Girls’ Night Out by Glynis Astie #RomCom @GlynisAstie #ChickLit #FridayReads

Author: Glynis Astie

Published: November 2018 by Tikinou Publishing

Category: Chick Lit, Romance, Humour, Romantic Comedy, Book Review

Jayne, Amanda and Holly have been through everything together. From triumph and heartache to panic and pure bliss, these girls have lived, learned and always had each other’s backs. With the arrival of adulthood, their daily gossip gatherings have dwindled to monthly margarita mixers, making girls’ night out absolutely integral to their survival. Problems with work, men and anything else under the sun now have to be broken down in a few inebriated hours.

Holly, Jayne and Amanda, have been tight friends forever but since life and careers have taken them in different directions they have to settle for a get together every month.

The story takes place over the course of a year and we see how the girls’ lives progress and unfold through their meetings. The narrative is written from the girls’ alternating points of view so we get to know each character. 

Holly (and Gordon…but more about him later) were my favourite characters.  Holly is sweet, gullible, not driven like Amanda and Jayne, and hates to hurt anyone’s feelings. She can’t quite find her niche and has returned to her hometown of Gapton, Connecticut. 

While Jayne and Amanda were well on their way in their chosen professions, I was the only one who still didn’t know what she wanted to be when she grew up.

Jayne is ambitious, working hard towards her goal of news anchor. Her boss, Tony is making life difficult by giving her weird and not so wonderful assignments. The fact that Jayne has feelings for Tony, that she tries hard to suppress, doesn’t help and she and Tony clash at every opportunity. It might just be time to make a choice between the man and the job.

But this was crossing the line. Expecting me to wear a costume while reporting? No. Nuh uh. Not gonna happen. He would have to fire me first.

Amanda is the one who always wants to be in control. She has firm opinions, says it like she sees it and doesn’t hold back. In a stable relationship, Amanda and Brian have moved in together. Her life is perfect, just how she wants it….until the unexpected happens.

We moved in together last year and I had been dropping hints about an engagement ring for the past few months. (Vintage. Platinum. Two Carats. I was a girl of simple tastes, really.) I wasn’t getting any younger, after all.

Girl’s Night Out showcases Glynis Astie’s trademark easy, relaxed style of writing, light and humorous. The friendship between the women is well established and they each want what’s best for the others, even though sometimes it can lead to harsh and overly critical interactions. Nevertheless, they always support each other through the ups and downs of romantic relationships, or the lack of them, and problems at work.

The characterisations are done well, each with their own ‘voice’ and an obviously different personality, which makes it easy to differentiate between the three main protagonists. I particularly enjoyed Gordon, a good friend to have in your corner who gives sage advice and a shoulder when needed. His leisure time persona is Countess Cherry Bomb, a wonderfully realised  drag queen, and she added much to the storyline.

Girls’ Night Out is a fun read with a cast of diverse and realistic characters. My one niggle, which is a bugbear of mine, are the dialogue tags but that apart it was an enjoyable change from the murder and mayhem of my usual reads. 

I chose to read and review Girls’ Night Out based an a digital copy supplied by the author. 

About the Author

Glynis never expected in her wildest dreams to be a writer. After thirteen years in the Human Resources Industry, she decided to stay at home with her two amazing sons. Ever in search of a project, she was inspired to write the story of how, in only six short months, she met and married her wonderfully romantic French husband, Sebastien. The end result became her first novel, French Twist.

When Glynis is not writing, she is trying to keep the peace amongst the three men and two cats in her life, finding missing body parts (Lego pieces are small!), supervising a myriad of homework assignments and keeping a tenuous hold on her sanity by consuming whatever chocolate is in the vicinity.