A bright and breezy read , I flew through it. Carmen's writing is funny and relatable while packing an emotional punch. I'm looking forward to the next book!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book. I have chosen to write this honest review voluntarily.
This is the first book I have read by this author and I liked the amount of detail alongside the storyline; the outfit descriptions at the start of each chapter were fun, although a little horrifying where the prices were shown! The story was cleverly-crafted although I didn't particularly like Annie's apparent fixation with money, working on her own sales as well as her salaried hours coupled with fixing up homes to sell on, all to keep her unappreciated children at a private school. Annie didn't seem to have the right values and her habit of addressing people as 'babes' irritated me. I thought the detail in the sex scenes was unnecessary. My overall feeling about this book was that I enjoyed it and I would read more by this author.

This book is a reinventing 15 years or so after the first version, as I understand it.

Annie Valentine Is a personal shopper at a hoity tooth department store, with a few fashion oriented side hustles as well. She’s forever chasing her tail having been left in a precarious position by her husband. You’re never quite sure what happened to Roddy, and wonder what he did to her, but all is revealed about 2/3 in.

Annie gets the sack from work and has no idea how she’s going to pay her kids exorbitant school fees. Enter Gray and rich dentist, some years older and financially secure. Annie and her children move in with him. But what about Ed, the lovely school music teacher who she shares a scorcher of a kiss with.

The Personal Shopper is a slow burn womens fiction book. Annie grated on me a little with her ‘babes’ left right and centre. She definitely tries to hard to be a ‘have’ and seems to think it’s so much better than a ‘have not’. It makes her appear pretty shallow. It’s a book where largely not much happens, and looks at the minutiae of Annie’s life. I felt like I needed a little more from this one, though I loved the ending …. She just seemed to go so quickly from one suitor to another, which is also not my thing.

I've never laughed and gotten so many looks and cheered on a main character the way i did this book. With it's easy to read writing and beautiful plot and almost realistic characters, this book is sure to have you turning and laughing till the last chapter so don't be tied up when reading this book
I'd definitely recommend this book to anyone looking for something to add to their never-ending tbr pile and definitely a book you should pick up next.

honestly i wanted to like this book, but it did not work for me. i wish it would have because i was so excited to read this one and to get to read it way early?! thank you so much netgalley!!!!!

I'm guilty of reading reviews before I actually read a book and so i went into this one with low expectations and I was surprised I enjoyed it so much!
The characters were relatable because they really were just ordinary people and I enjoyed following the story line.
I recommend reading this!

This is the first in a series of novels about Annie Valentine which Boldwood has re-released. I haven't read any of the series but found the book to be a bright and humorous read with a sparky central character and plenty of amusing secondary ones. In The Personal Shopper, you find Annie as a resourceful and determined woman who is striving to do her best for her family. Working in an exclusive store by day, she gets to dress and sell designer clothes to a wide range of the rich and famous. With each she manages to find out what makes them tick and alters her approach. It is not surprising that she is the top seller.

Not afraid to admit when she has made a mistake, Annie is a resourceful and amusing central character. In her personal life, she finds herself in some hilarious situations and her two children add to the chaos she feels she is surrounded by at times. Ger quest for a partner adds to the humour but always in a gentle, harmless way. If you are looking for an amusing read with some finely observed social situations, you will love this.

In short: Feisty central character and plenty of humour.
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I loved this book. It was bright, sparkly and entertaining, but with a good dose of raw intensity running underneath.

Annie is the sole breadwinner for her family since her husband died. She makes ends meet by working as a Personal Shopper in a designer department store, and selling vintage and preloved clothes and accessories online. But that’s a lot to juggle on top of a family, and Annie’s ability to hold it all together is slipping.

The Personal Shopper is ultimately a romance, and a story about a woman figuring out who she has become in a world through grief and beyond. It is full of wonderful characters, from Annie’s stubborn 16 year old daughter, Lauren, to her actor best friend, Connor, scruffy but sensitive guitar teacher, Ed, the elusive charmer, Gray, and more than one stylish millionaire. It has plenty of humour to offset all the emotional crises and left me with a sense of real elation at the end.

The story was pacey and pulled me in fast with emotional twists and turns. The glamourous clothes are wonderfully offset by Annie’s bargain hunting, making this a wonderfully down-to-earth book in spite of all the designer price tags.

I loved Annie, with her determination and resilience, and will definitely be looking to read more of this fabulous series.

Annie Valentine was widowed several years ago when her husband died in an accidental fall. She works hard to support her children, Lauren, 15, and Owen. Annie is the senior personal shopper at “The Store,” an expensive clothing store in London. Many wealthy women come in to see her to help them find the perfect clothes for them to wear and Annie gets a commission on what she sells. She also searches sales and finds great items to sell on her Ebay site. While she is well loved by her customers, Annie’s boss, Donna, does not like her and is always looking for ways to get her fired.

