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Holly Freakin' Hughes by [Kelsey Kingsley]

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Kelsey Kingsley

Holly Freakin' Hughes Kindle Edition

by Kelsey Kingsley (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

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"People like you don't fall in love with people like me."

Meet Holly Hughes, a moderately successful teen advice columnist living in a studio apartment on the Upper East Side with her boyfriend Stephen. She has it all, but at the ripe age of thirty-one, she wants more. She wants to be married, she wants a family, and she's going to have it all with Stephen.

At least, that's what she thought, until Stephen announces he's gay, and the domino effect of unfortunate events begins. She soon finds herself unemployed, single, and living in her sister's house on Long Island, working as her niece's babysitter for less than minimum wage. She's pretty certain she's destined to live in the Land of Mediocrity forever.

And then, her niece runs face-first into a tall, handsome man at the bookstore.

***

Holly Freakin' Hughes is an HFN title about acceptance, feeling good enough, and the reality that the grass isn't always greener on the other side.

NOTE: This book contains some strong language and sexual situations. Age discretion is advised.

Length: 339 pages	Word Wise: Enabled	Enhanced Typesetting: Enabled
Page Flip: Enabled	Language: English

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Product description

About the Author

Kelsey Kingsley grew up in the great state of New York, and still lives there with her family and a cat named Ethel. When she isn't writing her fingers to the bone, she enjoys a good (or bad) book, reruns of Frasier, ruining the lives of her Sims, and singing and dancing in the kitchen. She somehow survives off a diet of tea, doughnuts, and French fries. However, she hates cheese and listening to people chew. You've been warned. --This text refers to the paperback edition.

Product details

ASIN : B073N7F364
Language : English
File size : 711 KB
Text-to-Speech : Enabled
Screen Reader : Supported
Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
X-Ray : Enabled
Word Wise : Enabled
Print length : 339 pages

Best Sellers Rank: 122,499 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- 6,201 in Contemporary Women's Fiction
- 7,045 in Women's Fiction (Kindle Store)
- 8,970 in Romantic Comedy (Books)

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352 ratings

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2 star		4%
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Toni Olson

Recommended

Reviewed in Australia on 28 November 2018

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Overall, I really enjoyed this book. I will definitely be picking up others by this author as my few complaints were minor really.
I picked up this book for free on a recommendation on another authors fan group. The author is new-to-me and the book's description looked interesting. The reviews were pretty good and as I wanted a light, uplifting read I downloaded the book and started reading.
Kelsey Kingsley's writing flowed well and kept me interested. There were no "Wait! - What?" moments were things didn't make sense or errors jarred me out of the story. I read the book in one sitting, eager to see where Holly and Brandon end up.
Both of the main characters were like-able and the the author had me keen for their relationship to progress. There were quite a few moments were Brandon made me swoon. Definite book-boyfriend material, he was so romantic. Of the supporting cast, Esther stole the show. Loved her snark and I want her as my neighbour. I just love those quirky characters.
I only gave a 4 star rating rather than a 5 as I just couldn't see some of the situations as being realistic enough. The main characters are in their 30s but somehow felt much younger due to some of their behaviour and reactions.

***MINOR SPOILER ALERT***

I just couldn't see someone like Brandon being OK with the love of his life dating and having sex with another man without more anger and jealousy. It felt like, in order to maintain Brandon's really "good guy" character, the author failed to show his real emotions regarding the situation with Holly and Ben. I felt that the author could have explored that more to make it more realistic as we saw both character's points of view. Even if his actions didn't change his feelings about the situation could have been fleshed out and more realistic. Even really good guys get jealous and angry and his character seemed more two dimensional for lack of deeper emotion response to this situation. It also felt that Holly's reaction to Brandon's fame and his failure to disclose that to her was irrational and immature, especially after the declarations of love and intimacy immediately preceding it. Maybe it needed something else to add to her reason for being angry and hurt and for that level of blow up about it? I don't know. But that situation fell a bit flat for me.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Two broken hearts

Reviewed in Australia on 5 May 2019

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Loved this story.
Holly is heart-broken over the break up with her long time live-in boyfriend, who suddenly admitted he was gay.
Broke and feeling worthless, Holly's sister, offers her a home and a child care job, looking after her niece.
Wildly successful fantasy writer, Brandon is hiding in plain sight, getting his writing done and brooding over the break with his fiancee.
When he meets beautiful Holly, he is charmed by the fact that she doesn't recognise him as a celebrity and seems to like him just for himself.
But when it becomes obvious that there is strong chemistry and attraction between them, Brandon shuts it down, though he offers friendship.
And so they meet regularly and chat. Holly tries dating some men, with mixed results and Brandon grits his teeth through it all. He loves Holly, but is so hurt, he's not sure he can ever trust again.
And as time passes, Brandon feels the pressure to tell Holly who he is.
When Holly admits her feelings and the two finally get intimate, Brandon takes a breath and tells Holly everything. But that just sends her running.

