Naturally, Charlie – S.L. Scott

Title: Naturally, Charlie by S.L. Scott
Publishing Info: November 1, 2012 by Independent
Genres: Adult, Contemporary
Find it on the web: Buy from Amazon // GoodreadsDate Completed: November 2012

    Twenty-five year old Charlotte “Charlie” Barrow is caught between her old life and the one she is beginning to build when she crosses paths with a handsome stranger on the subway. Not looking for romance, she closes her heart off to the possibilities of love. With a knack for mishaps, Charlie maintains her sense of humor while befriending the kind stranger who seems to be there at all the right times.
New York freelance writer, Charlie Adams, is forging his own path beyond the expectations of the society circles of his childhood. Rejecting family money, and fast-lane friends, he is snubbed by his family as he follows his own compass to a life more extraordinary. 
Through a coincidence of events, they come to rely on each other for comfort. This is   the tale of two Charlies learning to trust again while fighting their fates to create their own destiny.

So let me say something a little bit silly and possibly totally illogical: I love female characters with male nick names (Sam, Danni, Charlie! etc) so when I found out one of our MCs fell in this category, I was already interested. Then when both the guy and the girl have the same name? Adorable!

When I first started reading, I was immediately hooked. The female Charlie was instantly relatable to me. She was my age (25) and usually I have issues with chick lit novels that make young characters already so much more successful in career and advanced in relationships (usually advancing in the workplace and engaged/married), I did see that female Charlie shared a lot of these characteristics, but it felt natural to me (no pun intended since it’s… NATURALLY CHARLIE —  I have a feeling I may make this joke more than once).

Another thing I have issues with lately is the alternate viewpoint between main characters. We did have these alternating chapters between female Charlie and male Charlie and I really loved it! You know how sometimes we get those novellas that are our favorite books told from the male POV instead of the female? That was how I felt with NATURALLY CHARLIE. Sometimes the alternating POV feels unauthentic and forced, but here it was totally… say it with me – natural! I felt like we were getting both stories from each Charlie and they just overlapped slightly so we got to see some of the same scenes from both perspectives and enjoy them two different ways, but still seeing very different personal aspects as well as separate backstories from each character to really get to know them.

I thought the romance was super cute and I loved the stories for both characters. I loved so many aspects of this book and would definitely recommend it for a great chick lit or contemporary romance story!

Charlie (female): I really enjoyed female Charlie! She seemed really down-to-earth and I really like when the characters can be feminine without having to be super girly. I loved her approach to a lot of different aspects in the book and she was strong as well as sensitive. More important than connecting with the male in any book, I need to connect to the female and I loved Charlie.
Charlie (male): Male Charlie was a lot of fun too. I loved how forward he was in pursuing female Charlie because that’s kind of how my boyfriend pursued me when we first started dating. It made me all nostalgic 🙂
Rachel: Rachel is exactly how I would have written one of my friends if I were to put her in a book. I felt bad for her in a lot of ways because she was struggling to get married and settle down and was going about it all the wrong ways, and my poor friend – that is exactly her! Every line that I read I was like, “Oh my God, that’s so her!!!!” I wonder if we all have a friend like that… Hm.