Girl Meets Ape - Chris Manby

...magic that she has lost in her later books. If you like chick lit, you will like this. It's very funny but with just enough romance not to bore you.
Though sometimes I think the book would have done better if the title was Girl meets Stripper.  ... more

I picked this book off the book/holiday reading table in the hotel that we stayed at in Portugal. My copy was a free copy that you got with the Cosmo. You can get this book on Amazon for £5.59 new or 1p used. The reason why I read this book, well, as you might know I used to like Chris Manby but lately her books are hit or miss for me but the other books on this table looked very dull in comparison so I decided with all my other books read, I might as well.

The Story

The story is about Dr Jennifer Niederhauser, who is expert on ape behaviour. She has just accepted a job at Prowdes Animal Sanctuary as a project manager to rehabilitation some of the chimps so they could be released back into the wild. Jennifer is very focused career woman, which makes the others believe she's emotionally cold and uptight. The reason for that could be her first and only love, Dr Timothy Lauder, who broke her heart by cheating on her.

The story starts off with Jennifer's best friend's hen night, she meets a stripper (who had been arrange by the other girls). This stripper, Guy Gibson, not only ruins Jennifer's best dress but turns out later on to be a colleague at the sanctuary, who is doing the stripping act to earn some extra cash due the fact that Prowdes Animal Sanctuary isn't making any money.
Luckily, Prowdes Animal Sanctuary gets chosen to be on television, which will give them the cash to keep the sanctuary open but the presenter of this documentary is Dr Timothy Lauder. What will Jennifer do? Will she start dating Dr Timothy Lauder or will she reist his advances and start a relationship with Guy Gibson?

My thoughts

This is definitely one of Chris Manby's better books. The book seems well researched and it was very funny in places. You could really relate to the two main characters. Jennifer, the focused career woman, she takes it to a new extreme but part of her character was very me and underneath everything Jennifer is a heartbroken person trying to mask the pain with just throwing herself into her work. Guy, head keeper come stripper, is passionate about his work even willing to take a pay cut to help the sanctuary survive.
I like the way that Chris Manby split the book in a way through the chapters into two main stories. Jennifer and her love life / life at the Prowdes Animal Sanctuary. It gives you the full picture of Jennifer. Work Jennifer and friend/lover Jennifer. At times, Jennifer has a character is weak and flimsy but I think that she is meant to be like that. Strong at work and slightly weak at home. I know quite a few career women that are brilliant that their jobs but they don't do very well when it comes down to the emotional part of their lives. Jennifer, in the story, looks like she is well capable of doing her job but still there's that little person underneath that wants to be liked by her fellow collegues and is trying to create a balance. Guy is also portaited in a similar way. Guy at the Prowdes Animal Sanctuary and Guy as stripper and friend.

Though the book could have been a bit longer to round the story off better instead of a page epilogue, it's a good book. It's a very easy read even though it's 416 pages long. I would recommend it as a beach or just chick lit read. If you like Chris Manby, you will like this as it contains some of the magic that she has lost in her later books. If you like chick lit, you will like this. It's very funny but with just enough romance not to bore you.
Though sometimes I think the book would have done better if the title was Girl meets Stripper. 

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