Review ~ Walk on The Wild Side: The Reinvention of Violet Monte + 39 Questions with Suzie Jay

Rating: 5/5 stars
Author: Suzie Jay
Formats Available: eBook
Publisher: Booktrope  
Publication Date: 04-18-15              Pages: 122
Purchase - Amazon                             Add to Goodreads

Violet Monte believed her love and marriage would last a lifetime–until she catches her husband in bed with a younger woman. 

When she realizes she was nothing more than a trophy wife, Violet decides to chase her own dreams. The only problem is, she has no idea what they are. Violet begins to pursue her own interests which sometime include spying on her mysterious neighbor, who might actually be a lady of the night. 

Just as Violet is finding stability–– and the possibility of opening her heart again–– her husband returns not with an apology, but with a signed pre-nuptial agreement, claiming he’ll keep everything and leave her with nothing. 

 Violet is far from the compliant woman he once knew but she doubts she has the strength to fight and win, until her intriguing neighbor unlocks what Violet has been looking for all along. 

Can Violet fight back from a lost love and reinvent herself into the person she always wanted to be or will she forever be just an ex-trophy wife?

 
My So-Called Review:

I absolutely LOVED Walk on the Wild Side: The Reinvention of Violet Monte; it was such a delight to read! I keep an ongoing list of the books I need to read within a certain time frame; books that I have deadlines for because of release dates, blog tours, or they’re review copies that I've agreed to have done by a certain date. I noticed last week that Walk on the Wild Side was moving up my list & I was getting really excited for it! I’d been intrigued by this little book because it had great reviews on Goodreads & Amazon, plus I just love its cover! So, two days ago I was waiting for my son & had about 10 minutes to kill so I thought I’d pick this book up (not literally cause I have a digital copy) and just take a quick sneak peak, ummm BIG mistake LOL Right from the opening sentence I was totally & completely hooked! I was forced to set it down once my son was ready for his doctor’s appointment & off we went! That night I went back to the book I'd been reading (gotta stick to that schedule!!), a crime thriller that I was enjoying perfectly well up till then. But now I couldn't concentrate or get into the story cause I kept thinking about Violet; I wanted to find out where she was, what she was doing, & how she was going to pick up the pieces of her shattered life (stupid Jim!!) So the very next morning I just gave up, set my crime thriller aside & picked up Walk on the Wild Side, I just HAD too! And so, over my morning coffee(s) and a grin on my face, I got completely lost in the world of Violet Monte!

Violet is a character that all women will be able to identify with & relate too, I honestly want her for my best friend! Author Suzie Jay does a magnificent job writing Violet with grace, humor and a whole lot of snark ;) I love Suzie’s writing style, for me it was the absolute icing on the cake! I think all women at some point have held that fear of “Is this it? Is being a wife & a mother the only thing I’m good at, is this my legacy?” Suzie Jay takes that concept and pushes it forward by stripping Violet of everything she’s ever held important in her life. Her only son has recently moved out of town while on assignment (he’s a detective), she’s just gotten fired from her job, she then comes home early to find her hubby (ass-wipe!) in the shower with another women, losses the only home she’s ever loved because of course she’s the one that leaves in a fit of anger, and now she’s extremely close to losing every penny she helped that scumbag hubby earn. Down on her luck & with no other options she moves in with her sister and her young children “temporarily” while she struggles to get back on her feet & figure out what the heck she’s going to do with the rest of her life!

I loved the relationship between Violet & her sister Elizabeth, those two are such a kick in the pants together & I loved how protective Elizabeth remains of her sister even when she starts overstaying her welcome. The other relationship that I truly adored was between Violet and her son David, they were so darn cute!! I don’t read a lot of chick-lit type books but when I do I like them to have a lot of humor & I want to know everyone will get their HEA in the end, Walk on the Wild Side definitely delivers on both points! It’s been a long, long time since I’ve read a book that put such a smile on my face & had me cracking up so much! Originally I was going to say that the only thing I'd have changed would have been to make the book longer, cause I wanted so much more! But now that I’ve thought about that a bit I actually think I was wrong. Although I would love to read more about Violet, one of the keys to this book was its timing & pacing. Had it been a more traditional 300 or so pages we would have ended up with some slower parts, naturally & the overall effect wouldn’t be the same. So instead, I’m going to say that the only thing that would make this book better is if it was the first in a series :) I could honestly see Violet getting into all sorts of trouble & different predicaments, especially if she goes on more stakeouts with her son ;) Between her new life, new friends and new neighbors there are endless possibilities!!!