Annie makes enough money to send her children to an expensive school in London. Owen is a shy boy and his music teacher, Ed, wants to see him expand himself by learning to play guitar. He goes out of his way to teach him after school and helps to bring him out of himself.

Annie realizes that she’s lonely and wants to fall in love with someone, however, it’s hard to meet people.

Annie’s mother’s dentist, Gray, is a divorced man who has a large home and fancies Annie. As they get to know one another more, he appears to be a nice man who wants Annie and her children to move in with him. Could this arrangement work or could they all be getting into something more than they can handle?

This is a lovely story and I enjoyed all of the characters. We see how difficult single motherhood can be and the extreme grief that Annie is suffering. Her wonderful friends who all care for her so much are great supports, especially Connor, her late husband’s gay friend. Let’s not forget Ed who is like a teddy bear looking to love and be loved. This book made me smile, laugh, and cry. I hope other readers will enjoy it as much as I did.

Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Annie is a single mom of two who works extremely hard to make sure her kids have everything they deserve. She’s a fabulous personal shopper by day, and by night runs her own consultant business for clients and runs an eBay website where she resales great quality bargain finds.
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She wasn’t always doing this on her own. She used to have a husband, Roddy, who passed away. Now three years later she wants to find love again so she’s stuck unsuccessfully trying to find it on dating apps, and is having terribly bad luck.
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Annie struggles with her relationship with her kids. She has to work so hard to send them to an expensive school she doesn’t get to spend as much time with them. Her daughter is a typical teenager that doesn’t like to shop with her mom and dresses to scantily. Her son is extremely shy.
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Since the main character was a fashion expert and a personal shopper, the author described every single thing every person was wearing for almost all the scenes and started each chapter with a foreshadowing of what someone would be wearing. And while this makes sense, and I see why she did it that way. It was a little much for me after a while. That is my only complaint though.
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I loved the London setting and the verbiage in this novel. England sounds so fun. I liked the growth Annie went through throughout the novel. This story is a prime example of it’s never too late to mature more. The twist in the end is super fun (even though I guessed it and I’m sure many readers will).
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I read some other reviews complaining that Annie says “babes” and “darling” too much. But… some people do that. Especially in a service environment where you are trying to connect to your clients (I did that while waitressing) and with you gay best friend (guilty 🙋🏻‍♀️). So I thought it was a relatable personality trait.
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Overall this was a fun read. AND it inspired me to want to go through my closet again. ☺️😂

I loved The Personal Shopper the first time I read it, and it was a joy to read it again. It's light hearted at times, with some fab laugh-out-loud moments. Sure I’ll read it again in the future too!

A wonderful escapism book that is full of intriguing ups and downs. I absolutely loved Annie and how versatile she is no matter what.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and can't wait to read the other books in the series.

I was totally impressed, surprised and happy to find out that this is a reworking of Carmen’s 2007 release. I am grateful for this as it has fully brought Carmen’s talents and this series to my attention. After this book, I look forward to reading the rest of the series!

I have to admit, it did take me a little while to get into the book. The high life of London and the use of a personal shopper depicts a lifestyle far removed from my own, but I soon learned to appreciate this book for the escapist treat that it is.

I can’t remember how far into the book it was that I got fully pulled into the story and forgot all my initial reservations, but I know that by the ‘jacuzzi incident’ I was completely hooked and crying with laughter (cruel I know!)

I loved the fact that the main character was already a mature woman, if you know what I mean by that. Annie is successful, independent, a wonderful mother to her children and has a secure support network around her. Only one thing is missing from her life.. Well, I suppose you could say 2 but the first would be “more money” and I guess most people would say that’s missing from their lives! The 2nd thing is a life partner, one that will live up to, but could never replace, her beloved Roddy. I guess you probably summarise Annie’s desire in my one word: security.

The love quest in this story is definitely endearing and entertaining. Annie faces a battle we are all familiar with, that of heart vs head. The head says to go with successful, secure, safe Gray but her heart is pulling her towards selfless, spirited and unofficially sexy Ed. Which will she choose?

I also got on board with the focus on clothes, brands etc as the story grew on me. What initially felt a little clunky although relevant to Annie’s job, becomes an important part of the story. The clothes become a symbol of success, identity and confidence. Perhaps not a story of “don’t judge a book by its cover” but rather “don’t judge a woman by her handbag” or more precisely, “don’t judge a man by his ugly cagoule!” This was an heart-warming, uplifting read with lively and vibrant characters. I can’t wait to read book 2!

This book made me think of a more mature "Shopaholic" style story, with the main character Annie being a single mom. It's not the most realistic story, but it is fun and has some romance in it and even some really touching moments.

I didn't like most of the characters for over half of the book, with the exception of Annie's best friend Connor. Annie was also hard for me to like being so focussed on brands and money. Her love interest Gray was just a cliché and was in my opinion not realistic for someone of only around 50.

