Breakfast at Darcy's Paperback – International Edition, November 29, 2011

Breakfast At Darcy's was my second attempt to read a story where the plot centers around a character's attempt to establish a hotel. The novel followed Darcy to an uninhibited island off the coast of Ireland where, in order to receive her inheritance from an aunt, Darcy had to establish a community of at least fifteen people for a year. Darcy's personality and flare for designer clothing reminded me of one of my favorite chic lit heroines, Rebecca Bloomwood of the Shopaholic series. In that sense, this was as true to chic lit as a book could be.I liked Darcy even though she was a bit superficial, as were the problems she encountered while trying to establish her community. The problems Darcy experienced such as not having hot water or internet lasted only a few pages until someone conveniently guided her to a solution. There was always a guy around to solve her problems for her which only enhanced her status as a helpless heroine. The characters were one dimensional and the plot was very straightforward, which meant that the surprise at the end didn't have much of an impact on me. I knew this wouldn't be a literary masterpiece, but I did expect the reading level and plot lines to be geared toward readers older than teenagers.Ali McNamara's first two books, the Love Actually series, were her best. After this one, I would only pick up another by this author if I was really in need of a mindless story.

Darcy lives in London when she inherits an island off the coast of Ireland from her Aunt Molly. One condition of inheriting the island is to live there for a year with 15 people and make it a working island. She pulls up sticks and moves to the island with other people interested in changing their lives. Everyone works together to get the island cottages ready, to get people moved into comfortable accommodations and to get the pub up and running. The beginning of the book is fun, then there is the usual slow middle, before the interesting end. I enjoyed the pleasant read, but the editing was POOR. And what is with the author always using bad grammar? 'Me and Dermot?' 'Me and the dogs?' Why not make it easy for English readers and just say 'Dermot and I'? Not to mention the other jarring moments when the editing took me right out of the book. Still, I enjoyed the story.

Yet another fun, flirty, metatextual look at the classic rom-coms of the past. Personally, I'd like a book like this to be a little more subversive, rather than a straight-forward love letter to rom-com tropes. Still, it's fun and relatable and cute. The heroine is a fun narrator and everything moves briskly from the opening page to the requisite happily ever after.

I liked the variety of characters in this book. All seemed real.Liked the metaphysical details.Enjoyed this book.Looking forward to the next McNamara novel.

I loved this book!! I guess it doesn't hurt that I really love Celtic culture, but this book was unique (although a bit far-fetched) in its plot line, with a mysterious island, quirky characters and just the right amount of romance. I really enjoyed all the characters and Darcy's character development though the course of the book was wonderful. She is quirky, fun and full of grit. I liked that there was a little bit of mystery thrown in and that there was just enough tension between the h and H. Great read overall.

This cou ld be a true story!

I liked this story for the most part.I agree with other reviewers that it could have used some better editing. (so could some of my reviews though) :)I found my mind wandering more than once while reading it and had to go back and reread paragraphs.I wouldn't say it's an easily forgettable story but I've read better.

I will definitely read more by this author. I liked the writing style, the characters, and much of the story. But the a big part of the plot -her getting people to live on an island together -had so many logistics errors, it really detracted for me.Having said that, once I accepted it, I was completely immersed in the book. I recommend it.

A magical story from a very popular author, I picked this book up because I had read ' a step back in time ' by the same author, and I was not disappointed, you are transfered to a mystical part of Ireland, where time stands still, and local folklore then takes over the story, its brilliant, not to spoil the story, dare I say you should read M/S McNamara's last book The Summer of Serendipity first, if only to get a taste of the main character in Breakfast at Daddy's.K

Ali McNamara has quickly become one of my favorite chick lit authors. Her stories never cease to keep me laughing, romanced and entertained. Thankfully, Breakfast at Darcy's was no exception.I will admit that I had to warm to Darcy, but this is kind of the point of the story. At the start, she is a self-absorbed, label obsessed, glory hunter... and I didn't really care for her very much. That is until she goes to live on Tara, the Irish island that has been left to her in her Aunt Molly's will. It is on Tara where Darcy truly starts to come into her own. Taken out of the big city and put in charge of other people's well beings, she quickly becomes a character that you can care and root for.There is a bit of a love triangle... no wait, don't run away that quickly. There is Conor, who is handsome, sweet, and has a love of travelling. Then there is Dermot, who always seems grumpy, uptight and a bit of a know-it-all. However... I was never in any doubt as to who Darcy would end up with in the end. I don't think this is meant to be any real secret to be honest. I was surprised though with a few of the secrets that are uncovered about one of them. I won't post any spoilers, but I really didn't see that coming.However, my true love for Breakfast at Darcy's comes from Tara itself. I have never wanted pack in my job, and go live on an isolated island as much as I do right now. To say I was jealous of the life that Darcy and the other residents of Tara have been able to live, is an understatement. I would give pretty much anything to be able to live as simple of a life. As long as I had a roof over my head, there is electricity and a bit of Internet access so that I can buy by Kindle and Audible books... I would be in heaven. Absolute heaven.I do think the only let down to this story would be the ending. It wasn't really bad, it's just that I would have liked there to be a bit more build up to the happily ever after. It seemed a bit rushed, however this could be from me not feeling like I was ready to say goodbye to these characters. I really would love to read more about Darcy, the island's residents, and of Tara itself.Because I listened to this in Audiobook, I should mention that I have also become a huge fan of Beth Chalmers. This is not the first Audiobook I have listened to her as the narrator, and I hope it will not be my last. She does a superb job, and I think she has an amazing talent with the multiple accents that are used in this book.ChristineRainy Day Reads

This is my first book by Ali McNamara and I'm already looking forward to the next. From the first page I was hooked. I loved the story and enjoyed reading about the different characters and the relationships between them all. I wanted to get to the end to see what happened but yet, I didn't want it to end.The only minor downfall I had with it is the way Kerry is referred to as being 'over' from Dublin. Every Irish person knows you go down to Kerry from Dublin. It didn't take away from my enjoyment of the book though.

Have read other books by this author and this is yet another good one. The story flows well. Good characters. A most enjoyable read.

Just couldn't put this book down. It was such a wonderful story which took you right away from everyday. Completely got lost in the story.