Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for Wilde Like Me by Louise Pentland!! I am delighted to bring you an extract from, what is shaping up to be a smash hit book!
What They Say:
Single mum Robin Wilde adores her six-year-old daughter and loves her job as a make-up artist's assistant. She has a wonderful best friend and an auntie who is bonkers, yes, but loves her to the moon and back.
But Robin has a secret. Behind the mask she carefully applies every day, things just feel ... grey. And lonely. She struggles to fit in with the school mum crew. Online dating is totally despair-inducing, and she worries every day about raising her little girl with self-confidence, courage and joy.
What Robin longs for is someone (over the age of six) to share with - someone who's always on her team.
After 4 years (2 months, and 15 days!) of single-mum-dom, it's time for Robin Wilde to Change. Her. Life.
Exciting new opportunities are about to come Robin's way. Perhaps a man, perhaps the chance of a lifetime.
What will Robin do with the possibilities she creates for herself? And what potential will she unlock if she takes the leap?
Extract 1
‘I resisted this for too long,’ I think as I step out of my black cab, bubbling with excitement. After a long call and an intense exchange of messages I’d finally agreed to meet him. He invited me to a rather exclusive bar at the top of the OXO Tower, one of London’s most iconic buildings on the River Thames with wrap-around views of the city from its terrace and, apparently, cocktails to die for. I was secretly pleased that the job I’d assisted Natalie, my boss, on today – make-up for a shoot in a trendy loft studio in Shoreditch – had finished early. With an entire afternoon to spare, I’d taken the time to pamper myself and really enjoy getting ready for this night.
Stepping onto the pavement and gliding down the pathway to the riverfront, I feel like a peacock parading its feathers. As I approach the red-brick old factory building, I catch my reflection in the gleaming windows. For the first time in a bloody long time, I feel beautiful. I’ve always thought that my 5' 6" frame, conker-brown hair and brown eyes were the dullest of all the potential ‘beauty stats’. They’re not exactly exotic or outstanding, are they? And they’re certainly not hailed as the epitome of perfection in the magazines, but today something feels special. My eyes seem softer and my hair bouncier, as I glimpse myself walking along with my head held high. I don’t think, ‘slummy mummy’ but, instead, ‘lovely woman, out on a special date’. Feeling this worthwhile makes me stand a little taller and, oh my God, am I sashaying my bum about?
Happily, my make-up looks sultry and glowing. I’ve gone all out on the contour and highlight, but managed to pull it back before I gave my face actual corners (I still don’t regret that luxury make-up binge last month), and I’m in love with my outfit. I’m wearing a knee-skimming black layered lace skirt that I picked up for pennies in a tuckedaway vintage shop. In between the light layers of lace and tulle are tiny stars embroidered with gold thread. You can barely see them until the street lights catch them, and then they look like the night sky swirling past. I’ve tucked a deep V wrap top into the satin waistband and paired it with black-patent heels passed down from my best friend’s sister, Piper, before she moved away. If I were deep-down ballsy enough to ask a stranger to take a full-length picture, I’d put it on Instagram with an #OOTD (Outfit Of The Day, for those not as obsessed with social media as I am) and pretend to be a blogger.
Taking a deep breath and reminding myself of everything I am, I pull open the grand glass door, walk confidently to the lift and push the ‘up’ button.
It’s going to be perfect.
It’s going to be everything I want it to be.
ABOUT LOUISE PENTLAND
* Louise Pentland has 2.6 million YouTube followers, 2.3 million Twitter followers and 2.4 million Instagram followers
* Hers is one of the fastest growing international social talent platforms.
* Louise is the fresh voice contemporary women's fiction has been waiting for. She is sharp, funny, a natural storyteller and completely relatable
Award-winning lifestyle and beauty blogger, fashion designer and number one bestselling author Louise Pentland has long dreamed of publishing her first novel, coming true in June 2017 when Wilde Like Me was published in hardback by Zaffre. As well as a hugely popular YouTuber, Louise is a UN Global Ambassador for Gender Equality, Louise was shortlisted for 2016's Glamour Woman of The Year and recently won InStyle 'Best High-Street Fashion YouTuber' and the Shorty Award for 'Best YouTube Guru'. In 2016, she released her second collection for fashion retailer SIMPLY BE (sizes 10-32) and her second LOUISE LIVE UK tour was a sell-out this summer. Her non-fiction book Life With A Sprinkle of Glitter hit the Sunday Times number one bestseller slot in summer 2015.
Join the conversation: #WILDELIKEME
@LouisePentland
https://www.youtube.com/user/Sprinkleofglitter
Thanks to Gaby Drinkald and Rachel Kennedy for sending me a copy of the book and for allowing me to participate in the blog tour!
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