Book Review: Chasing Daisy by Paige Toon
June 26th, 2009 by Leah
Daisy has been dumped, unceremoniously jilted. Not by any ordinary guy, no…Daisy has a secret in her past that she won’t even tell her best friend, Holly. She’s given up on men – and on her own family. But life still has to be lived and where better to recover than as far away from home as possible.
Grabbing a chance to see the world, Daisy packs her bags and joins the team catering to the world’s highest-paid, supercharged racing drivers on the Formula 1 Grand Prix circuit. From Brazil to Italy, from Melbourne to Monte Carlo, life passes in a dizzying whirlwind.
But nothing – and no one – can stop Daisy from falling again…this time for a man who is prepared to risk his life, and his heart, for the sake of speed, danger and ultimate success.
Chasing Daisy is Paige Toon’s third novel and is just as good as Lucy In The Sky and Johnny Be Good. Arguably it’s better but since I’d read all three again and again and again and never get bored I can’t really say that!
The story is of Daisy, whom we have met before in Johnny Be Good, but she was in a different guise. She is a front-of-house girl for an F1 team and gets to travel the world for free. Trouble is she isn’t totally over her famous ex, who broke her heart, and she’s just fallen head over heels in love with someone else… someone who puts his life on the line every time he goes to work – an F1 driver.
When I read Chasing Daisy was set in the world of F1 I was so excited to read it. I LOVE Formula One. (A Fernando Alonso fan who likes Seb Vettel but also doesn’t mind Button, if you’re asking). So I was hopeful this novel would give some insight to the world of Formula One and it does, brilliantly, and I loved it.
I loved Daisy. From her opening scenes where she’s swearing in Italian I just knew she was going to be a brilliant character and she doesn’t disappoint. She has many secrets which we learn throughout the novel which helps with her character (as well as answering questions from Johnny Be Good) and makes her likeable.
I have to admit I didn’t warm to Will at first, the guy Daisy falls hopelessly in love with, but as Daisy and he got chatting more I found him an OK character. I loved Luis, from his opening exchange with Daisy to the very end, I couldn’t wait for the scenes between him and Daisy. As Daisy’s Nonna said, I though Luis better suited her than Will… I won’t tell you who Daisy does eventually end up in I’ll only say it’s a corker!
I really liked Holly, Daisy’s best friend. I admit, I guessed her secret before Paige told us! I also liked all of the minor characters, the mechanics, Frederick, Holly’s boss, Simon, the team boss… I didn’t like Daisy’s mum and dad much, I found her dad too overbearing! I loved Nonna, Daisy’s grandma, she was a lovely character
From the beginning I knew we would have lots of twists and turns. But boy, one of the twists – the most important one, at that – shocked me completely. Talk about a plot twist. I can’t even mention it because it’ll spoil the ending for everyone. Believe me when I say: You will NOT see this coming.
I don’t know how Paige does it but she just keeps making her novels better and better. She also manages to bring in her older characters. Johnny, Meg and Christian have a small cameo and the twist at the end of Johnny Be Good is answered.
Chasing Daisy was a brilliant read. It was easy to get into it and easy to just keep reading another page. I started it last night and when I looked down I was on page 50. The cover, as always, is also gorgeous!
If you haven’t read a Paige Toon novel, then you really should.
Many thanks go to the publishers Simon & Schuster for sending us a review copy!
Rating: 5/5
Posted in 2009 Releases, Book News, Rating: 5/5 | 4 Comments »
Thanks very much to S&S for the free copy. I had looked at Chasing Daisy a few times as an easy holiday read.
Cover is extremely eye catching, congrats to the designer.
The book is very undemanding chick lit. I enjoyed it up until the final few pages where I got the impression the author had got a bit fed up and just ended it. Far too many loose ends for me.
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I adore Johnny Be Good by Paige Toon ans wld like 2 read her new book above
I absolutely loved Chasing Daisy!!
I cant decide if i like it more than Lucy In The Sky or Johnny Be Good as all three are very different and all had me going and going right til the end.
I love anything with a bit of romance in it so Paige Toons stories are more than perfect for me and even though the situation between Daisy and Will wasn’t ideal and not every girls idea of paradise I loved the relationship they had. i loved both characters from the beginning
The only thing i could slightly complain about is the unfortunate event half way through…x