I enjoyed this one! It took me a little bit to get into it, because it wasn’t typical guy meets girl and falls in love with comedy along the way. So not my favorite Kinsella novel (Can You Keep a Secret will always hold that spot), but still definitely a good read! It had some laugh out loud moments, wit and crazy antics her lovable characters tend get into. I have to say the ending (not very end, just the way the story wrapped up) was actually a surprise to me, but I thought it was perfect. And the *very* end...loved it.
All in all, another enjoyable Kinsella novel.

As always, I could not put down the latest Sophie Kinsella book. I’ve been a big fan of her books and this did not disappoint. Fun and interesting plot and well developed characters make this book a fast and fun read. Highly recommended to anyone who loves a book that is funny, has heart and romance,

This novel looked right up my alley and I was so excited to read it! For the first 30-40 pages, I laughed out loud several times and was in love with this one. However, after "Project Surprise" took effect, everything changed for me. Dan became less and less charming as Sylvie started showing her spoiled privileged side from her upbringing. It was less about actually surprising one another and making them happy then outdoing the other. And what kind of lesson is that for small children? This is probably the biggest disappointment I've read in a while because it started out so smart, funny and sassy - but then just kept rolling over in self-pity versus an inflated sense of self.

3.5 stars! Overall, this book was pretty good. Not one of my favorites by this author. It was kind of lacking in the ability to pull me in like some of her other books but it was entertaining. I didn't really connect with the characters of this book and the story line was just meh. I loved the idea of the book but was hoping for a little more substance.

Sylvie and Dan have the life they always wanted and a love they think is meant to last. They love each other and their twins. They decide to start doing things to surprise one another in an effort to keep things "fresh" but while at first the surprise were fun and reminded them of how much they know and love one another eventually the surprise start to take on a different tone.

Sophie Kinsella writes such fun characters, great dialogue and her stories are so inventive. Everyone will be reading Surprise me!

Kinsella's books have been some of my favorite to turn to when I want something fun to read, so when the publisher reached out to see if I would be interested in reading an early copy of Surprise Me, I jumped at the chance!

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:
This book didn't flow well at all. It felt like two disjointed stories that were pushed together in the attempts to make a novel. I couldn't help but wonder if there wasn't enough to the surprise me plan to make an actual novel so the family drama was tossed in along the way. Or maybe the surprise me plan was tossed in to make the novel seem fluffier amidst the family drama? The second half with the family drama had more substance than the first. That would have been an interesting novel all on its own.

WHAT I LIKED:
Kinsella never disappoints in delivering a laugh or two. There were a couple of moments that definitely made me chuckle.

WHO SHOULD READ:
Honestly, I think Kinsella's previous work is better than this novel and I would suggest you read all of her backlist instead of this.

Probably more like 3.5 but I'm rounding up. I'm a bit disappointed because I adored My Not So Perfect Life. This is a typical Kinsella book in my opinion, the characters get into stupid sticky situations because they don't think or research things properly and there's a lot of miscommunication. It passed the time just fine though it did feel like there was a lot going on, almost like it was two books smooshed into one (which is funny, given a quote in the book). Definitely not my favourite of hers, my expectations might have been a tad too high, but if you're a fan of hers already you might enjoy it.

Sylvie and Dan have been together for ten years, and it's a seamless kind of marriage. They care for their twin daughters, work at their jobs, and know each other so well that they can finish each others' sentences. Both are in good health, so the doctor at their annual physical guesses they should plan for another sixty-eight years of marriage. That's when they're unnerved and start to panic, looking for ways to spice up their life together. It doesn't always go to plan.

The couple is, of course, surrounded by quirky friends and some of the ways they try to surprise each other are disasters. Some of those disasters are hilarious, some less so. Everyone knows people like their neighbors and friends, so that also helps make the characters feel approachable.

Misunderstandings do play a large role in some of the surprises going awry so you may want to rush past those points if you get secondhand embarrassment. There are some serious secrets that are revealed, which then jump starts Sylvie to make drastic changes in the final third of the novel. She and Dan work out the miscommunication, and everything closes with a satisfying conclusion.