I would positively recommend Walk on the Wild Side: The Reinvention of Violet Monte to all women, seriously, you all have to read this little gem!! At 122 pages it’s a perfect beach or afternoon read and this would be an excellent choice for a book club. In fact, I’ll be recommending it to my book club for July, we read 2 books a month during the summer & we like to have one be a lighter, fun book so this is perfect!! Thank you Suzie Jay for the complimentary copy of your book & for giving me the opportunity to read it in exchange for my honest review. And please, if you write another book…….don’t you dare lose my email!!

Now, as an added bonus: Last week I came across a post on Suzie Jay’s Facebook page, it was a list of 39 fun questions & the tagline stated “Comment the number you want to know the answer too”. Since I’m always looking for fun ways to spice up my reviews & to engage with authors I naturally responded to her post with “I want to know the answers to ALL of them!” Of course Suzie’s such a good sport so she immediately agreed, plus I think she was channeling her inner Violet :)

So here you go, 39 Questions with the Fabulous Suzie Jay!!

1) Middle Name: I don't really have a middle name because Suzie Jay is actually a pen name. A fairly famous author already used my real name so I tweaked my real name a little. 

2) Male celebrity crush: I live in Australia so my crush is a singer named John Farnham. He is getting old now but my love will never die haha.

3) Female celebrity crush: I have two. Definitely Ellen and Queen Latifa. Ellen for her humor and kindness and The Queen because of her sass and vibrancy. “Love me some Ellen :)”

4) Favorite TV Show: I am a reality TV junkie. I just can't get enough. My long time favorite would have to be big brother and a newer one I've only just started watching but LOVE us catfish.

5) Favorite slow song: Amazing Grace. I almost want to cry when I hear it, I love it so much.

6) Favorite song to dance to: I'm too sexy, haha I'm not but that's half the fun of it. “OMG my hubby loves that song!”

7) Last book you read: The last book I read was A life unplanned by Patty Seitz. It is the story of her mother’s life and it was emotional and spectacular. 

8) Last movie you watched: Dirty dancing. I love it, it's one of my favorites and I watched it again a few nights ago, much to my husband’s disgust. “One of my all-time favs! My daughter & I watch this one a lot”

9) Favorite comedy movie: Oh my gosh I have many. I loved Borat and This is 40 but I think there was something about Baby Muma that made me hiss like a hyena. I couldn't stop laughing, not even to breathe, I'm surprised I survived. 

10) Favorite romantic movie: Sorry to be predictable but The Notebook. I wasn't even that fond of them when they were young but as the older couple, they captured my heart. “Who doesn’t love The Notebook? And one of the few cases where I think the movie bested the book!”

11) Favorite horror movie: I love the Scream series. If I had to pick a single movie it would be a tie between Amityville Horror and Texas Chainsaw massacre. “I’m not surprised you listed Scream, it’s got that cheeky humor I think your drawn to ;) it’s my fav horror movie/series too!”

12) Guilty pleasure: Chocolate and Coca-Cola all the way

13) Turn offs: Smelly stuff. I hate anything that has a smell. Even perfume. I like no smell or just soap. 

14) Turn ons: My hubby hehe “Great answer!!”

15) Single or taken: Taken thank goodness.

16) Last country you visited: I don't really visit other countries because I have a fear of flying so sadly I'm stuck where I am. I did go on a cruise to New Caledonia though. 

17) Country you live in: Australia. Not far from the beach  “always wanted to visit Australia ~ you’re so lucky to live there”

18) Place you would like to live: Florida. It's my dream to get there. 

19) Favorite band: I don't really have one. I'm a bit boring like that. 

20) Favorite male singer: John Farnham 

21) Favorite female singer: Singers other than John exist?? Bette Midler.

22) Favorite color: I love Pink 

23) Favorite sitcom: Family Ties. (I'm going old school because it's still my favorite after all these years.) “There will never be another tv character like Alex Keaton”

24) Favorite drama TV show: Stalker is really good. “love this show!”

