Hello Shiquers and welcome back to Nerdy Shique Universe! Time for another book review!

Title: The Writer’s Retreat
Author: Indu Balachandran

Disclaimer: This review is based on thoughts and opinions of the lead writer! Please respect her thoughts and feelings on this work. There might be spoilers!

Synopsis: Amby Baylan is tired of the corporate life as a worker at a bank and quits to become a Tweet writer for Krish Kumaar, the heartthrob actor. Despite the chances to ogle over her boss and have a glamorous life of traveling, Amby still wants to fulfill her life to become a writer and finds an ad online that gives her the opportunity of the lifetime and that is a Writer’s workshop on the island of Crete, Grece. Once she jet sets for the island, she meets two other women who were going through the same thing as she did and having her fun and learn new writing techniques. Besides her writing, her love life seems to spark when she gets not only a visit from the superstar but the man she was arranged to marry. Will this tale of writing spin into a story of romance?

Thoughts: This was the cutest, romantic comedy I have ever read next to Mimi Jean Pamfiloff’s books! This gave a new spin on the different romantic comedy tropes and movie references that I knew that Amby would go through what you would see on the movie screen. As in, girl meets guy and he is famous, goes through the troubles of his stardom as in meeting other girls and try to drive them away with a playful gay lover, and not only that follow her dreams by leaving him behind and her arranged lover on top of it. I do love Amby, Mini, and Bobbi and how they were able to interact with each other since they were like sisters and destined to meet especially with their lives. Mini wanted to get away from writing children’s stories on the retreat and Bobbi wanted to get away from the boring advertising writing life she is known for to be a travel writer but the one I feel more linked to is Amby because well I feel like I can relate to her the most.

How so you may ask? Well, I know how it feels to be the one who thinks life is boring and need a new career and that is how I feel right now and I am going through that Gap idea she brings up in the book because of my goal of being an Assistive Technology Specialist and trying to get my butt back to school for it and trying to find my first job but it is not going so well. I do still write since I am working on my third book and have this blog and its channel to work on in between. Also, volunteering at a local school too to help me gain my confidence. So, yeah I know what it’s like to have it.

Besides relating to Amby, I did like the style the book was written in and that is in first person but in the way of telling it like a movie, as in giving the main characters, where they were coming from, and not only that saying, “We will get back to this later! Let’s go to this right now.” Which usually works in film better but Balachandran did do this well in her book and I did crack up time to time due to the scenes having a lot of funny moments. I would love to see this played out on the big screen and may drag Gondras in since one thing about being engaged there are times when I want to see a chick flick.

Rating: 5 Star Pawprints Out of 5! This book was a very fun read! You have the romantic comedy story weaving in and out and of course the scene changes played out very well. I do love the characters and even see myself as Amby since I am going through my own “The Gap” in my life. I hope this does become a movie because it does give a new spin on storytelling and who wouldn’t want to laugh at the awkwardness between Amby and K. K. throughout the film. I did do the “Awww!” at the end like most romantic comedies when I watched them when I was younger. Yes, I admit I was a chick flick lover myself when I couldn’t get the guy back then. At least I am getting married to now 11 years-of-being-together fiancé. I highly recommend this book!

That is it for this review! What is next for this blog? Not entirely sure but I will come up with something! Until next time!