Wednesday 23 October 2013

Summery: PT Dilloway - Second Chance


Today's post is the second book in the Chances Are series by P.T Dilloway.
I have already reviewed the first book Chance of a Lifetime here if you wish to read it. 

This post will contain spoilers.

This book follows the life of Stacey (aka Steve) and his daughter Maddy and her girlfriend Grace.
They're back in school and Stacey is adjusting to life as a teenage girl after living 50 years as a guy.

In this book Stacey and Maddy get kidnapped by some Chinese guy whose dad was killed at the end of the last book.  They are taken to a derelict school building and separated from each other.
Whilst they are there they are being looked after by a woman who is doing what this guy want her to do, because he said he has information on where her daughter is - or he has her daughter kidnapped. 
One of the two. 

During the time there the guy (who's name I can't remember) takes both Stacey and Maddy into a room each and gives them an injection with similar stuff that changed Steve into Stacey. This formula changes Maddy into a 2 year old Chinese girl whilst Stacey becomes a 7 year old Chinese girl. 
The woman who had looked after them ends up helping them escape the building, and sets it alight hoping to trap the guy inside. 

The now two kids go towards a store and ask the owner if they can call their Grandad. Their grandad being Jake - Steve's Police partner who took Steven in when he became Stacey. They age quicker than normal until Maddy is 4/5 and Stacey is 10/11.
Jake and his wife take in Stacey and now Maddy and then take them to the therapist that Steve AKA Stacey went to see, in the waiting room Stacey befriends a girl who asks her if she wants to play Angry Birds whilst they wait for their appointment. 

The girls get enrolled in a posh school. Whilst Maddy is losing her old sense and fitting right in with her class mates, Stacey can remember her life as Steven and Stacey Chance (she's not Stacey Chang) so has a harder time, especially when a girl in her class is being rude to her.
She is set a class assignment to work with a guy. This guy ends up being the nephew of the therapist Stacey goes to see weekly.

During the book Stacey figures out she can sing, (the old Stacey could also) and decides to do her project singing with the nephew playing piano. During practise the two end up developing feelings for each other and end up a couple, because of this Stacey Chang forgets her life as Stacey Chance and Steve.
  
It's only when Maddy is kidnapped that Stacey is shocked out of her trance and remembers her previous lives and goes with Mac (the therapist) to save his daughter. Stacey gets on a the plane that Maddy is now on and sees that she is now a very small baby. This Chinese guy comes onto the plane and traps Stacey, getting her with the injection again so she decreases in age as well. 

Mac ends up saving them and taking them to the Doctor where they stay for weeks. When Stacey wakes up she's back to being a teenage girl, not quite Chinese but less so than she was as a child. When she asks to see Maddy, she see's that Maddy is also older, but because of the injection she's gained 200lbs. 

 When they are well enough to go back home, Maddy moves back in with Grace - even though at first she didn't think Grace would still love her, being bigger than she was. Stacey stays with Jake. 

You can buy this book on the kindle for 77p or the actual book for £8.99 here.

xx


Sunday 13 October 2013

Summery: P.T Dilloway's Chance of a Lifetime


Hello everyone, 
Today I have a review for you on the first of the Chances Are series by P.T. Dilloway. 
(This review will contain spoilers, if you haven't read it, please read THIS post I did where I talked about the series briefly). 

I was snooping through Amazon Kindle freebies the way you do when I came across a book called "Chance of a Lifetime". After reading the brief description I decided I'd download it and give it a try at some point. I have a lot of books on my kindle so it wasn't one I thought I'd read straight away - but would eventually get to it.

As it turns out I did read it pretty soon after downloading it and boy am I glad I did.

This book was a page turner (or for kindle readers - a button presser. Doesn't have the same ring to it does it?) it was such a bizarre concept but I just had to read it to find out what happens next. 

The concept? Well It starts with a 50 odd year old male cop called Steve who is staking out a pharmaceutical company  after finding out some big shot criminal is going to be there. He doesn't call for back up, instead went by himself - drunk. Smart guy.

He ends up getting into a bust with this guy Artie Luther who injects him with this pink liquid before shooting him in the head. 
Steve wakes up under water in just his underwear having an out of body experience. He sees the bullet hole heal, his body change into a females body. He's turned into a 18 year old girl.
The issue? He still remembers his entire life as Steve. 

He finds his cop partner and explains what happens, after lots of persuading including medical tests his colleague / friend believe him and lets Steve (now Stacey Chance) move in with him and his wife, he tells his wife this Stacey is a runaway from an abusive life.

The first book sees Stacey coming to grips with becoming a woman and dealing with her first ever period, buying clothes and adjusting to a different body. In a clothes shop he meets a woman called Grace, she helps Stacey by giving her a job. One day she asks Stacey to go over to the coffee shop over the way to pick some bits up for them both, when Stacey does she sees her daughter who she hasn't seen for 12 years, and when she was a man. It turns out his daughter Maddy is the girlfriend of Grace.
Confused yet? It's about to get more confusing.

Stacey is determined to find this Artie who shot her and turned her into a girl. She is also talking to the assistant of the doctor (the doctor was shot the same night Steve was) who created this liquid which turned her into a girl, this assistant (who is also a doctor)  is trying to recreate the liquid to get Stacey back to Steve. Jake won't allow her to as she is no longer a cop.
She becomes best friends with her Daughter - who still doesn't realise that this is her dad. 

The Doctor's send her to a shrink to talk about the issue. The fact she still remembers Steve's life, but is also feeling like a woman. Her shrink is called Mac. 

Some point in this book Stacey ends up in bed with Grace (his daughter's girlfriend). As a new girl and still feeling the things Steve did she wasn't sure whether she was a new girl who liked girls OR a new girl who likes guys. Experimentation.  It was a bit weird that she went with her daughters girlfriend though.
She does realise this is wrong and ends up telling Grace it can only be that one time.

In this book they go back to the pharmacy company only to discover that Jake has been helping this gang who stole the drug that made Steve Stacey, due to blackmail. 
There is a whole load of fighting where Jake then tries to save Stacey. 
After all of that drama (I don't want to give too many spoilers away) Stacey knowing it could be a while before the drug is ready to make her a him again decides to go back to college. 

I would highly recommend this book if you have a kindle as it's STILL free.
You can also buy the book for just under £7 here


xx