Helpful

Just okay.

Reviewed in Australia on 11 April 2018

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I think the story was written well apart from too much swearing. My favourite character in the book though wasn't either the H or h who both came across as whiny and weak, no it was the old biddy next door, what a feisty old cougar. I think this author has potential, just needs to move things along a bit more, make the male lead a bit stronger and have less whining.
*spoiler*
So what was wrong was it took too long to get to the point. Instead of building tension it built a lot of annoyance towards the H. Now I am a fan of the Beta male but no man who professed secret love could sit by and watch the woman he secretly loves not only date but sleep with another guy.
Then we get down to his big reveal of who is really is, a famous author and her response back. This is built up as something huge and her reaction to it is also huge. My reaction is, who cares? Some annoyance is believable but her reaction is off the planet. The man had already admitted his love, why does it matter if he is famous or not and he's obviously not that famous as they never got mobbed anyplace. It's not like he lied and told her he was some poor guy working at Wallmart, she already knew he was well off and that he was an author. Another storyline where the author takes a pebble and turns it into a boulder because they want to toss in another tension filler; just don't. The plot is fine without it and without the extra whining of the h. If you want it to be a huge thing then make it a huge thing from the start, make the lie something to get really mad about not something small dressed up large. While I like a sensitive hero and tears in men has a place, it's just a little too much here. Then there is more whining from the h and more from the H before the end.
**Spoiler Spoiler**
Also the last little twist with Liz, well I totally saw that coming. Not to say it was obvious, it isn't. I'm just good at catching clues in stories. That was nice and a good include.
The ending is really good, but a little less whining to get there would have been nice.

Helpful

5 Star Read

Reviewed in Australia on 11 November 2019

Verified Purchase

Just loved this book. Actually I love everything I have read by Kelsey Kingsley, she is such a wonderful author. This is the story of Holly and Brendan. After a long term relationship Holly’s partner tells her he is gay. She loses her relationship, her home, her job and ends up as her sister’s babysitter. Brendan has also come out of a very long relationship which has soured him to having a relationship again. This is such a good story, highly recommend.

Helpful

Zoelou

Holly Freakin' Wow

Reviewed in Australia on 11 August 2018

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Holly and Brandon, meant to be! Loved this standalone novel with Hea. I hope to see more of this fun couple. The lighthearted banter and self-deprecation brings humour to this well-written novel. Well done Kelsey Kingsley!

Helpful

Carnie

Enjoyable reading

Reviewed in Australia on 7 May 2020

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I enjoyed the style of writing, lighthearted and funny

Helpful

Dragon Designs

New Favourite Author

Reviewed in Australia on 16 March 2019

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Fantastic first book for this author.

Helpful

KBReader

Fun & enjoyable

Reviewed in Australia on 6 July 2019

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Enjoyable read

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

Midgebear

The Babysitter

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 15 May 2019

Verified Purchase

If asked I would say that one of the few genres I don't read is romance. However, this book firmly slots in to that category and I realised I do sneak the odd one on to my TBR, usually though they are the paranormal version. However, it's been a while since I read anything that could possibly be "naughty" and the blurb sounded appealing so I went for it. to be honest, I don't dip my toes in to the full on Romance genre very often as I find the more intimate scenes usually toe curling (I'm being careful with the language here not because of prudishness but because of overly stringent algorithms that label perfectly normal words as "bad" and won't let your review go through).

On the whole I actually really enjoyed the book, you wouldn't think so off a 3 Star review would you but I did. The characterisations are well written and the people really do come to life on the page and enter in to your consciousness. Holly is particularly appealing, which is happen as well as the book is about her. Yes, she is also completely and utterly infuriating at times and you desperately want to slap her but at others you just want to give her a big hug. Normally, the whole "woe is me" pity party after a break up in a book makes me angry but Holly's reasons for descending in to a dishevelled mess are actually pretty understandable. If you were living with someone and were convinced the posh restaurant date meant he was finally going to pop the question and then it turns out it is so he can dump you in favour of another guy I think you are allowed to have a bit of a breakdown. Then throw on losing your job because you are too old to give advice to teens and yeah, you can spend the next 6 months in a cocoon licking your wounds. Fortunately Holly's sister comes to the rescue and looking after Alice at least keeps Holly functioning on some level and then throw in the foul mouthed Esther (Oh, how I loved this old woman) and there's no way Holly can allow herself to crumble.

Her relationship with Brandon is actually pretty well done. After the first passionate clinch I genuinely thought it was all going to be a bit cringy but I kept with it and I'm rather glad I did. Despite the fact they clearly fancy the pants off each other they are both hurting from failed relationships and reluctantly Holly agrees to be just friends, no benefits, just friendship. This means they actually get to know each other as actual breathing people rather than it just being this whole bosom heaving passion thing. Yes there is a fair bit of that but much less than I had anticipated going in.