Sylvie and Dan attend their annual physical side by side. As the doctor shares the good news; the exams were perfect and combined with their healthy family history they could expect a long happy life together - say, at least 68 more years. After a decade of wonderful marriage and beautiful twin girls, one would think this excellent news to hear. But Sylvie and Dan are equally floored. How in the world can they sustain a marriage for that long? Be with only the one person for decades? Simultaneously they strive to improve their seemingly normal marriage along the premise of “surprises”, hence the title. Laugh out loud wonderful author Sophie Kinsella does it again. Quirky neighbors, hair brained schemes (think I Love Lucy) and hidden family secrets set them on an unlikely journey, one disaster and misunderstanding after another. Light, fun adorable take on the ludicrous idea that you think you know what your husband wants, HA! Highly recommend if you need a little break from reality or otherwise.

If you've ever been married then chances are you've felt that . . . itch.

You've wondered, is this really the last man I will ever kiss? The last man I will ever sleep next to? Will we still love each other as much fifty years from now as we do today? 

Will it last? Will it be boring? Can we make it through wrinkles and menopause and the children leaving the nest?

And if you've been married or with someone for an extended period of time, you've also probably wondered how to keep the spice in your relationship. When it's so easy to be bogged down with the children and the walking of the dog, with dinner menus that please everyone and the visiting of parents, with school plays and the mundane way your job plays into life - sometimes you have to wonder if you'll be able to make it at all. It's hard to fit in romance when you're changing diapers or cleaning toilets; some days it's a challenge to even find time to shower, let alone put on makeup and fix your hair so you can remain physically attractive to your mate. Things become comfortable and stagnant and things that used to hold such importance (like a glass of wine and deep conversation or getting that workout in at the gym so you look good naked) is overruled by just getting through the day. Life continues to pass by and the seasons change from fall to winter, spring to summer, and all back around again as the years tick on in that endless way they have. Instead of quiet dinners for two in the hottest new restaurant or romantic eatery with the candlelit corners, the daily and weekly routines consist of noisy dinners for four or five, a messy highchair to clean up afterward, and dishes of half-eaten food from picky toddlers heaped up in the sink.

Being able to carve out time to still remain an actual couple . . . a couple in love . . . it takes time and patience and work. It sometimes takes things that seem impossible to procure when you're not only a husband or wife, but also a parent and an employee. When you barely have time to breathe . . . when you haven't had a pee alone in nearly ten years, how do you make quality time for your spouse? And for many people, they just don't make it . . . . marriages collapse and fail, they implode and fade away like so many fallen autumn leaves on a windy afternoon in November.

Sylvie and Dan have had a decent enough go of it. A decade together has produced one successful (so far) union of marriage, two perfectly beautiful twins who appear to be well-adjusted and normal, a modest home in a good part of town, and a couple of jobs that are as satisfying as anyone can expect work to be. So fine-tuned is their relationship that Sylvie and Dan can complete one another's sentences, can sense what the other will order at a restaurant, and to say that they have bath-and-bedtime with their daughters down to a complete science is an understatement. Their marriage is the picture-perfect image of a well-oiled machine, with little to no complaints. But after an afternoon spent at the doctor's office getting their yearly checkups leads to a discussion about now many years they may actually have to spend together (nearly . . . 68!?) the duo starts to wonder - do they know each other too well? Are things too easy? Is life going to be spent in a complete state of utter boredom . . . their lives destined to be the exact same scene set every single day of the rest of their (overly long) lives?

In an effort to change things up a bit and keep life interesting, Sylvie instates a game of surprises. She challenges Dan to keep the spice in life and keep her on her toes with as many surprises as he can come up with. On top of this, she vows that she'll make their evolution as a couple her priority; they can do things like only speak Italian for a decade, or move to a different country every 15 years. Dan suggests an exotic holiday away, that trip to Spain they've always spoken about or something of the like . . . never mind that it will take a huge chunk out of their savings to put on. But at every turn of surprises something wrong seems to happen; the fancy international breakfast Sylvie orders for Dan in bed is chock full of disgusting delicacies and the snake Dan brings home as a surprise leaves his wife in a state of ick and terror. The couple end up more frustrated and annoyed than sated and alive, and both are feeling exhausted enough to dread the next 65+ years of this.

The balancing act of home and work is beginning to close in on Sylvie when she learns that her cushy job at a quirky and obscure museum may be on the line due to budget cuts from an already non-existent budget. Her stress levels are on the rise and she can feel familiar anxieties start to creep in, threatening to overload her from the inside, out. It's funny how everything can go from being completely comfortable and a full-on routine and turn on a dime into a life of chaos and desperation, and Sylvie is trying not to buckle under the pressure. It doesn't help that Dan is starting to pull away in every sense of the word, and after a stolen moment in a garden leads to her husband reminiscing about an ex-girlfriend, Sylvie becomes insecure and hard to handle. On top of the strife at home and in the office, she must find the time to write that speech she's set to give for the unveiling of an addition to the hospital in honor of her late father, a man who was her absolute hero. She certainly won't find solace or compassion for that in the arms of her aloof husband; Dan and her father never really got on and every time her dad's name comes up, her husband completely shuts down.

