Mini Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella

Becky Brandon (née Bloomwood)'s life has been anything but ordinary.  The shopaholic wooed the debonair Luke Brandon, Finance PR Extraordinaire, while devising a way to throw a certain bank manager named Derek Smeath off her track.  Then she moved to Manhattan, became host of a financial segment on a popular TV show (even though she can't handle her own finances), and shopped some more.  Then there was the fiasco of the two-weddings-on-the-same-day, one in NYC and one in England.  And of course, more shopping.  After a fairy-tale honeymoon, Becky arrived home to discover that she has a half-sister she never knew about, a sister who hates to shop!  Let's see... what else?  Becky got pregnant, scored a celebrity OB, and then hired a P.I. to follow said celebrity OB and her own husband, Luke, because she swore they were having an affair.  (All links are to my reviews of the other Shopaholic books.)

Now Becky and Luke are parents!  Mini Shopaholic takes place two years after Shopaholic and Baby left off.  'Mini Shopaholic' herself, Minnie Brandon, is now a rambunctious two-year-old, and Luke and Becky are at wits' end; they don't know what to do with little Minnie, who wreaks havoc wherever she goes.  Becky's mum is willing to help with Minnie--she's been doing it for the two years Becky and Luke have been living in her house anyway--but Becky and Luke decide to hire an "Ultimate Nanny" instead.  (After all, it'd be great if Minnie could learn Mandarin!)  Becky is less than forthcoming about Minnie's behavior, though, and said Ultimate Nanny begs off after a few hours in Minnie's presence.  Can anything go right?  Not only has their fifth try at buying a home fallen through, but there's a huge financial crisis in England because one of the major banks failed.  Luke is putting in so much extra time at work that Becky decides to throw him a surprise party for his birthday.  Of course, she has trouble staying on budget, so she accepts help from an unlikely source...Luke's birth mother, Elinor, whom Luke isn't speaking to at the moment.  As with any book featuring Becky Brandon, chaos ensues, lies are told, and shopping is done.

I was super excited to get my hands on this book.  I really enjoyed the first five Shopaholic books.  Becky makes me laugh.  She gets into so much trouble, and of course her scrapes are all a bit unbelievable and outrageous, but she's just such an amusing character to spend time with (even when I want to pull my hair out and shout at her that she better not buy that dress/purse/scarf/pair of shoes, no matter the sale price.)  Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy this latest book as much as I'd hoped to.  Sure, I still liked it and Becky still made me laugh (though not as much as in the other books), but I'm left feeling slightly disappointed.

3.5/5

Mini Shopaholic is #6 in the Shopaholic series.