FICTION: I Love the 80's - Megan Crane

Release Date: 03/03/11

SYNOPSIS:

Jenna Jenkins was getting married to her long-term boyfriend, Adam, and she was sure her life was all coming together. Until Adam left her for a twenty-three-year-old yoga instructor. To ease the pain, Jenna threw herself into her teenage memories of the late, great Tommy Seer, killed when his car crashed off a bridge in 1987, when she was just twelve, and focusing on the man who has been - and always will be - the true love of her life, however worrying that may seem to her best friend, Aimee. One day, working late, or thinking about Tommy at her office after dark, a freak accident sends Jenna back to 1987. It's a few short months before Tommy will die and Jenna's job is apparently working as his assistant. But Tommy is not the guy she imagined. He's mean and rude and obnoxious. But he is still deliciously good-looking. When Tommy takes her into his confidence, she starts to see the real him beneath the image and finds herself more in love than ever. He suspects someone is trying to kill him - and she knows it won't be long before they succeed. Why is she here? Is she meant to save his life? But how can she without revealing the bizarre, unbelievable truth?


REVIEW:

In all honesty I absolutely loved the 80’s. I own a hell of a lot of the music, I remember the teen infatuations (damn you Clark Wyneford Datchler for announcing your marriage in the late 80’s) and also the makeup, pop socks as well as dance moves to a large number of the tracks. So when I heard about this title coming out from Megan I was looking forward to a flashback in time. Cue a massive 80’s playlist, out with the fond memories and a good glass of Beaujolais in tribute.

Unfortunately the book didn’t live up to what I was expecting with my main gripe being the principle character. She was inconsistent, felt contradictory with a prime example of this being the writing style as the lead player comes across more as an obsessed teen rather than the more mature expectations of a mid-thirties woman which made this more than a little off putting. Add to this numerous time travel oddities and rather clichéd supporting cast members which leaves the reader feeling very confused in a plot that goes from mildly interesting to insanity within a few short pages.

Finally add to this numerous plot holes as well as predictable story arc and it’s a title that you may well be best borrowing from your local library.