Customer Reviews

Lost & Found (Red Dress Ink Novels)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Jane Sigaloff has done it again. If you've been waiting a year since Name & Address Withheld for number 2, you won't be disappointed. Romantic comedy for the 21st century this is real life with hope and humor. This girl's got it. Buy it. You won't regret it.

Sam is a workaholic, perfectionist lawyer. Enters Ben, the handsome, laid back American who found and read her journal. Ben was intrigued by Sam and he wants to get to know her in real life. Their journey began when Ben returned Sam's journal BUT Sam's roomate claimed to be Sam, accepted Sam's journal when Sam wasn't home. Sam's roomate wanted to stake the claim on Ben.

Sam never took Ben seriously, and assumed that Ben is her roomate's latest fling. When Ben found out the real Sam, Ben tries hard to break down Sam's defense system and convince Sam that he is worthy of a chance. Sam is curt, irritating and condescending towards Ben..she pushes him away all the time. What happends when Sam found out that Ben read her journal? Is Ben ever going to win her heart? What's going to happend between Sam and her rommate? who's going to get Ben?

This book will lead you to a topsy turvy journey between Sam and Ben...there is going to be a series of event, comedy of errors going on that will make you question : Will they or won't they?

Lost and found is a light and entertaining book. I enjoyed the London and New York setting of this book, and some of the romance. But I don't find Ben & Sam's chemistry interesting or passionate enough.

"Lost and Found" by Jane Sigaloff deals with Sam Washington whose life was dedicated solely to her work as a lawyer. During a business trip in New York City, Sam left her diary at a hotel there and it was coincidentally pick up and read by Ben, a television producer. Sam was extremely freaked out about losing her diary as she wrote things such as how her superior came on to her, her best friend's affair, among other things and Sam was afraid that her diary might ends up in the wrong hands. Ben intrigued by what he read was eager to meet with the owner of the diary and showed up outside Sam's apartment and was greeted by Sam's roommate, Gemma, whom Ben thought was Sam.

I have never read a book by Jane Sigaloff and I must admit I am not very impressed with this book. There are so many directions that the author is going and it can be extremely confusing. She seems to be jumping from one thing to another and on top of that, tons of conversations by tons of people are taking place, which makes it hard to stay focus and concentrate. The idea (girl lost diary, boy found the diary) is there but the author fails to develop a solid storyline. In addition, the romance between Sam and Ben was barely there and the author seems to "put" them together for the sake of it. The author also fails to create chemistry for her two main characters. It is not the worst thing that I have ever read but there are definitely better quality books in this genre out there.

Be careful when you leave your hotel room would be Sam (Samantha) Washington's motto henceforth. Sam has more hang ups than a telemarketer, she's intensely private and a control freak. So, leaving her diary in a New York hotel room across the ocean from her London home makes this lady lawyer extremely unhappy. Her gloom is lightened somewhat by meeting Ben Fisher, the handsome American television producer. He seems to know her very well. If she knew the reason for that, Sam would not be so quick to fall for him. Ben found her diary and read it. Will his secret spell doom for the future?

* Diaries are not the only things that get lost here; add to the list attention and interest. The story tends to ramble and be hard with which to connect. There is some slight humor, but the field of romantic comedy has more promising entries. *

Reviewed by Amanda Killgore of Huntress Reviews.

Sam accidentally leaves her coveted diary behind in a New York Hotel while on business. Perhaps it was being rushed by her amorous boss, Richard, but her diary is never out of her sight. Enter Ben; a producer, also from London, who finds her diary and is fascinated by the daily drivel and occasional juicy tidbit. He's intrigued by her last entry, where Sam angrily details how Richard made a pass at her the previous night and confessed he wants to have an affair. Ben decides to return the diary, but manages to copy it first. Rather than post it in the mail, he wants to meet the woman from the diary, as he has become captivated by her.

