Playing James - Sarah Mason

I'm frankly amazed at the relatively high reviews Playing James has received from other reviewers. As a piece of chick lit, it was frothy, hugely contrived, tried too hard to be humourous and won't be remembered past the last page.

Holly Colshannon is a two dimensional journalist for a local paper in Bristol, who is to shadow a detective as part of a new diary feature. The two do not hit it off to begin with, but, what do you know, they start to thaw towards each other ready for a rushed finale where they end up kissing in a broken-down car.

I disliked the fact that none of the characters were really developed at all - there is nothing really to identify Holly and James from the many other chick lit protagonists out there. I disliked the way the plot seemed to shoehorn as many comic devices in as possible in order to 'entertain'.

Altogether, this was a disappointment and, with the likes of Marian Keyes, Fiona Walker and Freya north all writing far superior fiction, there is nothing to differentiate this from the many other chick lit authors.