Shopaholic and Baby by Sophie Kinsella

“The birth was . . .

Well, it was what they call “straightforward and easy.” Which really makes me wonder. It seemed pretty complicated and bloody hard work to me. But anyway. Some things are best left a blur. Births and Visa bills.”

(pg 343)

About

Author: Sophie Kinsella

Genre: New Adult Contemporary

Series: Shopaholic Book 5

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Synopsis

Becky Brandon (nee Bloomwood) is pregnant! She couldn’t be more overjoyed-especially since discovering that shopping cures morning sickness. Everything has got to be perfect for her baby: from the designer nursery . . . to the latest, coolest pram . . . to the celebrity, must-have obstetrician. 
But when the celebrity obstetrician turns out to be her husband Luke’s glamorous, intellectual ex-girlfriend, Becky’s perfect world starts to crumble. She’s shopping for two . . . but are there three in her marriage?

Review

Spoiler Contained Below

To the Shopaholics,

Another book, another bill 👛

I love Becky Brandon (née Bloomwood) she’s just a real good time!

And she’s having a baby!

I think the most exciting part besides finding out you’re going to have a baby, is finding out the gender.

When going into this book, I kind of had a HUGE hunch as to the gender of the baby so I didn’t really think about it being this whole guessing game because I had the pink cover book and I’ve seen the other book covers in this series . . . so if you know what I’m talking about, you know that the gender of the baby was kind of obvious!

And if you don’t know, that’s okay too, I just highly advise staying away from looking at the future book covers.

I honestly think that Becky is going to be such vibrant, fun, and great mother! She’s only going to want what’s best for her baby and it gives her a “selfless” reason to shop. Any excuse to shop is a good excuse, right? 😉

So for Becky, shopping for the best for her child means spending a lot of money on the best clothes, the best linens, the best cribs, and we can’t forget the prams. I think a pram is what we Americans call it a stroller, but I don’t know, the word pram is growing on me. Maybe one day if I have a kid, I’ll say I’m going to go pram shopping.

There was one moment where Becky went shopping with her long time friend Suze for all the baby things that should be on Becky’s list——aka all the important things like a breast pump or wipes—-becuase Becky had just been buying the material things so far. And I loved how after her first doctor visit, she was like, “Does this mean I can finally shop for the baby?”

I mean, she has been shopping for the baby!?

I think her question should have been, does this mean can I shop more for the baby? 😆

But I could understand why she would say such a thing because she didn’t know if her baby was healthy or if things would be okay, so she didn’t spend us much as she would have liked before getting the okay from the doctor that the baby was healthy.

But back to the fun shopping day with Suze. I loved how they just spent all this money and went to all these baby stores intending to buy the important things, but just ended up getting more materialistic things. I loved how she went to the pram store and demanded to buy a pram right there on the spot and having the best pram. She also saw this cute couple testing out prams together and looking all happy. It made her sad to think she wasn’t doing that with Luke.

One thing I kind of never got was how they only had display prams for customers and then they had to order it if they wanted to buy the pram. I’m not well versed in motherhood buying or England ways, but does a person really have to place an order for a stroller to buy one in England? I think in America you can buy a stroller then and there, so it’s kind of an interesting cultural difference because I never really thought about how simple things as selling items might be different from country to country. Wow, I really need to travel more. But I liked how Becky bought the only pram available from that man and she used it as a shopping cart to carry all the things she was buying 😂 It’s like the horse situation from the last book!

Becky Brandon (née Bloomwood): Creating new ways to carry purchases.

That should be her profession.

The funniest thing about the whole scene was how everyone was treating her nicely—-letting her cut in line—- because she was a tired pregnant woman with another baby sleeping in her pram. I was in HYSTERICS! 😂The nerve of Becky to fool people that the baby was sleeping was hilarious! She even gave her baby the name Tallulah Phoebe. I mean where did that name come from?! Then there was the moment where the lady who let her cut in line at the store saw Becky again at a different store. The lady wanted to see the Tallulah Phoebe under all the things in the stroller and when the woman pulled the things away, she saw there wasn’t a baby and the first things she screams out was Tallulah Phoebe was abducted.