If it wasn't hard enough to be a wife and a mother and an honorable employee, Sylvie finds herself at a complete loss with everyone around her. She can't seem to get anything right and she's falling victim to the voices inside of her head. . . could a distant husband mean a cheating husband? Could a stalling career mean the end for her at the museum? And as a scandal rocks the relationship between Sylvie and Dan even further, she has to question . . . did she truly ever know him at all, or has he always been a complete stranger to her?

Surprise Me is the newest novel from Sophie Kinsella, an author best known for her work in the fiction genre settled firmly around male/female relationships and humorous chick-lit tales. As the author of the famed Shopaholic novels portraying the sweet and sassy character Rebecca Bloomwood and her obsession with shopping, Kinsella made a name for herself in the chick-lit circuit and earned fans around the world. She is also known in the literary world as Madeleine Wickham, with such novels as The Gatecrasher and the charming Cocktails for Three.

I've read many of Kinsella's books and I always enjoy them. She has a way of bringing witty and unassuming humor into her novels and she portrays her beautifully flawed female character with a realness that I can really relate to. I know when I pick up a Kinsella novel that I will be giggling nearly all the way through, and while Surprise Me certainly supplied that punch, it also left me with something extra. I felt connected to these characters. As a woman who is on her second marriage, I understand how easy it is to fall into a routine (especially with children!) and forget that you were a couple before you were Mom-Dad-Chauffeur-PTA President-Manager-Soccer Dad. You were two people who fell in love and actually held real conversations, and it can get so easily trampled on once you add everything else into the mix. Sylvie's character was very relatable and the book was much deeper than I assumed it would be. I appreciated Kinsella's approach to the complexities of relationships, and there were real layers to this story that were a really pleasant surprise.

Giving Surprise Me 4 out of 5 stars I have to say, the real surprise of this story was its depth and presentation of reality. Fans of Kinsella will not be disappointed.

Sylvie and Dan have married for ten years and are the couple who finish each others sentences and know what the other is thinking before they speak. They are the quintessential couple. After a trip to the doctor they panic and their lives as they know it start to unravel. Dan becomes more and more angry as Sylvie and starts closing himself off to Sylvia. Sylvie thinks more about her deceased dad which angers Dan more. Fights happen more and jealousy starts. Their plan to surprise each other to spice things up brings more surprises than either anticipates. Will the biggest surprise tear Sylvie's world apart or can she and her marriage come back stronger and better than ever?

My rating was almost a 3 star rating but the last quarter of the book saved it. Even though the book is about Sylvie and Dan, Sylvie is the main character and she starts off as a whiney brat that I just wanted to smack. I don't condone smacking someone but she needed it. Heaven forbid things did not go as planned as she was hell on wheels. Her husband had a lot more patience than I would have as even her friend.

I was not too keen on how they looked at "long-term" marriage. They almost viewed it as a death sentence. Are you telling me they seriously did not think about this before saying I do. Did they not think about their age and how long they could possibly live and do the math and think wow, we could be married for 68 years? Personally my goal is to be married as long as my grandparents will be in April of this year which is 70 years (impossible for us unless we live to be in our 120s).

As I mentioned above the last quarter of the book saved it for me. There is a moment that Sylvie has with her neighbor John that changes everything..." Love is finding one person infinitely fascinating. [...] And so...not an achievement, my dear [...] Rather, a privilege." I find this one moment in the book the most romantic moment in the book. I hope it moves you as much as it did me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for a copy to read and review using my own honest thoughts and opinions.

This is the first official Sophie Kinsella book that I've read and, to be honest, I was hoping to like it more. I have actually bought a lot of her books but for some reason haven't gotten around to them. She comes highly recommended by a couple of BookTubers that I follow and decided I wanted to give this one try first. It was right up my alley, as the main character, Sylvie, has been married to her husband, Dan, for ten years and since my partner and I just celebrated eight years together, I figured this would be relatable. It really wasn't.

