have meaning beyond stuff accumulation.
My favorite character is Astrid, Tanya’s Swedish maid. Her command of the
English language revolves around swearing. She proves to be an invaluable
friend and comic relief. It is easy to relate to Tanya holding on to her
horrible past against the frightening future. Fun read.
Sue Watson was a TV Producer with the BBC who combined
motherhood and family life with a busy career. However, one day it dawned on
Sue that Cosmo magazine may have been telling porkies about 'having it all,'
and she realised her life had become a slightly crazed juggling act. So after
much comfort eating,soul searching and reality TV watching, she sold her car,
cancelled the holiday, bought a flamingo pink laptop and took the plunge as a
writer.
The result was Sue's first
novel, 'Fat Girls and Fairy Cakes,' a story about Stella Weston, whose life is
a constant struggle with the weighing scales and being a working mum, wife and
daughter.
The author researched
intensely, baking and tasting and baking and ... tasting and... created the
fabulous recipe collection of easy but impressive cakes at the back of the
book. Sue also gained an equally impressive extra ten pounds on her hips, which
to this day she carries with her.
Sue's second book,
'Younger, Thinner, Blonder' is released in October (2013).
Originally from
Manchester, Sue now lives with her husband and teenage daughter in
Worcestershire where she is currently writing her third book. When she's not
toiling over her latest novel, Sue can be found enjoying large bags of chicken
crisps, large tubs of Caramel Chew Chew ice cream and 'The Biggest Loser USA'
on series link.
Connect with the author at:
This sounds like a wonderful book.
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