- Paperback: 608 pages
- Publisher: Harper (6 Aug 2007)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 000721961X
- ISBN-13: 978-0007219612
- Product Dimensions: 19.4 x 12.8 x 4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 345,273 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
A Girl's Guide to Kissing Frogs
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More About the Author
Product Description
Review
Praise for Victoria Clayton and her novels:
'A sharp-eyed social comedy to curl up with.' Woman and Home
'A high-class romantic production.' Marie Claire
'Victoria Clayton is unafraid to take a story by the scruff of the neck.' Independent
'Victoria Clayton has a glinting wit and intelligence.' Mail on Sunday
'Delightful humour which overlays a beady observation and perception.' Mail on Sunday
‘A charming read’. The Sun
‘Charming, witty stuff from author Victoria Clayton’. Sunday Express
'The charm and vivacity with which the author presents her scenario and the precision with which she describes character and setting make this a very enjoyable read. Social comedy is a difficult thing to do, but Clayton shows herself an adept practitioner.' Times
‘It’s the perfect beach read’.
Red Magazine
‘A charmingly witty book which was an absolute delight to read’.
My Weekly
‘A witty yarn’. Hotstars.
Product Description
Position vacant: Prince Charming wanted. Fairy-tale castle optional. Frogs need not apply.
A charming, witty novel from much-loved novelist, Victoria Clayton
A girl may have to kiss a lot of frogs before she finds her Prince Charming but Marigold has found herself a real toad. As a principal dancer at the Lenoir Ballet Company, she is on her way to becoming a Prima Ballerina. She has the talent and the ballet director, Sebastian Lenoir, has her bent over backwards – quite literally – working her way to the top.
But, when a painful fall sends her limping home to Northumberland to recuperate, Marigold fears that this could mean the end to her dreams. Luckily, her childhood friend, Rafe, who is just as delicious as she remembers him, is ready and waiting to sweep her off her feet. But, is there a handsome stranger waiting in the wings?
‘A Girl's Guide to Kissing Frogs’ is a charming, witty book, perfect for fans of 'Not Married, Not Bothered', 'A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian' and 'The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing'.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Victoria Clayton must be a wise, perceptive person. Her observations of the ways in which people manipulate power in relationships will bring many "aha" moments to the reader. To paraphrase a comment one of her characters makes in this novel, she is adept at cloaking serious issues in frothy social comedy. At the same time, however, Victoria Clayton is all about making things better; you know when you start one of her books that you will want to see it through to its optimistic conclusion. However, I agree with the previous reviewer's plot concerns, and would add that to me the title feels remote from the story, like a publisher's attempt to market the book as pure chick lit. I think Victoria Clayton is better than that; she writes like a contemporary Jane Austen.
10 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Victoria Clayton is,without a doubt,a surperb storyteller.
Marigold is charming,naive and very trusting and is carried along on a wave of good intentions.This novel has humour, sadness,and of course a very happy ending.I am so glad she was able to kiss her Prince Charming.
Victoria Clayton draws the reader into the theatrical world of ballet and cleverly educates and entertains.Her characterizations are surperbly drawn,and hillarious.I loved "A girl's guide to kissing a frog" and all of Victoria Clayton's other novels,which are wonderfully written .Thank you Victoria!!!
Marigold is charming,naive and very trusting and is carried along on a wave of good intentions.This novel has humour, sadness,and of course a very happy ending.I am so glad she was able to kiss her Prince Charming.
Victoria Clayton draws the reader into the theatrical world of ballet and cleverly educates and entertains.Her characterizations are surperbly drawn,and hillarious.I loved "A girl's guide to kissing a frog" and all of Victoria Clayton's other novels,which are wonderfully written .Thank you Victoria!!!
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Marigold is a principal dancer at the Lenoir Ballet Company, on her way to becoming a prima ballerina. She is willing to do anything - even sleep with the ballet director Sebastian - to ensure that she makes her way to the top. However, a painful fall sends her home to her parents for a lengthy recovery period in Northumberland. She is reacquainted with childhood friends Isobel and Rafe, and finds herself swept into a whirlwind of society parties. Rafe seems willing to have Marigold in his life in a more permanent fashion - but insists Marigold must give up the dancing for good. Just how willing to find love is Marigold? What is she prepared to sacrifice? And is there a handsome stranger waiting in the wings?
You know sometimes you pick up a book on a whim and end up truly surprised and delighted? This is how I feel on closing the last page of A Girl's Guide to Kissing Frogs. I thought it would be an easy piece of fluffy chick lit to enjoy, but instead found an extremely amusing take on class and society.
In Clayton's novel the romance is almost incidental to the gossipy tale of the doctor's daughter (and a ballet dancer, no less!) being engaged to the son of the local gentry. Clayton explores - with sometimes hilarious consequences - the collision of classes in this very entertaining novel.
