Chick Lit - Katie Fforde

Bohong kalo bilang bahwa gue enggak demen baca chick lit :), karena jenis cerita yang gue suka umumnya masuk kategori chick lit. Harus diakui, cerita-cerita chick lit bisa dibilang sangat ringan, dan klise abis. Tapi, kadang setelah menghabiskan hari atau minggu atau bahkan bulan yang berat, atau bahkan sesudah patah hati, baca chick lit bisa cukup menghibur. Bukan berarti gue pernah mengalaminya, tapi kadang selesai baca chick lit, bisa bikin gue tersenyum dan mendesah..ah...love.... :D

Rasanya udah cukup lama gue enggak baca chick lit. Romance gue baca. Tapi biasanya romance yang gue baca itu termasuk kategori historical romance, atau suspense/thriller romance, supernatural romance, dsb. Bahkan Nora Roberts pun meskipun termasuk general romance, rasanya enggak bisa gue masukkan kategori chick lit.

Anyway, beberapa bulan yang lalu (Feb-Maret) gue ketemu dengan buku karangan Katie Fforde di Periplus. Jujur, gue belum pernah baca satupun buku karangan Katie Fforde dan dengan malu gue mengakui, gue tertarik sama cover depannya *blush* *melirik Mia*


Dan ketika gue baca sinopsis singkatnya, well...gue langsung tertarik...

Sophie Apperly’s frustratingly dismissive family has never taken her seriously. Fiercely academic, they see her more practical skills as frivolous – whilst constantly taking advantage of her. So when her best friend Milly invites her over to New York, she jumps at the chance. It’ll do her ungrateful family good to do without her for a while and, as Milly keeps telling her, it’s time she spread her wings. What’s more, she’s on a quest – America holds the key to solving her family’s financial woes, even if they don’t deserve her help.

From the moment Sophie hits the bright lights of Manhattan she’s captivated. Feeling like she’s stepped into the middle of a film set, Sophie is determined to enjoy every minute of her big adventure. So when an evening at an art gallery opening throws her into the path of Matilda, a spirited old lady who invites her to Connecticut for Thanksgiving, Sophie willingly accepts, much to the dismay of Matilda's grandson Luke. Undeniably attractive but infuriatingly arrogant, he is very protective of his grandmother and seems to doubt Sophie’s motives for befriending her. No match for the formidable Matilda, he eventually admits defeat, but first he has a proposal to make. He’ll help Sophie in her quest to save her family from financial ruin if she returns the favour. But just what does she have to do in return…?

Ceritanya jelas-jelas klise, but somehow sweet. Gue suka dengan Sophie yang selalu baik, penuh semangat dan pekerja keras. Bagian yang gue suka justru disaat Luke dan Sophie saling salah paham satu sama lain. Gue bisa merasakan pedihnya Sophie dan ikutan gregetan. Buat gue, bagian itu merupakan bagian yang membuat gue jatuh cinta dengan Katie Fforde.

Dan alhasil, gue beli lagi buku Katie Fforde yang lain.


Kali ini gue tertarik karena sinopsis singkat di cover belakangnya :) meskipun harus diakui, ada semacam kesamaan model/tema dalam gambar covernya bukan?

With bookshop where she works about to close, Laura Horsley, in a moment of uncharacteristic recklessness, finds herself agreeing to help organise a literary festival deep in the heart of the English countryside. But her initial excitement is rapidly followed by a mounting sense of panic when reality sinks in and she realises just how much work is involved – especially when an innocent mistake leads the festival committee to believe that Laura is a personal friend of the author at the top of their wish-list. Laura might have been secretly infatuated with the infamous Dermot Flynn ever since she studied him at university, but travelling to Ireland to persuade the notorious recluse to come out of hiding is another matter.

Determined to rise to the challenge, she sets off to meet her literary hero. But all too soon she’s confronted with more than she bargained for – Dermot the man is maddening, temperamental and up to his ears in a nasty case of writer’s block. But he’s also infuriatingly attractive – and, apparently, out to add Laura to his list of conquests …

Harusnya udah ketebak kenapa gue langsung tertarik dengan buku yang satu ini. Apalagi kalo bukan soal tokohnya yang kerja di toko buku dan berhubungan dengan buku-buku?

Jujur, gue pingin bisa seperti Laura, yang bisa membaca buku genre apapun, baik itu sastra atau sekedar fiksi biasa seperti romance. Dan mungkin kerja di toko buku kecil (ingat film "You've Got Mail"?) menarik juga :)

Sayang, gue kurang suka dengan buku ini. Gue suka dengan Laura yang memiliki kemampuan organisasi yang cukup hebat, pengetahuan tentang buku yang luas. Tapi hubungan dia dengan Dermot...well...buat situasi yang membuat Laura jatuh cinta/tertarik dengan Dermot kurang tergambarkan. Dan Dermot sendiri...penokohannya kurang kuat. Seolah-olah jadi ada dua kepribadian Dermot. Dermot yang baik dan romantis serta Dermot yang tidak sabaran dan penuh emosi. Dari sinopsis singkat di cover belakang, gue membayangkan Dermot yang pemarah, emosian, dan agak-agak kasar, itu semua baru muncul setelah setengah buku kalo gue enggak salah.

Sayang sih sebenernya...oh well...mungkin harus mencoba baca buku yang lain? Hahahaha...

So far, pengarang chick lit yang menurut gue memang bagus baru Cecelia Ahern, yang seluruh 7 bukunya gue baca dan gue suka plus dengan gaya cerita yang saling berbeda satu sama lain.

Gue baru baca 2 buku Katie Fforde, dah bisa ketebak tipikal ceritanya hahaha...it's not necessarily a bad thing, meskipun bisa jadi membosankan. Nora Roberts dan Sandra Brown pun juga punya tipikal ceritanya masing-masing. Meskipun mereka bukan termasuk chick lit...

Oh well...mungkin ini juga yang kadang bikin gue ragu-ragu untuk baca chick lit?