For the most part, Sylvie and Dan are happy married and happily in love, but after being told by a therapist that he sees them together for another 68 years, realization of what feels like an eternity sets in and they panic. I personally didn't understand that part, but didn't think too much of it. Sylvie suggests that they start "surprising" each other, as a way to keep the spark alive. After a few silly surprises, Sylvie realizes that there may be something deeper with Dan than she might have guessed. He seems distant and she is scared that he may be pulling away from her because of the thought of spending such a long time together.

I personally couldn't relate to the story for the most part, and maybe because I was expecting a fluffy chick-lit, the plot caught me off guard and the surprise twist just was a little too bland for me. I just didn't care for it. I enjoyed the book, but it took me a while to get through it simply because I was bored through the beginning. I don't see the problem of spending the rest of my life with my husband, if anything, that's the point of marriage. Getting married means you KNOW you're vowing to spend however long together, through sickness and health.

Overall, the book was funny, and I did enjoy Kinsella's writing and will continue to read her books, I have actually started an audiobook of "I've Got Your Number". So I'm not letting this one stop me from her other work. This one may not have been my cup of tea, but it was still full of comedy and I do recommend it if you're looking for a sweet story to read.

I usually love Sophie Kinsella's books so it kind of broke my heart that I didn't love Surprise Me. In her newest offering, Sylvie an Dan, a married couple, find out that they can expect another 68 years together. Hearing this leads them to freak out that their marriage has grown stale and could use some zest.

From there I found the story to fall a little flat. Mostly, I had a hard time connecting with Sylvie. I found her to be annoying. I really wish I had just enjoyed it more.

This book was wrong timing for me, but I can see why others would love it! Just because it was not for me doesn't mean that it's not for anyone else. Kinsella writes contemporary romance that seems to be how some real life marriages would actually go.

Let me start this review by saying that I love Sophie Kinsella's lighthearted novels. I always enjoy settling into her usually slightly kooky main ladies and their predicaments.

Surprise Me definitely held some of the same charms and I was intrigued by the initial premise that Sylvie and Dan are thrown off kilter by their prospective longevity and a possibly additional 60 plus years married to each other. It held a lot of promise for laughs and misunderstandings. I felt though that through their internalised panic that we lost some of their connection. They somehow disconnected for too long into the novel for reasons that had little to do with their marriage and more to do with Sylvie's father. I can see why Dan had been secretive, he wasn't given much choice over the years and was trying to protect his wife but I found that whole notion made less of their marriage.
I wish their own family unit had been given more time rather than the one with her parents. It seemed to have a disconnect with the initial premise.

I enjoyed the novel regardless as Sylvie was entertaining and a fully developed character who made me laugh and empathise with. Surprise Me was certainly entertaining and the intrigue surrounding her father kept me engaged, I just didn't feel it followed through from the onset.


Thank you to Random House for our review copy. All opinions are our own.

This review of SURPRISE ME by Sophie Kinsella was originally posted on BookReporter.com.

SURPRISE ME by Sophie Kinsella | leahdecesare.com
In classic Kinsella fashion, I was intrigued at the epigraph, hooked at the prologue and laughing out loud by page one. At one point in the first chapters, I was laughing so hard that it drew attention from my family who popped into my office to see what was so funny.

While the story premise is a little silly and far-fetched — the happily married couple gets the good news that they’re really healthy and will live to be able to be married another 68 years — Kinsella delivers a fun story with bits of wisdom throughout. As a reader I was easily able to suspend any disbelief and settle in to enjoy. Kinsella is a master at engaging storytelling, entertaining quips, and developing nuanced, interesting characters.

Readers of my reviews know I prefer to share my thoughts than to summarize plot, so to orient you, here’s a bit of the description from the back of the book: “After ten years together, Sylvie and Dan have a comfortable home, fulfilling jobs, and beautiful twin girls, and they communicate so seamlessly they finish each other’s sentences. They have a happy marriage and believe they know everything there is to know about each other. Until it’s casually mentioned to them that they could be together for another sixty-eight years . . . and panic sets in. They decide to bring surprises into their marriage to keep it fresh and fun.”

SURPRISE ME shares truths about love and human nature, predominantly through Sylvie and Daniel’s amiable next door neighbor, retired Oxford professor, John Russell, a fern expert. In one conversation in his greenhouse, Sylvie’s six-year-old daughter asks: “Do people grow toward the light?” and Professor Russell answers: “We have, of course, many different kinds of light … Sometimes our light might be a faith, or an ideology, or even a person, and we grow toward that.” A beautiful thought, then a page later, we receive this other gem: “If we don’t stick up for the ones we love, then what are we good for?”

