Blog Tour: 'Feng Shui + Charlotte Nightingale' by Pam Ferderbar (2015)

Charlotte Nightingale has the worst luck in the world. Every day is a bad hair day. Her boyfriend’s a snake, her job blows, and her own family seems to hate her. 
For over 4,000 years the Chinese have practiced the ancient art of Feng Shui, a complex body of knowledge that reveals how to balance the energies of any given space to assure health, love and good fortune for people inhabiting it. The Chinese never met Charlotte Nightingale. 
A handsome Chinese food deliveryman/Feng Shui master takes pity on Charlotte and breaks out every tool in his Feng Shui arsenal to bring her some modicum of happiness. It rocks her world all right. Charlotte’s life goes from bad to worse. 
When everything comes crashing down and run-of-the-mill catastrophes pale in comparison to recent events, Charlotte unwittingly embarks on a great adventure during which she finds romance, a new wardrobe, bags of money and most importantly, herself.
I'm excited to be part of another blog tour today, this time for author Pam Ferderbar's debut novel 'Feng Shui + Charlotte Nightingale', which was released on the 19th of June. Next to this blog I am also part of the review team over at Chick Lit Club and that's how I got into contact with Pam Ferderbar. She was looking for bloggers to review her novel and next to reviewing the book for Chick Lit Club, I also managed to secure a spot on the blog tour for the book! I was curious to read the novel since it appeared to be an original and funny read and I looked forward to sitting down with it.
There are people who are always lucky and people who can never seem to catch a break; Charlotte Nightingale definitely belongs to that last category. She has a horrible job with a terrible boss, her car is a piece of junk, her boyfriend is a cheating jerk, and don't even get started on the bad plumbing in her apartment which results in her never being able to finish washing her hair. When Kwan, a Chinese food deliverer and Feng Shui expert, meets Charlotte, he decides she could use a bit of luck in her life so he secretly decides to help her out, Feng Shui style. However, Charlotte's life only seems to become an even bigger mess and before she knows it all kinds of weird things start to happen. As Charlotte embarks on this adventure, she not only finds herself in the strangest situations but also starts to think about her life and what it is she exactly wants from it.
Pam Ferderbar's debut novel is an original and uplifting read which I got to enjoy more and more as the story progressed. The book switches between the perspectives of three of the characters; protagonist Charlotte Nightingale, her on-and-off again boyfriend Joey (also known as Frank since he is a Frank Sinatra impersonator) and Chinese food delivery-man Kwan. I have to admit it took me a bit of time to really get into the story. I had to get used to the author's writing style and I didn't straight away warm to Charlotte. However, as the story progressed, I got to enjoy it more and more and was really curious to see what would happen to Charlotte and what crazy situations she would find herself in next.
The novel is definitely over the top and a bit ridiculous at times, but this fitted the story and adds something distinctive to the authors writing style. I didn't really know anything about Feng Shui before picking up this novel, but it was a fun topic to centre a story around and Pam Ferderbar did a good job incorporating it in an entertaining read. Overall, 'Feng Shui + Charlotte Nightingale' is a light, uplifting and fast-paced read with an original touch to it. I've read that a sequel is already in the works and I have to admit I'm already curious what will be next for Charlotte Nightingale!

Rating:7,5/10

  For more information about this book: Amazon.co.uk / Amazon.com / Goodreads

Thanks to the author for providing me with a review copy in exchange for an honest review.