In London, Ben returns the diary, but manages to meet Sam's man-eater roommate, Gemma instead, who passes herself off as Sam. Within an hour Ben knows she's Gemma, yet still embarks on a relationship with her, despite his initial interest in Sam. When Sam and Ben finally meet, there is a spark, but Sam isn't willing to act on it, as she considers Ben to be one of Gemma's conquests. Plus, she's mortified at the possibility that Ben read her personal thoughts. When Ben arranges for a blind double date with Sam to prove that there are still some good men left, he finds himself more interested in Sam than his own date. Will Ben follow his heart and pursue Sam? Will Sam drop the icy exterior to open herself up to him? Will Richard keep his hands to himself?

Chock full of British slang (that can often be difficult to decipher), it's a funny take on finding love in the 21st century. Sigaloff also penned the much better "Name and Address Withheld."

I just finished reading and Lost & Found made me smile from cheek to cheek.
The main character, Sam, comes across as prissy but is the epitome of the strong, successful and intelligent woman of today, likeable enough. Enter Ben, a bit rugged but deeply caring and funny. He is definitely the best character in the book (Gemma too), hence exactly what Sam needs.

My complaints are few: it was slow in the beginning (I only got interested after about pg. 115), sometimes it was too wordy (not necessary in this type of book), the lightness of Sam's dad's condition, and the predictions I had as I was reading. But it's ok because I read the book in a few hours, and it was worth it. I guess this makes me hopeless romantic; I could not put it down.

If you want an entertaining, "Bridget Jones like" read, pick up Lost & Found and have a blast.

Jane Sigaloff's romantic and humorous novel "Lost and Found" can be comical and witty at times but if you get down to it, its just not clearly written. The words all seem to run together, interferring with the mood of the book. The main character Sam Washington(a young london lawyer) is a total head case. She "loses" her self after leaving her preceous diary in a New York hotel room. Ben Fisher, the man that finds her diary, serches for her to return it. Sam, terrified that someone(Ben) has read it, is in a complete fuss. But something strange happens between the two....romance??? Personaly i found the book confusing at times. The book jumped around in so many different directions(sam obsessing over work,and her love life, Ben reading Sam's diary, and her friends putting in their two sence), i sometimes caught myself wondering what was going on. I also found the main character Sam a bite annyoing and to much to handle.

I knew exactly who was going to end up with whom, and anybody described as "scruffy-looking" is an immediate turn-off for me. Sure, I'm up on a lot of British slang and pop culture references, but it was still a difficult and uneven read. The lead character was too predictable (as was the outcome) and the whole book was poorly executed.

Jane Sigloff's first book, "Name and Address Withheld" was a surprisingly good find. Pehaps this is why I found myself questioning if the same person "wrote" (if you can call the words strung together in this book "writing") "Lost & Found."

I will admit I can't give a a very comprehensive review, as I only managed to force myself through page 72. This was one of the most poorly written books I have ever encountered.

Choice phrases come to mind:

In the conversation Sam has with her best friend, Sophie- "She said as she she turned and looked at her best friend."

"A soak in the tub, a bottle of wine and a bowl of Bran Flakes. Bliss."

"Gemma appeared in the doorway wearing a spaghetti strap tank top and pajama bottom shorts. Must be that new look-disheveled sexy look Sarah Jessica Parker made popular."

Yes, I am paraphrasing slightly here from the horrors I was unable to block from my memory, but you get the drift..

The total lack of subtlety and sophistication causes this book to read like it was written by a fifth grader, creating absolutely no atmosphere or character development at all.

What made this book irritating at first eventually was what made it hard to put down. The author, Jane Sigaloff, writes in a fashion that has you rereading to figure out whose head you're in, what the American translation is of the English you just read, and wondering what happened and whose mind just changed in the space between paragraphs. But as difficult to follow as that sounds, after a few chapters it's absolutely addictive. I liked not having absolutely everything spelled out, but seeing the result of the change of heart/plans/what have you. One minute the characters are in disaccord, the next they agree. It was definately worth the money a larger paperback like this usually costs, and I'm looking forward to finding her first book, _Name and Address Withheld_ to enjoy her writing style some more.