Review: 'Mother Teresa's Advice for Jilted Lovers' by Donna Baker (2016)

Every time Tara Holland thinks she’s getting close to finally having her white wedding, the man who should be on his knee, giving her roses, winds up on his back, pushing up daisies. Needless to say, Tara’s beginning to think she’s cursed when it comes to men.  

Her best friend, Betsy, who’s always there to put the pieces back together, convinces Tara she’s the cause of each of her boyfriend’s untimely exits to the other side. Could it be that Tara has that kind of psychic power? And is Betsy right that women all over the world would pay a pretty penny for it? 

What follows is a wild and humorous trek down the path of Tara’s spiritual growth and ultimate awakening. But the road to enlightenment is no cakewalk. It’s fraught with stacks of ill-gotten cash, death threats, and orange jumpsuits.

In the modern day and age that we live in it can be quite a challenge to find a book with a really original storyline; a novel that has a story at its core that is unlike anything else you've read. Especially within the chick lit genre there's a specific set of basic plotlines which are used by authors over and over again. I'm certainly not saying that I can't enjoy a novel if it has one of these familiar storylines (these are usually the trustworthy novels I end up loving the most!), but I can applaud any author who does come up with something challenging and new. This is the case with Donna Barker's 'Mother Teresa's Advice for Jilted Lovers', which was released in January 2016, and from the blurb I already established that this would be a read unlike anything else I've read before...!

Tara Holland wants what almost every girl wants: to find that wonderful guy that will drive with her into the sunset and give her her happy ending. But for some reason it seems as if Tara might be cursed, because all the guys she dates somehow end up dead. Tara's best friend Betsy is convinced that Tara has some kind of psychic power when it comes to men; the kind of power a lot of women would pay for to have the use of. Together, Betsy and Tara start their own spiritual business, Mother Teresa's Advice for Jilted Lovers, but it doesn't take long for Tara to realise that helping others might be a nice idea but definitely one that's not that straightforward as it seems...

I was quite curious to read 'Mother Teresa's Advice for Jilted Lovers', mainly because of the promising book description which hinted at a story with a rather original storyline, one unlike anything else I've read before. The novel is a mix of women's fiction, spirituality and dark humour; a mix which works quite well and makes for an original read which I'm sure numerous readers will enjoy. However, I personally had a bit of difficulty warming to the characters and this resulted in me not loving the novel as much as I would have liked to. Tara is the protagonist in the book, with also a big role for her best friend Betsy, but I didn’t really like either of them and this feeling didn’t change as the story progressed.

I was really curious to check out this book and I wanted it to be a really great read, but I can’t really put my finger on it but it just didn’t work for me. I’ve been trying to write this review for quite some time now and I wish I could find the right words to describe why exactly this book wasn’t for me, but I’m finding it difficult. If given the chance I’ll definitely check out other works by Donna Barker, because I’m curious to see what else she comes up with, but ‘Mother Teresa’s Advice for Jilted Lovers’ was just not the read for me!
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.