It’s not. It can’t be. It bloody well can’t be! Oh my goodness; it is! It’s Latino heart-throb, Emilio Caliente! Why is someone like him sitting next to someone like me on this flight to Ibiza? He should be up front, behind the curtain, hidden away in first class. Why now? Why him? Why me?
Without so much as a glance in my direction, he’s short-circuited weeks of life changing, positive affirmations. Hiding behind my hair, I clench my fists, shut my eyes and silently recite, “My name is Gemma Talbot. I’m a beautiful, intelligent, newly single woman and I’m taking control of my life”. Yeah, right. What a joke! I’m sweating. I’m fidgeting. I’m finger combing my hair, smoothing my eyebrows and wishing I’d retouched my makeup before boarding.
Can’t he go away for a few minutes and come back when I’ve had time to pull myself together, both mentally and physically? Planes should have an emergency hatch with a twisty staircase from the passenger area down into the hold, so you can get to your suitcase, grab a change of clothes, a more appropriate pair of shoes, and maybe even a change of underwear. There should be a decent sized bathroom with pink, soft-tone lights to flatter your complexion and boost your self- confidence, not that vile, green, fluorescent glare that only emphasises your enlarged pores, your premature lines, your facial hair. There should be baskets of complimentary upmarket cosmetics, sample freebies of the greatest and latest scientific breakthroughs in moisturisers and makeup. Yes, even on a forty-minute flight from Barcelona to Ibiza. On this flight especially.
And that’s how Francesca Prescott opens her romantic comedy, a paperback in the unputdownable category. Well, maybe you’ll need to pause to wipe the tears of laughter from your eyes, which even I as a male reader found myself having to do as I chuckled my way through this entertaining read. Francesca’s female readership will certainly identify with the situations and relationships depicted so amusingly in this book. The authoress, who kindly agreed to be interviewed here in Ibiza, skilfully blends imagination, personal experience and local colour into her writing. She has brilliant knack for describing the type of person you could swear you have met at some time here on the Island.
When pressed as to the particular cove or beach bar where she had the particular experience that triggered her story, she carefully avoids being drawn. But putting two and two together, it seems to have been some years ago at Cala Jondal in the Tropicana.
In real life, this Ricky Martin fan is married to the in-house lawyer for a major Swiss luxury brand. She shares a passion for horses with her two daughters and is an accomplished rider, but her greatest passion is her writing. She and her family live in the vicinity of Geneva. For many years now, she has been a regular visitor to Ibiza where she stays with a female friend who has a place near Santa Ines and who appears as one of the main protagonists in the novel.
This 336-page debut publication in English has all the makings of a bestseller. It was recently voted the Book of the Year on the Long & Short Reviews book site. So we eagerly await its appearance in German and Spanish translation. You can either order it online via Amazon or Barnes and Noble; alternatively and perhaps even more conveniently here in Ibiza, you can purchase a copy at Libro Azul and Es Cucó.