Marigold is a deliciously naive and fey girl, who has never really experienced love. Her character is written beautifully, so that you can sometimes marvel at her ditzy comments and be frustrated with her inability to confront *anyone*, and yet constantly find her very sweet and believable.
The rest of the rather large cast are also wonderful, from Golly, the writer of quirky operas, to Fritz, a darling German who is trying to learn as much English slang as possible and cooks like an angel. Conrad is a very, very effective leading man - dark, saturnine and very intelligent!
I felt the addition of details about ballerinas and dancing gave an extra facet to the novel - never did it feel as though Clayton was self-consciously including the information. Rather, it presented a realistic and well-researched look at the sometimes grimy world of ballet.
The pacing of the novel was incredibly gentle - Clayton took her time to let the story and the characters unwind. It could be said that the novel was maybe too long for the actual story content within the pages, but I had no complaints with regards to this.
As I said, this novel was a complete surprise - it felt almost like a modern-day Jane Austen, with the satirical commentary hidden behind a very lovely romance.
My only real complaint was regarding the last minute reveal of some rather incestuous goings-on. Incest felt far too edgy for this novel - and the reactions to same rather disturbed me, as people accepted it with equanimity. Clayton seemed to revel in the idea of adding a darker element to the story, but it just felt very out of place.
Apart from this misjudgement, A Girl's Guide to Kissing Frogs was truly lovely, one of my favourite reads so far this year. I loved the characters, the glimpse into the life of a prima ballerina, and the humour. I think I only need to say that, after reading this book, I've now added all of Victoria Clayton's novels to my wishlist.
You know sometimes you pick up a book on a whim and end up truly surprised and delighted? This is how I feel on closing the last page of A Girl's Guide to Kissing Frogs. I thought it would be an easy piece of fluffy chick lit to enjoy, but instead found an extremely amusing take on class and society.
In Clayton's novel the romance is almost incidental to the gossipy tale of the doctor's daughter (and a ballet dancer, no less!) being engaged to the son of the local gentry. Clayton explores - with sometimes hilarious consequences - the collision of classes in this very entertaining novel.
Marigold is a deliciously naive and fey girl, who has never really experienced love. Her character is written beautifully, so that you can sometimes marvel at her ditzy comments and be frustrated with her inability to confront *anyone*, and yet constantly find her very sweet and believable.
The rest of the rather large cast are also wonderful, from Golly, the writer of quirky operas, to Fritz, a darling German who is trying to learn as much English slang as possible and cooks like an angel. Conrad is a very, very effective leading man - dark, saturnine and very intelligent!
I felt the addition of details about ballerinas and dancing gave an extra facet to the novel - never did it feel as though Clayton was self-consciously including the information. Rather, it presented a realistic and well-researched look at the sometimes grimy world of ballet.
The pacing of the novel was incredibly gentle - Clayton took her time to let the story and the characters unwind. It could be said that the novel was maybe too long for the actual story content within the pages, but I had no complaints with regards to this.
As I said, this novel was a complete surprise - it felt almost like a modern-day Jane Austen, with the satirical commentary hidden behind a very lovely romance.
My only real complaint was regarding the last minute reveal of some rather incestuous goings-on. Incest felt far too edgy for this novel - and the reactions to same rather disturbed me, as people accepted it with equanimity. Clayton seemed to revel in the idea of adding a darker element to the story, but it just felt very out of place.
Apart from this misjudgement, A Girl's Guide to Kissing Frogs was truly lovely, one of my favourite reads so far this year. I loved the characters, the glimpse into the life of a prima ballerina, and the humour. I think I only need to say that, after reading this book, I've now added all of Victoria Clayton's novels to my wishlist.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
A girls guide to kissing frogs
I read this book purely by accident and was whisked away by the whirlwind life of marigold and her messed up relationship with sebastian and the amazing companionship she finds in... Read more
Published 10 months ago by Jess21
Don't be put off by the title
It has to be said, if I'd seen the title and cover of this book without having read any of Victoria Clayton's books before, I would probably have written it off as a rather silly... Read more
Published 14 months ago by LadyLibrary
A hilarious read
This is one of the best and funniest books I've read. It made me laugh out loud all the way through. Read more
Published on 21 Mar 2010 by L. Tann-Watson
One of her best
Whilst I have not read all of Victoria Clayton's novels yet, of the ones I have read I think this is the best. Read more
Published on 20 Oct 2008 by Damaskcat
Who is the toad now?
Marigold wants with all her might to be an excellent dancer and she is on her way to it. But in her path there materialize a few frogs or toads, that want to be kissed to make the... Read more
Published on 2 Sep 2007 by Gertraut Seib
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