Que me rolling on the floor in laughter!!

Becky was all calm and nervous because what was she supposed to tell the woman? That she lied? That would seem very shady considering that that woman let her cut in line earlier. At the same time this woman was worried about Tallulah Phoebe being abducted, Becky was trying to pay for something at the register and the man’s trying to ask her for her PIN number and everything and every person in the store was wondering how Becky was shopping when her baby’s been stolen. *Slaps forehead* This is why you never fake having a baby! The woman screaming was sooo funny! She told the police and everything and then the national police as informed——it was all just blown out of proportion.

And then in came Suze with her baby, Clementine, like a saving grace. And I laughed entirely at how Becky took Clementine into her own pram and acted relieved that her abby was okay. Suze is such an intuitive and good friend to get what was going on. What was funny though was how Clementine kept saying mama to Suze *shakes head*. Honestly, what a shopping adventure.

You can’t say that Becky doesn’t shop in style.

I also enjoyed the little investing competition that she had with Luke in how they both agreed to take half of the baby’s money in the bank and invest it how they choose to see who’s the more financially adept person in the family. Becky was a financial person, but we all know she’s been in debt time and time again. I also thought that as much as it was dumb and ridiculous, Becky was pretty smart and creative with creating different accounts in different countries. I’ve never heard about investing your money in other countries, but I think maybe it would be feasible if a person did it right and didn’t spend too much money. I loved how when Luke finds out about her having different accounts in different countries, he said something along the line of “You’re going to be third in world debt.

He might not be wrong 😂

I just thought it was funny.

At the end, Becky’s investment plans of investing in more fun outlets was more successful than Luckes boring investments. I guess sometimes you take risks with money. But again, this is a fictional book, so maybe we all can’t be as lucky as Becky when it comes to taking financial risks 😅

Let’s talk about Luke for a second. Good old Luke.

In the beginning of this book he seems so consumed with work. The role of the man during the pregnancy portion is such a pivotal role because the man has to be there to provide emotional, physical, and financial support for the pregnant wife so that she doesn’t feel stressed or alone. And it’s nice that he went with Becky to the hospital visits, but his mind was always elsewhere and wasn’t where it should have been: the baby. I get that work was busy and that he was getting into a lot of issues there, and I know that they sold their apartment and had to deal with finding a new house. But neither one of them had to deal with any of these problems alone. They could have dealt with it together even if Becky was pregnant. Because as much as she shouldn’t be stressed, the honey girl, was wearing heels and running around shopping until she dropped, so a little slap of reality wasn’t going to deter her.

I just think it has to go back to the overarching thing I always see with characters and with people: THERE NEEDS TO BE OPEN COMMUNICATION.

So much of the things that are said or don’t get said are lost in translation. If someone just opens the conversation, then so many things could have been easily avoided. But then there would be no fun or no book, right?

So for entertainment sakes it’s fine. But I love a good communication.

So I just felt like Luke just needed to be more present to Becky at times amidst all. When I think about it, at the end of the day, work and all the stress of things aren’t the things that you’re going to remember when you look back on life——it’s special moments in life like spending time with your family, your friends, or your pregnant wife.

So I loved that moment where Becky actually got her pram shopping time with Luke. I think it was pretty darn extraordinary how a pram store had a race track with all different type of floor settings like marble, wood, sand, and gravel. I loved how they both had prams they are rooting for and how they took the race track seriously in trying to beat each other through all the different floor conditions given their chosen pram. It was so cute how they are just laughing and bumping each other. Part of me was kind of astounded how Becky could run with her pregnant belly. But Becky is a trooper!

The moment was sooooo good until darn work had to phone Luck up and kill the mood! I’m serious, mood was squashed and flattened. Deflated. And it was sooo sad because just a minute ago they were actually spending quality time with each other that was stress free. The end of the chapter highly contrasted with the light heartedness that was there. Luke was tense with the call he got and Becky got another call from Dave Sharpness about him finding things out about Luke. Gosh, my heart deflated as much as Becky when Mr. Sharpness said that.

Which brings me to the red-haired cow in the room.

Gosh, where do I start with Cruella de Venetia.

