Lucy in the Sky by Paige Toon

Lucy in the Sky
Paige Toon
Pocket Books

LUCY is perfectly happy. Isn't she? Of course she is. Her boyfriend James gives her diamond earrings and tells her funny stories that usually turn out not to be true.

But maybe James is a dirty lying rat.

Paige Toon - reviews editor of Heat magazine - has a zany way with a story in this first novel, so when Lucy is in the sky, diamonds in her ears, she gets a text from her boyfriend's phone:

"Hi Lucy! Just shagged James in ur bed. Thought u should know. 4 times this month. Nice sheets! xxx"

Since Lucy is on her way to Australia, and she's about to meet Nathan, a tasty surfer with that just-out-of-bed look and a taste for schoolboy jests, those experienced in the ways of chicklit will know exactly what's on the cards. Sun, sea, sand and - well, I won't spoil the anticipation.

Back in London, Lucy casts a jaundiced eye on James and his lying ways, while casting lingering longing looks at the phone, which soon rings from Australia.

There's one blunder in the generally light-hearted tone, when Lucy's drunken Irish father turns up in the nastiest possible circumstances. But mostly this is full of sexy nonsense, with James getting duller by the moment, and Nathan maturing nicely in the Aussie sun, and fun all the way.

Not an intellectual treat, but a story to distract you from the harsh realities of life.