Community Service by Sal Thomas

About the book

Could finding herself in trouble… mean finding herself in love?

When PR exec Simone Stephens mistakes a real cop for a cosplay reveller at an immersive cinema experience, she finds herself in front of the judge and sentenced to volunteer at a local homeless shelter.

It’s about as far away as Simone can get from the slick, cynical world she normally inhabits, but after a rocky start that sees her embarrass herself time and again in front of gorgeous resident psychologist, Jasper, she finds her feet and begins to make a difference even she can be proud of.

She was sent here to atone, but is it possible that she might also find herself … and maybe even love in the process?

What I thought

I loved the author’s debut novel The Accidental Housemate, so was excited to see she had a new book out. I read what it was about and thought this one sounded good too. On first starting it I must admit, after two or three chapters in, I didn’t think this was going to be a book for me. It felt like it was written for an American market, it was maybe too young for me. I was disappointed because I was really looking forward to something at least recognisable from the first book. I read a few reviews and noted that some readers felt the same way. I persevered, mainly because there wasn’t any other book calling to me at the time so decided to carry on.

As usual, perseverance pays off and by the time Simone had started her community service it had started to grow on me. There is a lot of very dry humour which is perhaps not every one’s cup of tea but a bit of sarcasm and cynicism is fine with me.

On the face of it Simone comes across as an ambitious, hard nosed, somewhat materialistic person, yet it’s a shell to protect her vulnerabilities and as the book moves on she becomes a likeable character as her true self starts to shine through. I really enjoyed this book once I’d got past the initial shock of how very different it is from the author’s debut. I found it reasonably fast paced, as it never dwelt too long on any one particular situation or dialogue. Shortish chapters and changes of scene kept me wanting to read more.

I’d say take the less favourable reviews as subjective and give it a go, I thought it was a thoughtful, perceptive story and reflective of current modern day challenges.