Excuse me, Venetia Carter.

I’v never really sad anyone with the name Venetia before, but I’ll admit, I quite liked her name.

Venetia is this highly acclaimed obstetrician that does the birth for famous stars. Becky heard about Venetia when going shopping—–of course—–and all these yummy mummies were talking about her. So Becky, daydreaming about her baby being best friends with Heidi Klum’s and Madonna, just had to switch doctors to Venetia. And she got a spot open for her to make the switch. At first, Luke was less than happy Becky wanted to switch doctors when they had a good family doctor, but then he warmed up to the idea when he realized it was Venetia, his ex-girlfriend from Oxford.

That stunned Becky who’s never heard of this red-haired, long legged girl who makes Luke seem happy.

First, let’s talk about how utterly, utterly, clueless some guys are! We’re talking about Luke if that wasn’t clear 😅 Venetia seemed so nice to Becky. It genuinely seemed like for a moment that she wanted to be friends with Becky and to get to know her. I thought maybe Suze and everyone was being a little bit overdramatic about it all—–like they were imagining the whole thing about how Venetia was trying to steal Luke back . . . but then as time went on and the clues just piled up, there’s something that just rubbed me the wrong way about Venetia—–like she was too fake.

There was the whole idea about how Luke and Venetia texted in Latin with all these secretive words that sounded scandalous. If I was Becky, I would have thought the same things she thought. Then there was the way Luke was described to just light up now that he and his long lost friends were reunited. It’s lovely that his friends made life not as stressful as it once was, but it kind of hurt to see how Becky was being left out or seeing how Becky wasn’t the source of that happiness when they were having a kid together. Next, there were the nights that Venetia would stop by late from work to talk and drink with Luke, who is a married man. No woman goes out of their way to drop by medical papers and drinks late at night with a married man without some kind of ulterior motive. What made it worse was how there was this financial award show——I know, financial award show, they have that?—— where Luke said he was there sitting at a table with his friend. Becky’s watching the whole thing on TV, and the camera pans to where Luke was supposed to be sitting and he’s not there. Instantly my mind goes to, that two timer is secretly out with Venetia! At the same time, I like to see the best tin people and couldn’t’ believe that he would actually cheat. There was this one funny moment when Becky followed Luke to this dilapidated part of town where Luke was going. She thought Luke was renting a room to cheat on her with Venetia and the whole time she’s talking to the cab driver who feels sorry for Becky because she’s pregnant and her husband might be having an affair. Taxi drivers really do so it all. I think they have really good stories to tell. Anyway, Becky goes into the building and hides behind a plant so Luke wouldn’t see her. So does her hiding spot work?

Not with that baby bump.

I was LAUGHING!

And Becky casually says to him, “I was shopping in the neighborhood.”

In that neighborhood?

Yea, I don’t think so.

But I guess when you’re married to a shopaholic, you really get used to the random places you’re spouse shops.

Through this all, Becky tried to form a cordial relationship with Venetia because she knew that Luke liked having Venetia back in her life again, but gosh Venetia was a cow wan’t she. There were some moments when I thought Becky was overreacting about things, but then there were other moments where her concerns were valid. Like no doctor, no matter if they’re you’re friend or not, should be tying the husbands tie or touching the husband so casually. First of all, its unprofessional and second of all it’s tacky. The ABSOLUTE NERVE of Venetia was what got me though! You NEVER, and when I mean NEVER, I mean N-E-V-E-R go after the husband of a pregnant wife. NEVER. That’s worse than breaking girl code. But you know, Venetia did not give two hoots about it because she chalked it up to this big old day dream that Luke and her are like Odysseus and Polyphemus and where she’s the lover who’s just waiting for Odeyssesus to come back to her.

Yea, never going to happen Venetia, keep daydreaming!

Then there was that moment where she touched him or put her arm around Luke casually. And I CRINGED. Luke really hasn’t got a clue. Becky was not even the sole focus of these doctors visits. For a top obstetrician, she’s not very good at her job if you ask me. Is she good at husband snatching? Well, I’ll give her resilience on that.

