Review: Daring Chloe by Laura Jensen Walker

Series: Getaway Girls # 1
Genre: Women's Fiction
Publisher: Zondervan
Released: June 8, 2008
335 pages

About the Book:

When Chloe Adams' fiance dumps her---the night before their wedding---two girlfriends from her book group decide a little adventure is in order for the three of them. After all, why let a perfectly good honeymoon cruise go to waste?Adventure? Chloe Adams? No way! Chloe's lived in one town her whole life. The closest she's ever gotten to actual adventures is reading about them. But her girlfriends won't take no for an answer.One good adventure calls for another as Chloe's friends try to coax her out of her post-dumping funk, and soon she finds herself living out the adventures in her book club's latest selections. Hiking. Sailing. River rafting. Traveling to new places and eating exotic food. The play-it-safe Chloe begins to blossom into a new, daring Chloe. A Chloe who just might be ready to take on her biggest adventure of all.

  

My Rating & Thoughts:    ⭐⭐⭐

I found this to be a quick easy read however not everything was light and fluffy, there were some hard subjects brought up. Chloe gets dumped by her fiancé the night before their wedding. Understandably this rocks her and makes her re-evaluate her life choices. I could relate to Chloe in that I am not daring and like to stay in my comfort zone. However I did appreciate that her friends encouraged her to try new things. Chloe is part a book club with 6 other ladies, ranging in ages from early twenties to early fifties. Each month they pick a book to read for book club and the idea is born to do an adventure each month that relates to that book. The book spans the course of the year showing which books they read for each month and what adventures they do for that month. A trip to Paris in January for French cooking lessons is the big adventure they are saving up for. I enjoyed reading the different adventures they went on and how it applied to the book they were reading that month. I was shocked at the number of books referenced that I have never read. There was a background character that I wanted Chloe to get together with, but a romance did not happen in this story so I’m holding out hope for the future as there is 2 more books in this series. As much as I was hoping for a romance to blossom I did enjoy getting to know Chloe and following along while she discovered herself without a man and found the courage to step out of her comfort zone. I didn’t like that some of the group’s adventures were detailed while others were skimmed over. Even the time in Paris was this way, their first few days were very described and then the last few days were summarized. It felt strange that the perspective and storytelling kept changing between first person and third person. Seeing the Eiffel Tower in person is on my bucket list so I appreciated Chloe’s fascination with it, however the art museums were a bit too detailed for me.  I loved the character interaction and how they challenged each other at times. This group came across as a fun group and I wouldn’t mind being invited to join their book club. 

Favourite Quote: 

“Life is too short to waste on books I don't like.”

(I purchased my copy of this book; opinions expressed 

in this review are my honest opinion and completely my own.)

Other books from this author that I have reviewed:   

   

Reconstructing Natalie