09 Oct If You Could See Me Now by Keris Stainton #BlogTour #Review

Hey guys, hope you’re having a brilliant day. Today I’m bringing you a review of Keris’ Stainton’s new book, IF YOU COULD SEE ME NOW which is a great rom com but at the same time SO much more. I could really talk about this book for hours, so if you happen to read it soon, please come back with your comments as I would LOVE to hear what you think of it. If you don’t understand my enthusiasm now, fear not! Just read my review and you’ll see why I’m so excited. Many thanks to Bookouture for my galley and the chance to be part of the blog tour. Cheerio, sweethearts!

I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

If You Could See Me Now by Keris Stainton
Published byBookouture
Published on 4.8.2017
Genres:chick lit, rom com, humor
Pages: 223
Format:e-book

Description:

Izzy Harris should have it all – but her boyfriend has been ignoring her for months, she’s been overlooked for a promotion, and the owner of her local coffee shop pervs on her every time she has a craving for a salted caramel muffin.

Then her life is unexpectedly turned upside down.

Izzy dumps her oblivious boyfriend, and leaps on the chance to win a big pitch at work. Needing to work closely with gorgeous colleague Alex is an added perk…

But then her best friend has her heart broken, the pitch is way more complicated than expected, and Alex is keeping secrets. Does Izzy have what it takes to help her friend, save her career and get the guy?

A funny, feel-good read about finding yourself – and love – when you least expect it, for fans of Joanna Bolouri, Cate Woods, and Lindsey Kelk.

After a long period of reading mostly crime/thrillers I’ve been SO excited to get back to my first love, rom coms and women’s fiction. I remember the first time I saw the cover of IF YOU COULD SEE ME NOW and read the blurb I felt immediately this book is my kind of read.

And then I started reading it…and holy f@ck! What did I just read?! Hold on, I will explain. Izzy is working in advertising and is after a promotion which is not going to be easy to get. She kind of has a boyfriend for two years (Max) but she’s not sure why she’s with him in the first place. Their sex life is practically nonexistent (of which she is reminded every day by her bestie, Tash) and seems like that spark is long gone (if there ever was one, actually). Now, her friend Tash is a completely different story. Wherever she goes she’s like a magnet for men and even though she too has a long term relationship, she enjoys the random fling. After a night out with Tash, some drinks and loads of giggles, Izzy realizes she’s not very satisfied with her life and decides to spice up her love life. But some very strange thing happens (and by strange I mean, WTF did just happen? kind of strange) and she’s forced to make some drastic changes in her life. The WTF moment, which even for me, someone who’s read tons of light hearted comedies, is a completely new thing. Izzy becomes invisible. I mean WHOA! Talk about life change! Once I got to this part of the book I said to myself… OMG, this is so not the type of book I was hoping to be.

But patience is virtue as we know and I was definitely rewarded for waiting for a few more chapters to get into the story. Now, I won’t reveal more about the plot as you already can imagine there will be loads of funny and fun stuff going on with Izzy’s relationship with Max, her job and her bestie. However, what I want to talk about in my review is about the absolutely brilliant message behind this book.

What appears to be a light hearted (some would say fluffy) story that’s supposed to make you laugh, turns into a rather philosophical one if I may say. But don’t worry, it’s not the boring kind of philosophy. In an absolutely brilliant, fun and unique way Keris gives us a metaphor for life and talks about the times (we’ve all certainly experienced) when we felt invisible. All those times we think we don’t matter, our opinion doesn’t matter, when we feel like no one gets us. There were many times Izzy felt like she was invisible…till the day she really becomes invisible and reinvents herself.

I’m not sure how many psychology or spiritual books the author has read (I’ve read many) but either she’s read tons or is very intuitive when it comes to the way we create our own reality. There were so many A HA moments when I would recognize something so many spiritual teachers have said, like living in the present, believing in something before we see it (experience it)… I’m telling you I was seriously impressed. (I swear, if Keris was next to me I would high five her for saying all these sound and wise stuff but in such a fun and hilarious way.)

I have to share with you my absolutely fave sentence which I plan on printing and even framing so I can be reminded of this every day..

”Why blend in when you were born to stand out”

I f@cking adore this! I might as well tattoo it, I find it so powerful and true.

As you see, this is not your usual chick flick and I couldn’t review it that way. While there are many laugh out moments (especially the conversations between Izzy and Tash) and there’s loads of sweet, romantic moments and a gorgeous guy involved, this book is SO much more than that. So, a piece of advice when you pick it up… Scratch the surface and don’t think of it as an attempt to mix fantasy with rom com. I’m not the biggest fan of fantasy (or any fantasy elements in a book) so I had to forget about the usual logic we search for in a book.

The only thing which bothered me slightly is the way how things were rushed (in my opinion). While I grasped the whole invisibility thing, I feel like some things would be much more enjoyable if they were given enough explanation and space.

However, IF YOU COULD SEE ME NOW is definitely an interesting, unique and fresh read and I’m so happy I’ve discovered Keris. I’ve heard many great comments about her books and now I can understand all those readers. Keris definitely knows how to create an unforgettable story that I’m going to ponder on for many more days. So, if you feel down, if you feel like everyone’s let you down and you want a book that will pick you up, please don’t hesitate to get this book. You might even come to realize that all those self help books were not needed, the only thing you need to do is stop wanting to blend in. Cause as Keris says it, ‘you were born to stand out’.

About Keris Stainton

Keris lives in Lancashire with her husband and two sons. She’s written a bunch of books for young adults and children, and is obsessed with Twitter, tea, and 1D.