Where Have All the Boys Gone?

A Novel

By: Jenny Colgan

Narrated by: Helen McAlpine

Length: 9 hrs and 48 mins

Publisher's summary

From New York Times best-selling author Jenny Colgan comes this hilarious romance about a woman who trades in the comforts of city life in hopes of finding love in a small Scottish town in the middle of nowhere.

Faced with the harsh reality that there are 25,000 more women than men in London, Katie’s dating prospects are at an all-time low. While she’s glad it’s not a man’s world anymore, it wouldn’t hurt if there were more eligible bachelors.

More likely to get murdered than married, according to gleeful media reports, Katie resigns herself to the fact that there’s no sex in the city for her and decides to head for the hills - or the Scottish Highlands to be exact. Despite the fact she’s never been one for muddy rain boats - 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 excited about going head to head with her shady new boss, Harry. At least there’s the local eye-candy to distract her, including gorgeous newshound Iain. But he is at loggerheads with Harry, and she can’t afford to get on Harry’s bad side any more than she already has.

Life in the country might not be one big roll in the hay, but now that Katie has taken the plunge, can she ever turn her back on the delights of Fairlish and return to city life...?

©2020 Jenny Colgan (P)2020 HarperAudio

Fun story

I really liked this book, the story was typical Jenny Colgan. But with a few twists and turns. The language however was quite bad, which was why I gave a 4 star. Her later books don’t have the language issues.

Where have all the boys gone? Scotland!

Not Colgan’s best, but still a fun listen. The beginning is a little hard to follow until you get into it. Aspects are becoming a little dated (early 00s), but one of Colgan’s real talents, present even in this early work, are the memorable characters she creates!

Fantastic

Jenny Colgan, where have you been all my life?

This book didn't start out well for me. I started listening to it and I thought it was something different than it was and stopped listening. I ran out of credits on Audible and realized I hadn't finished this book, so I started listening again and became enraptured. This is a really good book and Helen McAlpine is a superb narrator. Now, if you read any of my other reviews, you will realize that is high praise.

This book is witty, satirical, great Brit speak, a solid story line and has characters you fall for. I didn't realize it was gong to be such a funny book and found myself laughing out loud. The scene with the TV show was hilarious. She writes about such ordinary things and makes them interesting. Her turn of phrase is different and keeps you interested in the story. The premise of the book is also unique and intriguing. Her conversations between people are not the typical dialogue you read in most books, such as, "He said, she replied..." I was so intrigued with this book that I am now reading "The Bookshop on the Corner," also by Jenny Colgan and even though it has a similar story line (young woman moves to Scotland, a glut of men, a big party) it's also a really great read. I can't speak to any other Colgan books, but if she writes like this all the time, I am a fan by a long mile.

Helen McAlpine's Scottish brogue is great, even for the male voices which are convincing and not distracting as in so many other books. She did an admirable job on narrating this book.

I am only sorry that it took me so long to discover this author. I think she's fantastic.

title doesn't do it justice

listened to it twice! I understand why it was given that title but it makes it sound a bit shallower than it is. I love Scotland!!

Older book, but still good

The audio book is new, I think. The story was published in 2006. I enjoyed it.

Great Book!

Slow in the beginning, but couldn’t put it down halfway through! So good and the accents made it so much better

Fun Scottish Story!

A fun listen to that you can just relax and enjoy! The narration was great!

Not peak Colgan, but has its moments

This older Jenny Colgan novel is from the 90s and the sexual politics really show. There’s some funny scenes and cute dialogue, but the back and forth plot gets a bit tedious. The narrator does a great job with the accents and different voices. And even a mediocre Colgan novel is better than a lot of others.

Lovely and fun book

This book is a delight! You can’t help but fall in love with the characters and the uplifting story. Great narrator also..

rural Scotland meets sophisticated London

Like all of Jenny's books, I very much enjoyed this one. the writing is so clever and clear you can actually feel the vast difference in living in ruraL SCOTLAND versus sophisticated fast paced London. the story is fun and the characters so likable. I especially loved the scenes of Scotland and the depiction of the everyday people in the rather isolated Highlands. Their grit is able to be felt as they endure that nasty weather day in and day and can still have fun.