I liked one the first doctor appointment when Becky was trying to take Suze’s advice and stake her claim. But then Venetia was trying to play the good doctor in saying that Becky needed to switch to all these things that are better for a pregnant woman like wearing those socks with those sandals and then she gave Becky a fanny pack because big bags are bad for the back. I WAS LAUGHING! Fanny packs and socks with sandals have made a comeback, if only Becky knew she would have been trendy back then.

“I want to cry. I look like a grotesque monster. My legs are two white, bulbous tree trunks. My feet resemble a granny’s. I have bumps in front and behind.”

“You look great, Becky!” Venetia has hopped onto the desk . . .

(pg 175-76)

You’re doing great sweetie! 👍🏼

That’s all I could remember thinking and I felt sooooooo bad for Becky!!! Venetia probably smirked her butt to sleep that night knowing that Becky looked like a hag or something.

In between all this Cruella De Venetia things going on, Becky was dealing with work. Work at the Look has been slow because of a lot of scandals claiming that the Look is run down and will go out of business. So Becky called in a favor to her long time famous friend Danny! I miss Danny! I found it funny how Becky couldn’t get through to him at the office, so she had to go through the only way she could: the mom. I loved how the mom reprimanded Danny and said things like, “Don’t forget where you came from and all your friends.” Mothers, they humble us.

But I loved having Danny’s whimsicalness and expertise around in this book. In some ways, I also found his demands and the way he treated his staff highly rude. In real life I understand how some people do treat the people who work for them like that, but gosh, people are people no matter the job title and deserve respect. And it’s kind of bothersome how they did everything in a snap for Danny. There’s nothing humbling about getting everything you want right when you want it. I mean, Danny’s secretary was literally going to make a reservation at a restaurant that was five minutes away. Completely unnecessary.

I liked that Becky kind of slapped him out of it.

What I loved the most about Danny’s whole presence in this book was his t-shirt design! 😆

“She’s a red-haired beach* and I hate her.”

(pg 233)

Sorry, we keep the language clean on here, but you get the gist!

I just COULDN’T have THOUGHT it better myself!

I feel like if this book has a motto, it’d be that. If Sophie Kinsella ever wants to come out with book merch, I’ll buy. I’m joking, I’m joking, I love red-hair, blond hair, brown hair, black hair, any color hair! I think it’s just the person underneath the hair that’s the deciding factor.

But you know what got me?

When Becky was wearing the feather boa and the shirt and Danny and her went to a bar and you know who they saw?

The muse herself!

UGH! JUST PERFECT! 😆

Venetia’s reaction was priceless at best——I really think she got the hint as plain as day 😂 If I was her and I saw this, I would have had a high hunch knowing that shirt was about me, especially since she was trying to steal Becky’s husband. It was funny how Becky was like, “Actually, I’m quite cold!” and tried to cover up the shirt, but you bet Venetia saw that shirt.

Then came the confession from that red-haired beach we’ve all been waiting for.

And what a brat! She had the UTTER AUDACITY to tell a pregnant woman that Luke and her were having an affair and that Luke didn’t love Becky and he was playing along this whole time for the baby and how he was going to leave him. Venetia was really out there pulling grade A bullstuff out of her pants. What a prude! She’s a petty doctor and I hate her should be a sequel design because if you know your patient is pregnant and shouldn’t be stressed, why was Venetia out there making Becky S-T-R-E-S-S-E-D?!

Who gave this girl a medical degree?

What really got me though, was the moment where Becky wasn’t feeling well after that talk with Venetia and there was this high school reunion. Luke was so kind to her, thinking she was just sick from being pregnant, and then called Venetia to ask her what to do. And Venetia was the LAST person on this earth, Becky wanted to see. And when Becky sees her, part of me breaks and hurts for Becky because she thinks her marriage is falling to pieces. And she tells Luke to just go to the reunion to not ruin his happiness and to so that he could be with his friends and with his “real love” Venetia. Like a COMPLETE AND UTTER IDIOT, Luke goes! If a pregnant woman tells you to go, she’s asking you to stay! MEN! 😤

Becky’s a trooper though and she didn’t let these hopeless feelings get in her way. So put on her big girl stilettos and went to the dance to be with her husband to salvage her marriage. But then she saw Venetia and Luke dancing together and they never waltzed together like that. I would have pried that red-headed cows fingers off of Becky’s husband.