In the second half and especially the last quarter of the book I got a lot more invested and even Annie grew on me. Some moments especially with her kids really touched me and I felt myself welling up. I am curious to see what will happen with Annie in the future...

I am a huge fan of Carmen Reid’s writing and have read many of her books over the years. What a woman Annie Valentine is – not only is she managing to keep her family together and raising her 2 children alone after the death of her husband, Roddy, but she also works as a personal shopper at The Store. Annie loves her job, but things start to go wrong and she loses her beloved job at The Store.

Desperately trying to figure out how to pay her bills, keep her children happy, and generally stay on top of her life, Annie soon realises that the one thing she is missing in her life is someone to share it all with. Ed is a music teacher at her children’s school and has been helping both Annie’s son develop his musical talent, and Annie’s daughter, who has been mixing with the wrong crowds at school. But, then there also is the lovely dentist, Gray. Which one will she go for? And does Annie even know what she really wants in a partner?

The Personal Shopper is a must-read for anyone into fashion and shopping, but it is much more than that. The character of Annie is so independent and so strong, and I just love how, as the reader, we see her on this journey of getting her life back on track, and the support she receives from those who care about her.

Annie Valentine, senior personal shopper at the five floors of London retail heaven called ‘The Store’ (because less is oh-so-much-much-more), watched Svetlana Wisneski emerge from behind the fuchsia, velvet curtain of the changing room. The silk jersey dress clung to the honed curves of the billionaire’s wife and, in three-inch heels, she towered like a blonde superhuman.

The Personal Shopper by Carmen Reid

I received an advance review copy for free thanks to Rachel's Random Resources and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Meet Annie Valentine: stylish, savvy, multi-tasker extraordinaire.

As a personal shopper in a swanky London fashion store, Annie can re-style and re-invent her clients from head to toe. In fact, this super-skilled dresser can be relied on to solve everyone's problems . . . except her own.

This is a fashion-focused book about Annie, a single mother who is trying to make the most out of life whilst saving for the future. I thought that it was fascinating to read about Annie's job as a personal shopper. This was a nice, quick, light-hearted book - a lovely escape from reality.

Carmen has also introduced humour and romance into the story as Annie gets herself into some chaotic situations whilst looking for her new partner. An amusing read with a determined lead.

Rating: 4/5

It's always a delight to pick up a book by Carmen Reid and this one was no exception. We meet Annie personal shopper to the rich as her day job, whilst trying to make enough money with her sidelines to keep the bills paid and the kids in their private schools.

After 3 years of being on her own Annie decides that she needs to up her dating game and preferably marry someone with a healthy bank balance.

A story that will make you chuckle throughout with a few curve balls to keep you entertained and keen to keep reading.

Annie Valentine has the dream job of many as a personal shopper. Unfortunately she's been left a widow and has to come up with money making ways to support her family.

I liked getting to know the characters that she dresses.

Ideal for fans of the shopaholic series. Nice easy escapism.

What's it about (in a nutshell):
The Personal Shopper by Carmen Reid is the story of Annie Valentine when she is trying to make sense of her life and take it to a new, more secure place for her and her children.

What I Enjoyed:

I initially would have given this story a lower rating, but at around the 80% mark, I experienced a twist that blew me away, moved me to tears, and reframed the whole story. I, of course, had no choice but to give it the extra star it deserved. I love the twist and how it made the story much more meaningful and less of simply frothy good fun.

There is plenty of fun in this novel, and I laughed out loud frequently as situation after situation added wit and wisdom to Annie and the reader alike. I found the story and the characters relatable, which is good since this story is largely character-driven. Narration is third-person but focused through Annie's point of view, and both dialogue and exposition flow quickly, keeping the pace relatively fast.

I also enjoyed the personal shopper angle and how each chapter began with evaluating the clothing worn by a character prominent in that chapter. I found it an exciting thread explaining how Annie saw the world in the story. A little more insight into the main character is always a good attribute.

Characters:
Annie Valentine is a single mother of two – a teenage daughter and a younger son. She struggles to make ends meet and keep her children in a pricey private school but is good at playing to her strengths in the work world. She is determined, clever, and unapologetic. Annie is the main character, and the story is told from her perspective. I found her character to be well-developed, relatable, and sympathetic.

Reminds Me Of:
Sophie Kinsella's Shopaholic series – I believe that people who love this series will also enjoy Annie Valentine.

What I Wish:
I wish that Annie had not talked about Chloé totes and handbags in such a brilliant way. I lost so much time looking up this designer's different, way-too-expensive totes and purses, and now I have an impossible wishlist.

To Read or Not to Read:
If you are looking for a story to leave you with plenty of laughs and a surprising twist that takes the story to a whole new level, The Personal Shopper should be your next read.