24) Favorite TV couple: Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne 

25) Favorite movie series: Scream “you and I have the same taste in tv/movies LOL”

26) Favorite book series: The wishing chair by Enid Blyton

27) Moment in a movie that always makes you laugh: The dinner party scene in Borat is hilarious. 

28) Moment in a movie that always makes you cry: In Titanic when the lady tucks her children into bed because they are trapped in the bottom of the boat and knows they are going to die so she wants to keep them calm. Sob- “Titanic should win the award for MOST cryable moments, there’s so many to pick! But the mom tucking her kids in bed gets me every time too”

29) Worst movie you’ve seen: Anchorman. Honestly, what the hell was that? “OMG right?!?! I seriously do NOT get those movies”

30) Favorite food: Mexican food. I make the yummiest Chilli I think I could eat it for every meal.

31) Favorite quote: All our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them- Walt Disney. I think most of the time we hold back waiting for a better time, a better opportunity, more confidence. We try to hang onto a safety net while reaching out tentatively for our bigger dreams. If you want to reach them you need to just jump. That's what I think. “So true!”

32) Any tattoos: Yes a teeny, tiny one. It's the size of my small finger nail and it’s a hot pink love heart. “This sounds like a tattoo Violet would have lol” 

33) Biggest fear:  Losing my husband or one of my babies. My biggest irrational fear is ghosts I sleep with a light on haha. “ooooh losing the hubby & kids, that’s a big one for me too!”

34) Favorite book: My own book. Not because it's the best book ever written, but because it's mine. I had a go at reaching out for my dream and that book is the result. It's was the start of a new career, new knowledge and a heap of new friendships. It represents so many positive milestones that even if it only ever received 1 star reviews it is still precious to me. “Best, most honest answer ever!!!”

35) Top song on iPod: I've got dreams- Ottis Redding.(Hmm I'm seeing a theme here.) 

36) Last time you cried: I cried about 5 minutes before I started writing this. I was watching an episode of undercover boss- come on tell me you don't cry during that show. It gets me every time.

37) Tell me something random: The words Endoplasmic reticulum have been stuck in my head since I heard them when I was in high school science class. I have no idea what they mean but the words still randomly pop into my head all these years later. Maybe that teacher was brain washing us.  “Wow, that’s really, REALLY random lol”

38) Lucky number: 3 I have no logic or explanation. It is just one of those crazy things. 

39) Cats or dogs: Oh I am scared of the public back lash here-- neither. I used to love cats but then after 10 years of being a cat lover I became allergic. Once the allergy got triggered it was extreme. My face puffs up and my eyes swell so badly I can't see out of them. So I can't go near them anymore and unfortunately I'm just not a dog person. 

Hi there, I grew up in Adelaide, South Australia. I had a great childhood and shared a sense of adventure with my four older brothers. We were a very tight knit group and loved playing cricket in the back yard and getting told off by dad for crushing his flowers.I went on to have a bunch of children, 6 in total. They are my pride and joy and I have named all my grey hairs after them. I went back to university and became a teacher. I didn't teach for very long. I quickly discovered that teaching wasn't for me. It stifled my personality and I struggled with pretending to be a responsible grown up. I have had a range of jobs over the years, the last was my own business, baking and icing cakes into elaborate designs. It was fun but still wasn't what I was truly passionate about.I realised that throughout life I had tried many things, some I failed and some I didn't. If I am going to fail I may as well fail at something I love and live my dream instead of someone else's. So here I am having a go at writing before my youngest two start school. I'll see how I go. Wish me luck or I will be cleaning toilets in the next couple of years. It's okay I've done it before and I will do it again if I have to. But let me just say the stories you hear about women being cleaner is a total fabrication. I still live in Adelaide with my husband Rodger who was my childhood sweetheart, we met on the first day of school when we were both five years old. I thought he was a hottie even back then. Five of my six children still live at home and a bunch of animals. (Many would consider all of us a bunch of animals and I probably wouldn't disagree.). My first book 'Walk on the Wild Side, the Re-invention of Violet Monte is out soon. I would love it if you checked it out and let me know if I shouldn't have quit my day job. Thanks for stopping by.