Looking For Leon By Shirley Benton

Looking for Leon is Shirley Benton’s debut book and she has started with a bang. Just looking at the cover of this book is enough to entice you to read this book. When I read the synopsis of this book I was drawn into the story already and knew there was going to be a humourous feel to this book.


Plot
What would you do to find the one that got away? Andie hadn't gambled on meeting the love of her life on a holiday in Las Vegas but when she meets Leon, love suddenly seems like a bet she can win. That is, until the wheel of fortune steps in and separates them during a fire drill. With next to no info on Leon, Andie finds it impossible to track him down despite staging a series of publicity stunts to get the media in on the act. Back in Ireland, journalist Andie begins to write a regular newspaper column about her search. Readers love it and a local TV station flies her back to Vegas to take up the hunt for the man she can t forget. What starts off as a simple low-budget documentary, spirals into a frenzied national media search. With the world's most ambitious PR agent on board, Andie becomes a heroine for those who are looking for love. But does Leon want to be found?

My Opinion
Andie is our heroine in Looking for Leon, my feelings towards Andie’s character change throughout the book. When we first meet Andie she was a character who I felt I was going to really enjoy reading she seemed to be a bit of a live wire with a great sense of humour. I then felt a bit of a surprising blow when she treats cameraman Colm badly, it just seemed so out of character for her. Luckily she seems to redeem herself later on in the book. Colm’s character was a typical old fashioned gentleman and I loved his character.

The book gets up to a great start at a very fast pace with alot of humour envolved. I mean how many books have you read that starts with “There I was on the front page, flashing my Knickers”! This all ready had me chuckling but also eager to know what on earth was going to happen next! We hear about the brief time Andie has with Leon and how well they connect before they are separated by a fire alarm. This is what sparks Andie into her campaign to try and find Leon again. The beginning of the book really had me turning the pages and eager to know what Andie had up her sleave next, unfortunately I found the middle part of the book took a little down turn and I was worried that the book wasn’t going to pick up again. It was a shame we didn’t hear a little more about Leon during the book but when we do meet him again it is a great twist in the book and in my opinion takes the book in a different direction bringing the book back to the fast pace page turner again.

I loved the twist in this book it was so unexpected. This book really is worth picking up as there is a great mix of humour, suspense and romance a great combination for a perfect read. I will defiantly be LOOKING for Shirley in the future!