Signs of Love: Stupid Cupid by Melody James

Signs of Love: Stupid Cupid by Melody James
Buy Signs of Love: Stupid Cupid by Melody James at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
Category: Confident Readers
Reviewer: Robert James
Summary: Not as good as the excellent first book in this series, but still worth checking out and leaves me looking forward to more of Gemma.
Buy? Maybe	Borrow? Yes
Pages: 208	Date: August 2012
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
ISBN: 978-0857073242
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Gemma is still stuck writing horoscopes for the school webzine instead of any real journalism – but that may be about to change, as she’s given the chance to work with an older student on an actual article. The only problem is, the older student is the seriously annoying Will – but putting up with him is a small price to pay for the chance to see her name in print. Of course, she’s already the star of the webzine in many ways – but her role as Jessica Jupiter is still top secret, so barely anyone else knows this. Can she use her column to sort out Savannah’s love dilemma in the same way she so successfully helped out Treacle in the last book?

I wasn't as impressed by this one as I was by the first, partly because the plot seems a bit weak - in one strand Gemma and features editor Will are investigating a club which may be a front for drugs sales. James doesn't seem quite sure whether to play this for laughs or to go for a more serious approach and it falls somewhere in the middle, which doesn't really work for me. The other main strand, which sees Gemma trying to use her horoscopes to set up her friend Savannah with the charming Marcus instead of the obnoxious American LJ, is much stronger (and much closer to the first book.) There's also much less of a focus on Gemma's younger brother, who suffers from cystic fibrosis – a shame as the wonderful portrayal of him was one of the real strong points in the last book, for me.

I still think James writes really good dialogue, and the horoscopes Gemma comes up with are very entertaining! She also has some great characters – I’m still not overly keen on Treacle, Gemma’s best friend, but Gemma herself is a lovely main character, and there’s a strong supporting cast – particularly Marcus, Savannah and Gemma’s fellow journalist Sam.

Slightly disappointing when compared to the first in the series, but this is still worth reading and I'll definitely keep an eye out for book three.

For similarly fun tales involving astrology, I love Bonnie Hearn Hill's Star Crossed series, which starts with Star Crossed: Aries Rising by Bonnie Hearn Hill. You might be amused by Colorstrology by Michele Bernhardt or engaged by It Takes Two (Cupid Company) by Amber Aitken.

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You can read more book reviews or buy Signs of Love: Stupid Cupid by Melody James at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
You can read more book reviews or buy Signs of Love: Stupid Cupid by Melody James at Amazon.com.

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