The Wrong Girl by Zoë Foster

To all outside observers, Lily Woodward is a successful television segment producer, with a well-placed Sydney-side apartment and an eclectic assortment of friends. But for nearly-thirty-year-old Lily, the reality is slightly different. Sure, her cooking segment on popular morning show The Daily is terribly successful, but Lily feels as though she is stuck in a rut, and after two years of hard work, is in desperate need of a promotion. Sure, she lives in a relatively spacious apartment building, but it’s owned by her swimsuit model best friend Simone, and while the rent is comparatively cheap, Lily really wishes she could afford to have her own place. These minor setbacks to Lily’s life-plan are compounded by the fact that she lives on junk-food (despite producing a cooking segment), she’s an inherently clumsy and messy person, and she hasn’t had a proper hook-up in years.

After a drunken one-night-stand with her sleazy friend Pete- after which he informs her that he is in love with another girl- Lily realises that her love life has hit rock bottom. She and Simone decide to swear off men, and take a six-month ‘saBOYtical’ (essentially a guy detox), in order to embrace their feminine power and cleanse their bodies and minds.

But while the premise is good, reality is a little bit harder. When her cooking segment faces an upheaval in the form of spunky new regular chef Jack Winters, Lily can’t help but feel attracted to the seemingly rude and incredibly distracting new talent. Determined to keep to the guy detox and maintain a level of professionalism, Lily does her best to treat Jack as a friend and work acquaintance, rather than a potential love interest. But when Jack starts dating somebody completely inappropriate, it takes all of Lily’s willpower to keep her distance…

Lily’s story is a classic case of wanting something that you don’t have, and it isn’t until she decides to take control and change her circumstances for the better, that she begins to see positive results in her life. Besides having to work out her man issues, Lily also has her hands full dealing with difficult work situations, friends with self-destructive personalities, and age-related misconceptions. This chick-lit novel is heartfelt, relatable and funny, and provides a perfect study of what happens when love, work and friendships collide head on with everyday life.


Rating: 3/5
Published: February 2014

#Fiction
#Chic_Lit
#Australian_Author



%comfychair