Where Have All the Boys Gone?

Jenny Colgan

Apr 2013 · HarperCollins UK

About this eBook

Where have all the men gone? Faced with 25, 000 more women than men in London, and gleeful media reports that it's statistically more likely for single women to be murdered than get married, Katie is reached an all-time low. But all is not lost ...
Another hilarious high-concept romantic comedy from Jenny Colgan.

While Katie's glad it's not a man's world any more, she'd be quite pleased if there were more men in it – or at least single ones, anyway.

More likely to get murdered than married, according to gleeful media reports, Katie resigns herself to the fact there's no sex in the city and heads for the hills – or the Scottish highlands, to be precise.

Despite the fact she's never been a girl for wellies – and Fairlish is in the middle of nowhere – the tiny town does have one major draw: men. Lots of them.

But while Katie relishes the chance to do battle with armies of admirers, she's not reckoned on going head to head with her grumpy new boss, Harry, shadowy developers intent on destroying the beautiful countryside and Mrs McClockerty, the least suitable hotelier since Norman Bates.

At least there's the local eye-candy to distract her, including gorgeous newshound Iain. But he is at loggerheads with Harry, and Harry despises her. Life in the country might not be one big roll in the hay but can Katie ever turn her back on the delights of Fairlish and return to city life?

Ratings and reviews

Three and a half stars. Pleasant, if slightly dated romantic comedy in the Katie Fforde school of writing. Katie works in PR in London, she, her best friend Louise and her boss Olivia all bemoan the lack of decent men in London. After being mugged in Central London Katie applies for a job doing the PR for Fairlish Forestry Commission in the Highlands of Scotland, despite having previously only done PR for things like make-up and ice-cream. Although her boss at the Forestry Commission Harry is grumpy and looks like a younger Gordon Brown (see what I mean about dated? FYI, Gordon Brown was an MP and Prime Minister between 2007 and 2010), the amazing thing about Fairlish is the abundance of men, 16 men to every woman they say, including her boss' arch enemy, newspaperman Iain. Harry is trying to prevent a local businessman cutting down the beautiful forests to build yet another golf course and he needs Katie's assistance. Cue much hilarity, references to painting men's bottoms blue (in Braveheart style), local radio shows, and many quaint Scottish characters. This is clearly one of Jenny Colgan's earlier novels, the humour feels a little forced, the characters a bit too quirky, as if she's trying too hard compared with something like The Bookshop on the Shore. Nevertheless, if you like the idea of our plucky heroine organising a ball for 500 people in the Laird's crumbling mansion to raise awareness of the cause, including celebrities such as Ewan McGregor and Richard and Judy (big daytime TV hosts back in the day) then this light-hearted romance could be right up your street (or glen, since this is the Highlands).

This is a book completely devoid of any reality whatsoever - except we all know an Olivia, albeit not as extreme as the one in the book, but we all know one. The denouement comes as no surprise whatsoever to the reader, even if it does to the main character, Katie. It is complete and utter fluff. However, it is well written fluff that entertains and keeps you turning the pages wanting to see what disastrous mess Katie is going to get in to next. As you can tell by the 4 star rating, I thoroughly enjoyed every second I had reading this book. Fairlish comes across as a bit of a Brigadoon type place, but as many places in the Highlands of Scotland have that distinct vibe to them then that comes as no surprise. The surprise comes from how welcome the locals make Katie and Lauren, two Southerners who decamp up there when Katie gets seconded on a PR job up there and Lauren is simply running away from the disaster that was her romantic life. Either everyone living there is transplanted from the South or they are the strangest lot of Highlanders I've ever come across. It is not a laugh out loud book but it is definitely humorous and I did find myself grinning my way through it. It is light and fresh and I really enjoyed the juxtaposition between the London activity and Fairlish. Particularly how the change of pace affects both Katie and Lauren and, eventually, alters their outlooks on how life should be lived or, rather, how their individual lives should be lived. This is a perfect holiday read, especially is the weather is as unclement as a British summer usually is.

Utterly ridiculous, but fairly enjoyable.

About the author

Jenny Colgan was born in 1972 in Ayrshire. After Edinburgh University, she worked for six years in the health service, moonlighting as a cartoonist and stand-up comic. She is the author of five previous bestselling novels: Amanda's Wedding, Talking to Addison, Looking for Andrew McCarthy, Working Wonders and Do You Remember the First Time?, all of which are in development for film and TV. Jenny is married and lives in London.