Queen of Babble [Paperback]

Meg Cabot (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 22, 2007

Lizzie Nichols has a problem: she can't keep anything to herself. And when she opens her big mouth on a trip to London, her good intentions get her long-distance beau, Andrew, in major hot water. Now she's stuck in England with no boyfriend and no place to stay until the departure date on her nonrefundable airline ticket. Fortunately, Lizzie's best friend and college roommate, Shari, is spending her summer catering weddings in a sixteenth-century chÂteau in southern France. Who cares if Lizzie's never traveled alone in her life and only speaks rudimentary French? She's off to Souillac to lend a helping hand!

One glimpse of gorgeous ChÂteau Mirac—and of gorgeous Luke, the son of the chÂteau's owner—and Lizzie's smitten. But thanks to her chronic inability to keep a secret, before the first cork has been popped Luke hates her, the bride is in tears, and ChÂteau Mirac is on the road to becoming a lipo-recovery spa. Add to that the arrival of ex-beau Andrew, who's looking for "closure" (or at least a loan), and everything—including Lizzie's shot at true love—is in la toilette . . . unless she can figure out some way to use her big mouth to save the day.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Cabot, author of the wildly popular Princess Diaries, delivers another charmer, this time taking on the misadventures of a college girl looking for Mr. Right in Europe. Fresh out of the Univ. of Michigan with a B.A. in history of fashion, Lizzie Nichols sets off across the pond to spend the summer with British boyfriend Andrew, whom she barely knows. When Lizzie learns that Andrew isn't the man she imagined, she changes direction and heads for France, where her best friend Shari is working at Château Mirac in the Dordogne wine country. En route, she meets Jean-Luc de Villiers, a French-American hottie whose father owns the château, and who would be so easy to fall in love with if he weren't already taken. Lizzie discovers sixteenth-century wineries, kir royals and vintage Givenchy dresses stored in the attic, while matching wits with Jean-Luc's ambitious girlfriend. Although blunt dialogue about oral sex adds a titillating edge, the book is sweet to the core.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Lizzie Nichols, a fashion-history major, wants nothing more than to graduate college and then fly off to London to be with her boyfriend, Andy. But at her graduation party, Lizzie finds out that she can't graduate until she writes a senior thesis. And when she lands in London, Andy turns out to be a liar, gambler, and a fashion disaster. Lizzie, stuck in London with a nonchangeable ticket home, escapes Andy via the Chunnel in hopes that her friend Shari, who is catering weddings for the summer at a French chateau, can help. On the train, Lizzie meets a stranger, Jean-Luc, and spills everything that has happened, only to find out that he is the son of the chateau's owner. At the chateau, Lizzie continues to babble when she shouldn't, ticking off Jean-Luc, shocking his mother, and upsetting a bride. Will she ever learn to keep her mouth shut? Cabot, best known for the young adult series The Princess Diaries, writes adult fiction that is just as playful, irreverent, and entertaining. Carolyn Kubisz
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks; 1ST edition (May 22, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060851996
• ISBN-13: 978-0060851996
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (90 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #568,439 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I write! Books for you, your sister, your best friend, your mother . . . . even for men with good taste!

Most of my time is spent over at my website, http://megcabot.com, so be sure to stop by!

UK, New Zealand, and Australia fans, visit http://www.megcabot.co.uk.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Meg Cabot's humor and wit is unmatchable, while her characters are enchanting, and hard to resist, May 31, 2006

By 

Erika Sorocco (Southern California, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Queen of Babble: A Novel (Hardcover)

Lizzie Nichols may have worked thirty pounds off of her body, shrinking herself down to a size nine, but this tiny girl still has one very big problem: her mouth. And now, as she boards a flight, heading to London to spend the summer with her boyfriend - Andrew - of three months, even though they've only spent 24-hours with each other so far, she knows that her babbling problem is bound to get her into trouble. However, once she arrives in England, she realizes that Andrew is the one with a big problem: he's a compulsive liar looking to use her for money so he can settle up his gambling fees. So, Lizzie rises to her 5'6 stature, and marches off, heading straight to France, where she will spend the summer with her best friend, Shari, at a vineyard called Mirac. The problem is that Shari has no idea Lizzie is on her way, so Lizzie is basically entering the lion's den. Until she meets Luke - the son of Mirac's owner. Luke's looks alone entice Lizzie, but it's his kindness that wins her over, and makes her forget all about the lying Andrew. Unfortunately, Luke has a girlfriend. One who will do anything to keep Lizzie away from Luke - and her future fortune.

From page one QUEEN OF BABBLE wets the appetite, and keeps the reader enraptured in the trivial, yet laugh-out-loud funny tale that Cabot weaves about the illustrious Lizzie, and her various sidekicks. Lizzie is like an adult version of Cabot's Mia Thermopolis (from THE PRINCESS DIARIES) who shares an equal love for vintage clothes and bread. Her rants and raves about various goings-on in her life are hard to resist, while her babbling tendencies will make her a winner in the hearts of everyone who has a tendency to babble on uncontrollably. Meg Cabot's humor and wit is unmatchable, while her characters are enchanting, and hard to resist.

Erika Sorocco
Book Review Columnist for The Community Bugle Newspaper

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Borrow from the library, don't buy, October 9, 2007

By 

J. Daitch "muppyd" (matthews, nc) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Queen of Babble (Paperback)

I am a big Meg Cabot fan, particularly of her group of books featuring the newspaper employees and written in email form. However, this book was not as strong or as funny as her previous efforts. In fact, it sort of reminded me of Sophia Kinsella's book, Can you keep a secret?

It's a fast read, but i am glad I found it in the library, rather than purchasing it.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Sounds kind of familiar..., March 7, 2007

By 

Cate (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Queen of Babble: A Novel (Hardcover)

Lizzie Nichols heads off to London to spend the better part of the summer with her new British boyfriend Andrew -- who's so new in her life she doesn't realize he has a gambling problem, he's trying to defraud the British government, and that there are a few other things that make him less desirable than she'd originally thought. When she finds out he has designs on her bank account, she takes the train to visit some friends in France; while on board, she spills her heart, soul and a few other things she would never have said out loud to the handsome young stranger sitting next to her, if she hadn't known she was never going to see him again...until she gets off at her station, he gets off with her, and she realizes he's her host for the next few weeks. It sounds too much like Sophie Kinsella's "Can You Keep a Secret," published several years ago, in which the heroine babbles her deepest secrets to the stranger sitting next to her, and finds out the next day that he runs her company. Romance, plagued by a few obstacles, ensues in both books until they reach their respective happy endings.

For all of that, "Queen of Babble" is still a quick, enjoyable, light read, better than a lot of the chick lit that's out there because, Kinsella-like, it's funny. It's entertaining to read an American's take on London and France, especially when the protagonist is as appealing as Lizzie is. You find yourself rooting for her, even though you know pretty much from page one that things are going to turn out all right.