Yours Truly: The laugh out loud romantic comedy!

New haircut? Looks lovely, thank you. I’ll gladly pay 100 pounds for it.
Sex with fiancé? Yes, it was great, very satisfying.
No, you do not look fat in that dress.

Meet Natalie Butterworth. She tells white lies. Wait, did I just describe every human being ever? Imagine what would happen if your ability to tell lies got taken away from you. It happened to Natalie, and it’s every bit as humiliating and awkward as you can imagine. Natalie becomes the victim of a hypnotist and can only tell the truth when she’s asked a question.

So when her fiancé asks her how the sex was, she goes,

“Well, you know. Short. Could have been longer. Longer time-wise, I mean, not willy-wise – though, of course, that would be lovely too. I didn’t have an orgasm, but what else is new, hey?”

And when the shopkeeper asks Natalie what she thinks of the sweater she’s making for her husband, it gets even worse:

“I told her that even if I was stranded stark bollock naked in deepest Alaska with only a perverted old Eskimo with skin disease to keep me warm through intimate cuddling, I would still refuse to wear it.”

Needless to say, a very long list of problems starts piling up. She has to tell her mom and sister that she hates what they’ve done with the wedding preparations, her fiancé refuses to speak to her, she can’t do her work properly, and worst of all, she can’t find that bloody hypnotist again.

So she goes on a wild rabbit chase with her best friend Meg to find this hypnotist, and they end up in his hometown, Little Trooley. Little Trooley has an old and rustic bar called The Old Whimsy. The Old Whimsy has a very charming and handsome bartender called Riley. You probably don’t need me to tell you what’s going to happen. Natalie Butterworth thinks Riley is very shagadelic, which poses a whole new range of problems, because she’s engaged and he has a girlfriend. On top of that, the villagers are loving Natalie’s problem and are glad to help her make it public.

But it wouldn’t be chicklit if nothing went wrong. Sod’s law and all that. Yours Truly was completely and utterly hilarious. Natalie was such a cute and ditsy main character – she actually made the “Must dash! Haha, moustache!” joke – and I’d love to have her as a friend. Also because this woman knows how to cook, and she loves food as much as the next person:

"But you can cook? You know about food?"

"Yes. I suppose I can cook and I do know about food. I love food. I eat a lot of it."

Instant BFFs, am I right? But really, this book made me smile and laugh more than I can count. It was painful in its awkwardness, but so incredibly funny, and really very cute.

So why not 5 stars? You know that part in the book, nearing the end, where everything has to go wrong, only for everything to be right again? I thought that part was a little hectic – too many things going wrong and it made me a little tired. Other than that, I’d recommend this book to anyone who needs a good laugh, because for that purpose, it’s absolutely perfect.

Girl has an affliction (truth telling) and follows hypnotist to get it reversed. She has fiance who has been badly hurt (what person wants to be told they are lousy at sex?) and instead of communicating with him and trying to find ways to help him get better (communication skills are lacking) she runs away to try to get the hypnosis reversed. Of course she meets a handsome hunk who does sex great and she dumps her wounded inadequate fiancee. Hmm. When you look at it this way she's not a very nice person. She obviously values sex over a relationship and doesn't communicate well at all.

Grammatical errors abound and some are as funny as the deliberate comedy

The story is about newly engaged Natalie, she is a funny and easy-going girl with a lot of charisma. Olly her fiancé is a bit of a perfectionist, but he loves her.

Natalie accompanies her best friend Meg to a hypnotist performance in a pub and is accidentally hypnotized by this amazing Brian guy. Everything goes wrong from then on forward. Suddenly Natalie finds herself telling the totally truth, when someone asks her a question. Well, she finds herself telling Olly the truth about their sex life and much more!

She has to find this hypnotist and so her journey of solving this problem begins. The adventure takes her to Little Trooley, where she meets a lot of interesting people, including Riley, who owns the pub. I loved him from the start, he was fun, kind and had a certain spark around him. The tension between him and Natalie was clear from the moment they met and I was actually only waiting for something to happen between them. I didn’t like Olly from the start, he just wasn’t the guy for Natalie and I desperately hoped for her to realise that.

Then there were Dionne, Natalie’s sister and her mother. They were hilarious and over the top, but that was great. The planned everything around the wedding, but not really like Natalie wanted to have it.

Meg is a girly, open and easy going best friend and it was great that she had her own story in this book.

The adventure to find Brian and solve this whole mess was full of drama, misunderstandings and so many LOL moments. The tension was there as well, because where was this hypnotist and will he be able to “cure” Natalie.

It turns out that the truth telling was just what Natalie needed to figure out what she wants in life. It took her a long time to realise the truth, but she did eventually and it was great to read about. She said some really embarrassing things to a lot of people, but in the end it turned out to be a good thing. I loved that the story was written from Natalie’s perspective, making me understand her better and it was just so funny.
The ending is awesome, but still a little bit uncertain, until we are brought to some months later. The last scene was just awesome!

