Review: 'Third Time Lucky - The Honeytrap' by Victoria Browne (2015)

Good friends Sarah a sensible simple soul, Laura bitchy complicated, Beth a ‘too cool for school’ high school teacher, and Jess a funky hairdresser, decide to honey trap Jess's new American boyfriend Richard. How could such a simple plan go wrong? Just add Jess’s new flat mate, hot sexy Elise to the mix, a few glasses of wine and you have a cocktail fit for disaster – especially when Elise honey traps the wrong boyfriend! Good friends are all Sarah needs when her uncomplicated life is jettisoned into chaos.
Dan, Sarah’s boyfriend makes some shady life choices. But who is friend and who is foe? 
Wealthy bachelor Lee Preston sets his sights on Sarah and all Lee wants is to make her happy. Life could be fantastic when money is no object and your closet is filled with designer shoes, Oh, and his with secrets.
Several months ago I was contacted by author Victoria Browne with a review request for her novel 'Third Time Lucky - The Honeytrap', which was published via Neville House Publishing in June 2015. I hadn't had the pleasure of being introduced to Victoria's writing before this request, even though I had read certain reviews of one of her other books, 'Gut Feeling.' I quite liked the plotline for 'Third Time Lucky - The Honey Trap' (even though I had no idea what a honey trap actually was until I was reading the novel; is that bad?), so I was excited about giving the book a chance and hopefully finding a new great chick lit author at the same time!
Twenty-something Sarah has been with her boyfriend Dan for quite some time and while they live together, they have come to a point in their relationship where they hardly see each other and the spark between them seems to have just disappeared. Sarah's job at a furniture store also doesn't give her much satisfaction and her best friend Laura keeps urging her to dump Dan and start afresh. On a night out with her friends Jess and Beth, the girls decide to let Jess' new gorgeous room mate Elise honey trap Jess' boyfriend Richard. However, when Elise honey traps the wrong guy and Sarah continues to bump into the handsome Lee wherever she goes, her life suddenly changes from all sides. The question is: is it a change for the better and will Sarah finally find what she's been looking for all along?
'Third Time Lucky - The Honey Trap' is the first novel in a two-part series written by author Victoria Browne, and a chick lit read all about friendship and finding what makes you happy. I actually thought the plotline of the novel was quite original; I have never read any stories including a honey trap (and to be completely honest, I had no idea what it even was before picking up this novel!) and I think it's something that really works as a story element within the chick lit genre. While the novel had a good basis, I did personally miss certain things. There's a group of 4 friends at the core of the book (Laura, Beth, Jess, and a main focus on Sarah), but it felt like we didn't really get to know the girls. Not much detail was included of the characters' backgrounds, which would have been a nice extra layer to draw readers into the story and really relate to, for example, Sarah, which I wasn't really able to do while I was reading the book.
Victoria Browne's writing style is quick-paced and funny at times, which fit the genre quite well. However, I did think the story went a bit too fast every now and again, suddenly switching to another day/event, while more could have happened or been said to give the story just a bit more body and structure. Overall though, I am quite curious to read the second part in this series, so I will certainly pick up another one of the author's works in the future. 'Third Time Lucky - The Honeytrap' is a quite funny chick lit read with an original and promising storyline at its core, but a novel I would personally have enjoyed more with a bit more in-depth characters and more story detail.

Rating:7/10

  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.