View source for A Brand New Me by Shari Low

{{infobox1 
|title=A Brand New Me  
|author=Shari Low 
|reviewer=Kerry King 
|genre=Women's Fiction 
|summary=Leni Lomond needs a new job.  Oh, and a boyfriend.  And, well, if we're talking about life changes, she could do with getting out a bit more, too.  So when Leni makes a New Year Resolution to do all three, all of her friends take it and her with a big pinch of salt… until she suddenly lands a job with whacky daytime TV mystic/astrologer, Zara Delta, who tasks her with the rather peculiar mission of dating every star sign of the zodiac and reporting back with her findings.
|rating=4 
|buy=Yes 
|borrow=Yes 
|pages=408
|publisher= Avon
|date=December 2008 
|isbn=978-1847560179
|sort=Brand New Me 
|cover=1847560172
|aznuk=1847560172
|aznus=1847560172
}}

Shari Low is the fabulously successful author of, among others, [[The Motherhood Walk of Fame|The Motherhood Walk Of Fame]] and this, her latest offering is for anyone who makes resolutions on January 1st only to break them all by January 2nd! 

Leni Lomond is not what you would call impulsive.  She does not make rash decisions, she deliberates long and hard over every decision and she does all of this from the safety of her comfort zone and a routine, mundane, deathly dull job in plumbing supply administration.  But even Leni is bored to tears with her life, so when the clock chimes midnight on New Year's Eve, she announces that this is the year that she is going to ''stop being unfulfilled, skint and single''.  Leni tells her assembled friends that she is going to find the perfect job, the perfect man and the perfect life.'' 

''oh, and sex – I'm going to have bloody great sex!'' 

And four short weeks later, Leni is gazing in wonderment at her new boss, the whacky Zara Delta having had her Chinese horoscope analysed, her chakras cleansed and her retinas read, not quite sure where to start with her new incarnation as PA to the Astrologer/Psychic to the stars.  She need not have pondered the question for long as Zara boldly announces that Leni is to make an immediate start on her next project: ''It's simple, Leni… I need you to date twelve men, one from each of the signs of the conventional zodiac.''  And so our heroine – outraged, insulted but also skint – embarks upon the first of her twelve mini-adventures. 

Shari Low has been doing this kind of thing for a while now and with a considerable measure of success.  ''A Brand New Me'' is funny, cringe-worthy, witty and charming all at the same time.  The characters (particularly Trish who is entirely incapable of not saying the first thing that springs to mind) are warm, believable and multi-dimensional – I would LOVE to have a best friend like Stu, who is not only a great hairdresser, but straight and gorgeous with it – and I liked them all instantly.  Leni's dates are tremendous fun and reminded me how grateful I am to be married and not 'out there' dipping a toe into the gene pool.

In summary, Low has done it again.  Will Leni have twelve dates from hell ranging from overgrown school-boys to beardy psycho-babbling therapists or will she just happen to stumble across the man of her dreams?  If you have enjoyed Low's previous work, I am confident that you will love this just as much. 

Now, obviously I am recommending a couple of [[:Category:Shari Low|Shari Low's]] other novels to you, which we have reviewed for you here at Bookbag: [[The Motherhood Walk of Fame|The Motherhood Walk Of Fame]] which got rave reviews just about anywhere you care to look (including here) and also [[My Best Friend's Life by Shari Low|My Best Friend's Life]], which again, if all the reviews I have seen are to be believed, is just fabulous.  Outside of the Shari Low stable, perhaps you might enjoy [[The Nanny by Melissa Nathan]] which is both clever and occasionally hilarious or maybe you might take a look at a book I recommend with what must now be bordering on monotonous regularity, but it really is a little gem in the genre, [[Notting Hell by Rachel Johnson]]. 

Lastly, we very much thank the ladies and gentlemen at Harper Collins for sending this copy to us for review.

{{toptentext|list=Top Ten Tube Reads}}

{{amazontext|amazon=1847560172}}
{{amazonUStext|amazon=1847560172}}

{{commenthead}}