And I think we all knew Becky was feeling stressed and you know for a pregnant woman who’s not supposed to drink alcohol, she sure does take a lot of sips here and there at bars. I don’t really think realistically that’s healthy for Becky or any pregnant woman, but I was just waiting for the moment Becky had enough. Because everything just seemed sooo hard on her and people needed to cut her some slack. I mean she was pregnant for one, her husband’s ex was trying to steal him back, that ex confronted her and fed her lies, she was losing her house, and she had work to worry about.

So it’s no wonder she went down like a light when she saw them dancing—-the final tipping point.

Becky’s in the hospital now and Luke and her have this big misunderstood row about why she’s angry. Luke thinks she’s mad because he didn’t tell her how the Acordas deal was falling to pieces. Becky was thinking he was admitting to having an affair without really saying it and they’re both mad and they really aren’t talking about the same thing. And my heart hurts for Becky because if Luke wasn’t so DARN secretive about this whole deal, then she wouldn’t have felt her marriage was O-V-E-R over. He was trying to protect her? Trying to protect her my butt, protect her from Venetia the cow!

Anyway, it wouldn’t be Becky if from a sad moment didn’t come a completely comical one. I love how she saw the silver lining to if her marriage was really done and how she could talk bluntly to Luke’s real mom who’s also a real prude. I mean who visits a tired pregnant woman in a hospital and tell her:

“You’re put on a lot of weight, Rebecca? Does this new doctor approve . . . don’t you look blooming?”

(pg 256)

And Becky’s like:

“I’m pregnant,” I snap. “And I’m having a big baby.”

(pg 256)

I MEAN, Becky was PREGNANT and you’re telling her she put on A LOT OF WEIGHT!?

Ughh, the AUDACITY OF PEOPLE!

Good for Becky for snapping back! 👏🏼

I was giggling uncontrollably about how Becky was like they were going to tattoo the baby and name it Armageddon or Pomegranate 😂

I also liked how Becky didn’t let this whole drama with Luke stop her from trying to salvage her marriage. She even wrote 17 pages worth of how much they loved each other and how if he wants to fix things, he has to meet her on top of the tallest building in London like something straight out of Sleepless in Seattle.

Then on the day of the Vogue shoot at their new house, Luke showed up on the door with the letters asking her what all this was about! So much for romantic! But finally, finally, they talk about everything out in the open about the business going down because Acrodas are rude people and Becky saying what Venetia claimed. Luke was still disbelieving Venetia would say all those things to Becky, but he should have listened to his wife. I just loved how they made up and spent more time together. I loved how this whole experience brought their marriage closer because they were able to overcome some pretty great battles.

At the same time, Becky wanted to help Luke take down Iain Wheeler with the pictures from the private investigator. Gotta love how Becky hired a private investigator to snoop out her marriage. I mean there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that but it was funny how Dave Sharpness really made it a business with two for one deals. So Becky knowing the value of a good deal, had a private investor also look where Jasmine, her co-worker, got her eyebrows done. At the time, I thought it was funny how the investigator tailed around the wrong guy. I never knew it would be purposeful later on, but Sophie really did good with that.

So Becky gave Luke the files to take down Iain. At the same time, in the mail, Veneita sends Luke cufflinks and some letter.

And Becky goes off!

The whole thing at the hospital was such a comical joy!

I loved how Becky just stormed to the doctors office where Venetia worked and demanded to meet her and no one was letting her see her unless she’s actually giving birth. So what does Becky do? She faked her waters broke! Hasn’t she learned from baby Talllulah Phoebe to not fake a baby or a broken water?!

Then everything gets blow out of proportions with nurses coming into check Becky, Suze, the mom, Danny, Luke, and Jess coming into see Becky because they’ve got the call that her water was broken. All the while Becky is trying to keep up this act that she’s dilated and breathing fine! I found it hilarious how the intern who wanted to observe Becky was so rapt and attentive with Becky that she couldn’t see through the lie! She even took notes about the yoga poses and the breathing and the woman was wondering how she was doing so well despite everything. Or how Becky was so mobile! Gosh, I can only if your water broke, you’d be on that hospital bed, clutching your stomach or in grueling pain, not doing yoga poses! I would have been just as shocked as that intern if I didn’t know better.