Kirsty’s writing is gripping, entertaining and so much fun!! And actually this story calls for more, also more Natalie!!!

Rating: 4.5

Natalie Butterworth is getting married in just a few weeks time and she is in the middle of making all the arrangements. She's just had a new haircut which, okay, is extremely unflattering, but she's sure the hairdresser tried her best. And at least the wedding dress is already sorted, even though she didn't get a chance to pick it out herself and she actually thinks it's dead ugly. But her fiancé is gorgeous and he thinks she's "almost perfect", so what more could she possibly wish for?

However, her plans are put on hold when her best friend drags her to see hypnotist Amazing Brian at a local pub. While she doesn't notice the effects straight away, it doesn't take long for Natalie to realise that she has been hypnotised during the night and she is suddenly forced to always tell the truth, even when it may be hideously embarrassing to do so. In her desperate search for Brian, so he can undo the hypnosis, Natalie ends up in Little Trooley and she quickly falls in love with the picturesque village and its eccentric inhabitants.

Kirsty Greenwood is well-known in the online women's fiction world for her wonderful site Novelicious.com, which has grown from a review blog to an established news site for all things women's literature. Last year she self-published Yours Truly as an ebook and ever since then her name and novel have frequently popped up on other sites and social media pages I follow.

My fellow bloggers were full of praise so when I got my eager hands on a proof of the paperback (which will now be published by Pan Macmillan) I squealed in delight. And I wasn't disappointed as the novel is everything I was promised it to be; well-written, sweet and most of all very, very funny. This is one of those books where you will often find yourself snorting out loud, so you are warned when you attempt to read it in a public place!

Natalie Butterworth (fantastic name by the way!) is a very likeable main character, even if she is a bit of a pushover. Throughout the novel I kept wishing for her to become mouthier and stand up for herself, because those around her, family and friends alike, often seemed to take advantage of her soft-mannered nature not caring about Natalie's feelings in the process. Thankfully the fun plot twist of the hypnosis allowed her to grow as a character in exactly that way.

Kirsty's easy writing style is similar to that of fellow chick-lit authors Lindsey Kelk and Sophie Kinsella, and after reading this witty debut novel I'm very excited to read more books by her hand in the future.

Also, on a completely superficial note, the cover is one of the prettiest I've seen all year! I love the use of silhouettes, the bold yet girly font and the colours. It's absolutely gorgeous and screams romantic novel to me.

Kirsty Greenwood! I absolutely loved this book. I was in a reading slump and was looking for something funny and romantic... Something that would lighten my mood, and BAM, there was your book I and took a chance on it. It was just what I was looking for. The characters were charming. It was put together so well. I fell in love with Natalie and Riley. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a feel good book. I laughed and cheered Natalie and Riley on. It had everything I was looking for. Now I'm off to read your next book.

This book was an easy, entertaining read that I truly enjoyed.
However I gave it only three stars because when I first read the summary, truth telling spell, or hypnotism, my expectation went super high, and, as it often happens, great expectations are hard to attain to.
The beginning annoys you at almost an unbearable level, you want to shout to Natalie: ‘Come on girl, don’t be such a push over!’; this way Greenwood builds enough tension in you that when the truth telling part arrives you are demanding some retribution for Natalie. However, I wished the long-due confrontation with some of the other characters had more momentum and force; hence the three stars instead of four.
Overall the book is witty, smooth-running, and relaxing. Towards the end there are also some unexpected turns of events that make the overall plot less predictable.

Omg. What a wonderful, hilarious story. I couldn’t stop turning the pages. Natalie lives a life where it’s planned. She leaves her perfect roommate, Meg to take care of her mom. She’s engaged to Ollie. How perfect can it get until she’s hypnotized to tell the truth. She has to find Amazing Brian to undo the spell and along the way she meets new friends. Loved the story.

Although the very beginning was hard for me to get through for me because the main character was so beyond and over the top in her fake but well-meaning kindness it soon got much better and very very very funny! Really truly made me laugh out loud over and over again with tears rolling down my face! It’s especially a must read if you’re down in the dumps for whatever reason and it’s a sure pick me up!

Much like our heroine, Natty, the story simply plods on with no redeeming arc in sight. Additionally, the plot is a recycled and much less entertaining version of Big Sexy Love, with characters who are both bland and annoying. So, sorry, but this is a DNF.

Natty's character resonated with me as I think it will for others to different extents. This book will make you laugh, and the drama catches you up in the whirlwind of it all. Ask me if this book was one of the best I have read. I am not hypnotized but I will tell you the truth anyway. Yes it is.

Great book! Laughs, tears and suspense all built into one awesome chic lit book! I have fallen in love with Kristy Greenwood's odd but awesome characters and can not wait to read another one of her books!