What did annoy me about the book was really two things:

Brandon. This guy just has everything. Honestly, he is the perfect physical specimen (if you like gym rats), has a compassionate personality and is seemingly uninterested in casual hook ups. Couple this with a bestselling Fantasy series that has given him celebrity status and pots of lovely cash; oh and don't forget his modelling sideline. clearly this man is just perfection. Oh and he is prone to depressive fits of naval gazing because nobody will love him for him, they just want him for his looks/money. Of course he does this while working out to keep the perfection going. Brandon is far too good to be true and his sections of the book really started to grate - there's only so many times you can read about someone wistfully longing without wanting to punch them.

The second big problem for me was Holly's reaction on finding out who he really is. Seriously, you know he's called Brandon Davis and you didn't indulge in online stalking and, even more unbelievably, neither did your sister or Esther (seriously, Esther already knows who he is and probably what size briefs he wears as well as style). Even more appalling was her whole "I'm not worthy" meltdown after they finally get it together. Who on earth would genuinely react like that? Fortunately this was near the end so instead of launching my eReader at the nearest wall I stuck with it and finished the book but it did spoil the whole thing for me.

Generally quite a fun read with a lot more depth than I expected. If you like your men buffed and perfect (I don't, I like them slightly paunchy and normal) and don't object to needless melodrama then you will probably love this book. Sadly, it just missed the mark for me but I would definitely read other of this author's works.

6 people found this helpful

Lynda Kelly

Some Odd English In Parts

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 28 May 2020

Verified Purchase

This wasn't anything I really haven't read before but I so adored the character of Brandon that it made it stand out. Holly, not so much.....I found her to be needlessly spiteful at times and it didn't endear her to me in the least.
There were some instances of very odd English used, or so I thought. Holly had been perfecting her "smoky eye" and I'm sure she had more than one and this sentence made no proper sense, either, "I had always understood his point, and as my agent, I normally listened." And again with "Despite my protests to drive the piece of disintegrating scrap metal" or "Still, I stood up on unsteady legs, afraid that the pain in my face would send me blacked out on the floor" or "I hoped I wouldn't have to tell them on Christmas that the whole thing was a farce" or "He had since been unsuccessful, but I wasn't sure I could blame him for trying" or "I hadn't yet drunken myself to the point of passing out"......to me these sentences just don't read right ??
I didn't understand this, either, "No way in hell was I putting down the town I lived in for these nut jobs to come find me and leave hair clippings on my front stoop." Why would blokes on a dating site do that ???
Some words were dropped from sentences, which is an annoying e-book staple, lack luster is usually one word as is gem stones, fairing was used when faring was meant and quite a few fullstops were missed out as well and there were a few misplaced apostrophes.
I think (aside from Brandon) my favourite character was Esther. She was fabulous and highly amusing. A scene with him made me cry and for the first time an author's acknowledgements also had me sniffing !! I like this cover as well. I'll be on the lookout to see the follow-up story but this one does not leave you hanging, don't worry.

HappyHill

Freakin’ Fabulous

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 27 April 2018

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Oh, I loved this book so much! Brandon and Holly are just the sweetest pair, both of them let down in love and both afraid to take another chance.

They’re obviously attracted to each other, but decide to remain friends.

Brandon is a character totally in tune with his emotions, and isn’t afraid to show them at times. Holly suffers from low self-esteem, thinking that great things don’t happen to ordinary people like her.

There’s a point in the book where it looks like they’ve blown their chance to be together and my goodness, it physically hurt me to read it. That’s how invested I was in this pair.

Please, please read this book. It’s lovely and gentle and funny and totally worth it.

2 people found this helpful

Hazjam4

Loved it

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 22 February 2019

Verified Purchase

I loved this book. This is the second book from Kelsey Kingsley I’ve read and it was just as good. I’m a romantic at heart and this bittersweet story was fabulous..... all the characters were strong and fun. I love ‘Holly Freakin Hughes’ she’s funny, unaffected and a real woman. Brandon has tattoos, abs and fabulous hair... what’s not to love, but he’s funny too! Esther is hilarious and I wished she lived next door to me!! I can’t wait for next one.

One person found this helpful

Poppet

Ermmm

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 7 December 2019

Verified Purchase

The story line was good enough for me to continue reading although I found myself skimming through a lot of stuff to get to the dialogue. I’m sure some people love this style of writing but I found myself cringing and rolling my eyes a lot more than I have ever had. The romance was so slow burning I honestly wanted to strangle them both, especially during that pivotal moment which honestly was not as big of a deal as either of them made it. I finished the book though hence 2 stars not 1

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