I loved how Danny shows up with the red haired shirt and Jess shows up with the yummy mummy shirt for Becky that Danny also designed at the baby shower for her.

Then the woman of the hour finally comes in: Venetia. Where she confesses that she did tell Becky all those things and how Becky is an airhead and not good enough for Luke! I mean, if you stoop so low to stress out a pregnant woman and steal her husband, then you’re quite and airhead and not good enough either! But I loved how Luke stood up for Becky and put Venetia in her place when Venetia asks why he married him. Luke had to think about it for a second, but in that second he was remembering every fun, down-to-earth good thing about Becky and how she made life exciting. I loved that for them! We knew they were going to be okay.

With all this going down, Becky’s water actually breaks, which I could see coming from a mile away because she faked her water breaking and didn’t knock on wood that it wouldn’t.

And Becky gave brith to a baby girl named Minnie.

Minnie Brandon.

I can already tell this one’s going to be a shopper just like her mom and I can’t wait to see what happens in the future for the Brandon’s.

I would like to see more with Luke and his company and them working out of this Acrodas fallout. I would like to see if they find a good home for themselves to start a life.

And I would like to see what happens with Jess.

Yes, Jess, we hardly talked about her until now, but it’s fitting to do so right now.

In the last book, Jess and Becky weren’t the best of friends, so to see how far they’ve come in their friendship and being sisters was sooooo special in this book. I loved the moment where Jess met Tom, the neighbor, and they bonded over geology and science and I just KNEW that they would be good together because of their love of the environment and all things intellectual. I think Jess was kind of receptive and scared of the relationship because maybe she’s never been in one or never been in a relationship with someone who seemed to care about her as much as Tom did! So I think that’s why she didn’t want to be with Tom when she went to Chile, because even though long distance relationships are hard, it was also a way to protect herself if he moved on when she came back. That way she wouldn’t be hurt knowing she ended it.

She went to Becky for advice on what to do where they ate caramel popcorn that Jess BOUGHT—–so she does spend money 😏. And they watched a cute girly movie just like Becky tired to do the first time around when she met Jess and it really showed how far they’ve come in confiding and trusting each other. I also liked how Jess made her that wooden shoe closet for the baby—–it was really sentimental. I loved the whole baby shower scene as well and how they called Becky to go for a walk fro twenty minutes and nothing more and nothing less. Oddly specific and not suspicious whatsoever to ask someone to leave their house and be gone for twenty minutes? But that’s okay. I loved the Yummy Mummy shirts and Suze’s frame gift and how Suze said she might get back into making frames. I forgot about the frames! I remember in one of the books where Suze had her frames sold in a shop and Becky was the only one who went to that shop and would buy all the frames to support Suze! If that’s not a best friend, I don’t know what is!

I just enjoyed the family and kinship in this book. I loved the relationship struggle and how Luke and Becky overcame it by talking to each other. The storyline can really resonate with a lot of people as marriage is always a work in progress and involves communication and trust. Once you get married, it’s no rainbows and flowers, but sometimes there’s clouds and rain and I loved how Becky and Luke saw the rainbow in the end. I loved how Becky got closer with Suze in rekindling their friendship and talking smack about that hag friend Suze had named Lulu. I also loved all the funny movements.

An all around great time.

If you read this book, what was your favorite parts? Your least favorite parts? Do you like Becky and Luke’s baby name? What do you think will happen to Venetia?

Anyway, I have to make like Becky and spend some money and buy the next book to read, so until next purchase, I hope you all spend money sensibly and have a wonderful day! 💕

And as always, with love,

Rating

4.78 Full Bloom Flowers

Characters: I forever and always will love Becky and her finesse

Plot: Funny, whimsical, and an all around good time

Writing: Sophie Kinsella is the definition of someone who knows how to write an entertaining book well

Romance: Love how we mended relationships in this book and how we got to see how marriage isn’t always that easy, but involves communication and trust