I thoroughly enjoyed this s book. I was feeling a little down and wanted something light, funny, and warm, and this was j u s t what the doctor ordered. At a few points I literally laughed out loud, which is extremely unusual for me and a testament to just how funny it was. Hoping to read more from this author.

This book was engaging and fun to read. The writing is only ok and the character development is lacking, but it was still enjoyable. I read this because I enjoyed Big Sexy Love so much, but if I had read this first I may not have ever read Big Sexy Love.

Move over Sophie Kinsella and let Kirsty Greenwood wiggle in beside you. Yes, this is an incredibly bold statement, but Greenwood's debut novel, Yours Truly, is so similar in voice and style to Kinsella that I couldn't wait to shout it from rooftops, so I bumped all my other reviews to post this one. I loved every word, and you will too. Seriously funny, fast paced, with perfect comedic timing, Yours Truly has brilliant characters to root for and a fabulous storyline. This is chick lit at it's best. Pick this one up NOW!

Meet Natalie Butterworth. She likes to keep the status quo. She tells everyone what they want to hear. Then one evening out with her bestie she's accidentally hypnotized to never tell a lie. Only she has no idea. She returns to her cozy, secure and peaceful life with new fiance, Olly, and when he asks her a question, she answers, a brutally honest assessment flying from her lips that's far from complementary. Astonished, horrified, and dismayed at her outburst and offending her finance, Natalie Butterworth discovers she can't stop telling the truth and her perfect life begins to unravel.

This novel is absolutely hilarious. I laughed so hard I cried, I giggled throughout and I couldn't help but smile at Natalie's adventures and got more than one 'who's the nutter?' glance on the subway as I tried to control my laughter. I'm fairly certain Yours Truly is the funniest book I've ever read. Period. What could be funnier than having a main character that has absolutely no control over the truth spurting from their mouths when asked a question? Even the little white lies we all tell each other to protect those we love are blurted out as the truth, never mind the bigger things we may want to keep to ourselves. The possibilities were endless and I frantically flipped pages to see the trouble Natalie's truth telling would get her into and whether she would find the hypnotist in the tiny village of Trolley before it was too late to salvage everything she loved in her life.

I love novels where the heroine realizes that life isn't quite what she wants it to be and then pushes it forward in the right direction, regardless of the kind of shove she gets. You can't help but root for Natalie. She's really lovely, even with her pushover ways. I loved seeing her growth and realizations. I enjoyed the ending. I teared up. I really enjoyed it! Really. Got that yet?

No? Ok, here's more: I loved the tiny English village, the dreamy bartender, her bestie Meg and even her overbearing sister and mother. The entire cast of characters was well drawn and delightful. Holy Foccachia is my newest, most favourite phrase, especially with the need to eliminate foul language around young parroting nieces and nephews.

Yours Truly is a fabulous debut from Kirsty Greenwood. Fans of Sophie Kinsella's Shopaholic series and Lindsey Kelk's I Heart series will love this one. This book should be made into a movie. Really.

I can't wait to see what else Kirsty Greenwood gives us next!

FYI - This novel is heavy on Britishisms, so if you're not familiar, it may detract from your enjoyment. I've read so much British Chick Lit that it didn't deter me, but wanted to throw that out there. You can always read the preview on the store.

This is a respectable little book. For the price that it is available on the store it is a great deal. It is cute and light British chick-lit. It dragged for me a bit in the middle, but overall I can see many people enjoying this read. It is far better than many published books I have read these days.

This is a respectable little book. For the price that it is available on the store it is a great deal. It is cute and light British chick-lit. It dragged for me a bit in the middle, but overall I can see many people enjoying this read. It is far better than many published books I have read these days.

Five stars for being a fun, laugh-out-loud read. The characters were quirky and believable. The main character's growth from what she believed everyone wanted her to be, to following her own dreams was inspiring. There were three love stories: one with the "not-so-perfect but perfect for her" man, the "selfish but caring" family, and simply,but most importantly, with herself. I didn't want to put the book down; I felt like a part of their community and didn't want to leave it. I cannot wait to read more from Kristy Greenwood.

The Five Star rating of this book is definitely deserved, once you start it, you will not be able to put it down! Fantastic debut book from the very talented Kirsty Greenwood. Chic-Lit at its best, if you enjoy reading the likes of Lindsey Kelk this book is definitely one for you to try. Everyone will be able to relate to the feelings Natalie goes through on her journey in Yours Truly making it such an enjoyable read. I was giggling out loud, and then reaching for the tissues!

Congratulations Kirsty, cannot wait for your next one! X

Borrowed this book as my free download. After reading a few several chick list which were very disappointing l didn't hold out a lot of hope for this one! How wrong - I couldn't wait to find the outcome of this poor girl. Loved it from start to finish and would definitely recommend it, a great read.

Great book! Laughs, tears and suspense all built into one awesome chic lit book! I have fallen in love with Kristy Greenwood's odd but awesome characters and can not wait to read another one of her books!