BLOG TOUR - Christa Comes Out of Her Shell

Title:   Christa Comes Out of Her Shell

Author:  Abbie Waxman

Publisher:  Berkley

Genre:   Romance; Women’s Fiction 

Format:  Kindle ARC

No. of Pages:   400

Date of Publication:   April 16, 2024

My Rating:   4 Stars

DESCRIPTION:

Just when she thought she’d gotten far enough away . . .a life-changing phone call throws an antisocial scientist back into her least favorite place—the spotlight. A hilarious and insightful new novel from the USA Today bestselling author of The Bookish Life of Nina Hill.

After a tumultuous childhood, Christa Liddle has hidden away, both figuratively and literally. Happily studying sea snails in the middle of the Indian Ocean, Christa finds her tranquil existence thrown into chaos when her once-famous father—long thought dead after a plane crash—turns out to be alive, well, and ready to make amends. The world goes wild, fascinated by this real-life saga, pinning Christa and her family under the spotlight. As if that weren’t enough, her reunion with an old childhood friend reveals an intense physical attraction neither was expecting and both want to act on . . . if they can just keep a lid on it. When her father’s story starts to develop cracks, Christa fears she will lose herself, her potential relationship, and—most importantly—any chance of making it back to her snails before they forget her completely.

Link to purchase the book

MY THOUGHTS:

 

Christa appeared on many television screens as a child, but not out of choice. In fact, when her famous father went missing when she was quite young, she was often presented as the sad little girl who lost her daddy. As Christa grew older she had some difficulties, and this is when Christa ended up taking charge of her own life. Now a well-educated woman, working on a long-term research project on an isolated island, Christa is in her element. 

However, this all changes when her father, certainly thought to be deceased, shows up alive and well. Christa and her family are now thrust into the spotlight. Christa gets more attention than her two sisters and even her mother because of how she was presented as a child. Avoiding the paparazzi proves to be a huge challenge and while the family is seeking answers, she cannot wait to get back to her little island and the marine project that she is working on. 

Where is all of this going to lead? Where was Christa‘s father all of those years? What does that mean for her life and that of the life of her family even now? Beyond these questions, there is something else that this book offers readers. There is a second chance romance woven into the pages of this story that most certainly will affect Christa‘s future.

This was a delightful read and I love how the story evolved and how we got to see Christa’s life changing as the story progressed. This came to a wonderful conclusion and now I cannot wait to read the next book by this talented author.

Many thanks to Berkley and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Abbi Waxman was born in England in 1970, the oldest child of two copywriters who never should have been together in the first place. Once her father ran off to buy cigarettes and never came back, her mother began a successful career writing crime fiction. Naturally lazy and disinclined to dress up, Abbi went into advertising, working as a copywriter and then a creative director at various advertising agencies in London and New York. Eventually she quit advertising, had three kids and started writing books, mostly in order to get a moment’s peace.

Abbi lives in Los Angeles with her husband, three kids, three dogs, three cats, a gecko, a snake, five pigeons, four chickens, and two guinea pigs. Every one of these additions made sense at the time, it’s only in retrospect that it seems foolhardy.

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