November 10, 2019November 9, 2019 James J. Cudney IV

Book Review: Just an Odd Job Girl by Sally Cronin

Today’s book is the fifth book I’ve read by the wonderful Sally Cronin. It is beyond any comparison my favorite of all her works — and I adored the previous ones as you can tell from my earlier review… check them out on her dedicated author page on my blog @ https://thisismytruthnow.com/cronin-sally/. As a little background, Sally wrote this book in 2001 and published it years later.

Recently, she began writing the next set of adventures in the characters’ lives and serializing the first book on her blog to catch up all her fans. You can read it via her amazing blog @ https://smorgasbordinvitation.wordpress.com/2019/10/19/just-an-odd-job-girl-serialisation-final-chapter-a-new-life-by-sally-cronin/. Let’s jump into the review…

Just an Odd Job Girl by Sally Cronin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Aaahahaha! That’s how I’m gonna start out this review because this book was simply hysterical, inspirational, shocking, and different from most of my normal reads. Wow… okay, let me calm down and tell you more about it because it’s hard to contain my enthusiasm and respect for the author and her main character.

Imogen’s louse of a husband asks for a divorce shortly after their kids have grown up and moved out of the house. In the early years of their marriage, which was always fine as she’d dubiously believed, they had little money; however, in time, they became somewhat wealthy and had amassed a sizable chunk of cash. Of course, the louse of a husband gave some of it to Imogen, who struggled to accept the crumbling facade of her life. She ate her way to further unhappiness until finally caving in and seeking solace in the form of a new job that might help her feel more useful.

This is where our story begins… Imogen meets an unusual but kind owner of an agency that seeks employment for mature candidates. He is unable to suggest a job until she shares the details of her career and work history… which ultimately, other than being a housewife and mother, was non-existent once she got married. Being a mother and housewife was incredibly complex, but employers want to see traditional work experience, which she knows… so the owner asks her to recount her life prior to marriage where she held somewhere in the neighborhood of ~20 different jobs. As you’d expect, their communication and relationship begins to take on a very different perspective and shape, delighting readers with warm, tender moments.

Imogen explains the details through memories, discussion, and documentation. I was thoroughly entertained by her experiences… and I can’t imagine a better writer to clearly show us what this poor and suffering but extremely diligent and persistent woman had accomplished in those years. Between chasing criminals, setting up ‘dates’ for an escort service, and running a hotel, she could regale us with stories until the cows came home… which probably happened in a few of the jobs she held years ago. Just when I thought her job couldn’t get any worse, or she would quit and run, the opposite happens. Imogen finds a solution that no other employee had thought of… which leads to her getting tons of promotions and more money.

Until she had to quit… because her husband didn’t want any wife of his to work. By the time the story comes to a perfect conclusion, Imogen gets beautiful revenge on the louse… finds love… obtains the perfect job. This is a woman I want to be friends with! This is also an author who could entertain nearly any type of reader. Cronin takes ordinary and unusual life occurrences and turns them into eye-squinting and nail-biting moments where readers can’t stop turning the pages to find out what the heck could happen next.

Love it. Can’t say any more other than I want to read the sequel NOW please. Now, I said!

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About Me
For those new to me or my reviews… here’s the scoop: I’m Jay, an author who lives in NYC. My stand-alone novels, Watching Glass Shatter and Father Figure, can be purchased on Amazon as electronic copies or physical copies. My new book series, Braxton Campus Mysteries, will fit those who love cozy mysteries and crime investigations but with a twist. There are five books: Academic Curveball, Broken Heart Attack, Flower Power Trip, Mistaken Identity Crisis, and Haunted House Ghost. I read, write, and blog A LOT on this site where you can also find all my social media profiles to get the details on the who/what/when/where and my pictures. Leave a comment and let me know what you think. Thanks for stopping by. Note: All written content is my original creation and copyrighted to me, but the graphics and images were linked from other sites and belong to them. Many thanks to their original creators. Follow my blog with Bloglovin.