Product Description

If May, Sally and Harriet didn't need the money so badly, they definitely wouldn't be working for Slimeball Slater at Quality Cleaners. So when they discover it's Slimeball taking them to the cleaners, they decide to set up their own business - and that's when things really start to take off. Working for themselves gives them the freedom and independence they've been longing for. May can afford the mooring fees for her beloved narrowboat; Harriet discovers a true gift for painting and Sally's dream of a place of her own is fast becoming reality. But is it too much, having made such a success of their working lives, to expect similar success in their romantic ones?

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #9800 in Books
• Published on: 2003-06-05
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 448 pages

Mail on Sunday
‘Joanna Trollope crossed with Tom Sharpe’

Sunday Mirror
‘The romance fizzes along with good humour and is a good, fat, summery read’

Sunday Times
‘Old-fashioned romance of the best sort…funny, comforting’ Elle‘Delicious’

Customer Reviews

My Favorite Katie Fforde book
This is my favorite book by Ms. Fforde, and I've read almost everything I could find written by her. Reading about these three young women who are trying to figure out their lives really struck a chord in me. It's a book I enjoy reading again and again. All three heroines have spunk, and the friendship they build with each other is inspiring. The book hops around following the different storylines of May, Harriet, and Sally as they try to solve their financial woes, and not only do they find themselves, but they also unexpectedly find romance along the way. It's a fun, easy read when you need a little bit of a pick-me-up.

Not quite as described in the "blurb"
The cleaning service really isn't the focus of this book, instead it's a study of the complex relationships of three very different women (and their men!) I'm such a lover of Katie Fforde's works, I can't be objective - but this book manages the difficult task of balancing three very different stories with sensitivity and humor. While I don't love this book as much as I do "Living Dangerously" or "Wild Designs", I did re-read it - always a good sign!

an unusual and witty romance
An amusing novel about three women from different backgrounds, thrown together unexpectedly as they recover from disastrous romantic entanglements and resulting employment woes. They form a housecleaning business and live together on a barge until their fortunes recover. Even cliched situations are handled by Fforde with humor and unexpected quirkiness. Romance definitely improves these women's lives but there is never the sense they can't cope alone if they have to which I found refreshing compared to much of this genre.

I can't wait for Fforde's 5th book coming in the spring!