As a woman who came of age during the wonderful era of 90s romantic comedies, I appreciated SURPRISE ME and enjoyed a winter snuggle with this book, entertaining and comical with questions we can puzzle over.

The story asks: What is the nature of marriage and long-term exclusive relationships? Is it possible, or advisable, to have a monogamous multi-decade marriage as a goal? How well do we know the one we love? Can we keep getting to know someone, growing closer, despite believing we already know everything about them?

Sylvie comments that fifty-nine years together is “an achievement” but, again through Professor Russell’s perspective, she comes to see instead that it’s a privilege.

Fans of Kinsella will enjoy her classic light-hearted prose, the outrageous antics, the go-get-em transformation of her female protagonist and the satisfying ending, with a bit of a twist.

I’ve been a big fan of Kinsella’s since reading her Shopaholic series and her standalone novels so when I saw she had a new release I knew I had to read it. Like most of her novels, this is contemporary romance that explores relationships. The couple, Dan and Sylvie, are the main characters of the novel. They’ve been together for ten years (married for seven) and they have two children. They have come to a roadblock in their marriage where they realize how significant “till death do us part means”.

Their marriage is at a stand still, lives are routine, and everything about their relationship has become mundane. Sylvie comes up with a “surprise me” project in order to spice up their love lives. The surprises while thoughtful and well-intentioned still don’t always go off with a bang. Its gives the story an entertainment factor plus its realistic. We see how this project affects Dan and Sylvie and how it brings their good and bad points to light in their relationship.

The book is comedic and lighthearted for the most part. As the story moves along we learn more about the couple and why their relationship has drastically shifted. And as Sylvie looks for other in advice for marriage she sees all of the negative couples around her and that begins to weigh on her mind. On the outside they have the appearance of the perfect couple but they have problems like everyone else. I felt if they had been more honest with each other than some of the negative feelings toward each other wouldn’t have gotten to a certain point. But everything is not as it seems and everything is explained in due time.

This was a cute novel. It was not my favorite Kinsellla’s best standalone novel since it was a bit too fluffy for my liking and needed more substance. I did enjoy the realistic characters, the overall story line,and how it explored the theme of marriage.


FTC Disclaimer: I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Surprise Me was what I would consider a typical “chick lit” book. It follows a couple, married with children, as they come to terms with what “til death do us part” really entails. They decide to keep things fresh by surprising each other, which you can probably guess how that works out. There was an interesting twist towards the end. Overall, a decent read.

I have been a huge fan of Sophie Kinsella for a long time. Her Shopaholic series is one of the best so when I was given the opportunity to read Surprise Me, I jumped on it. But this story totally fell flat for me. It's not often I rate stories with three stars but I struggled with this one from the get go.

I have never struggled with those fun, laugh-out-loud moments that the author is notorious for, but the humor in Surprise Me is just not there. I get that this one is different from what I'm used to, but even the characters felt weak. I tried, at best, to enjoy Dan and Sylvie, but some of the things they both said were just annoying. Poor Sylvie spent so much time worrying about their years of marriage and it just got ridiculous.

I wish I could say I enjoyed this one, but it could've been so much better. It was rather long too which made the story drag on and on. I'm still a fan of the author and hope she gets back to those fun stories I'm accustomed to by her.

**ARC provided via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

You think you know what Sophie Kinsella is doing in this book, and then you realize that the book you're reading is not, in fact, the book you think you're reading. And that's a good thing.

The initial premise feels familiar: a couple who have been together long enough to be an established unit begin to realize that they have a LOT of years ahead of them, and panic ensues.

But rather than making this a book about a couple getting to the edge and then finding their way back to each other, Kinsella makes it clear from the start that Dan and Sylvie are an unshakable unit. What threatens them isn't so much the shock of the time they have yet to share together as a secret one of them harbors. And Kinsella surprises you there, too. The purpose behind this secret -- and the secret itself -- is not what you think it will be.

The weakness of the book lies squarely with Sylvie. She comes across as either silly and immature or as flighty and unreliable. Neither is a good thing. I wondered on more than one occasion whether Dan might be better off giving her the big heave.

I do love that Sophie Kinsella has elevated herself as a writer, moving beyond those Shopaholic books into someone who writes pretty solid chick lit. My favorite of hers remains Can You Keep a Secret, but I look forward to that being topped some day.

3.5 stars