Cinnamon Girl: Looking for a Hero by Cathy Hopkins

India Jane is feeling frustrated. She thought that Joe was her soulmate, but things seem to be going nowhere with him. Perhaps what she feels for him isn’t ‘love’ after all – whatever that is. Gathering her friends around her, she sets out to find the boy of her dreams by Christmas.Her exploration is pretty disastrous, but just when she is in total despair, two gorgeous boys surface.Looking for love turns out to be a lot more complicated than India Jane thought.


Cathy Hopkins is one of my favourite authors, but I haven't read any of her books in ages = ( I thought of her the other day while in the library, and picked this up. Would you believe, this was the ONLY Cathy Hopkins book there? I know! 


Looking for a Hero the third book in the Cinnamon Girl series, in which there are altogether four books. I've read Starting Over the second book, and I liked it, but I liked this one much better!


India Jane thinks she loves Joe, but then he tells her he doesn't want to be in a serious relationship and leaves poor India all confused. So along with her three best friends, Leela, Brook and Zahrah, she sets out to find a boyfriend by Christmas. But it's harder than it sounds, and soon India is caught up in a love triangle - or love square, is more like it...


I said love square because India has not two boys but three boys in her love life. There's Bruno, the romantic Italian boy, Tyler, the boy who saved her when she was mugged and Joe, who she just can't deny her feelings for, even though she knows he won't commit... 


I think the author was kind of hinting in a reading-between-the-lines kind of way that India liked Zahrah the best out of her friends, because Zahrah was a deep, thoughtful person, like India and they got on well. I didn't like Zahrah at first, because I thought she seemed a bit mean, making smart comments, but I was wrong. Zahrah turned out to be my favourite character in the end, as well as Dylan, India Janes little brother. He was really funny and I wish he was in it more!

My only complaint was that I thought India was making a huge deal about nothing when it came to Tyler. I mean, she was mugged, he got the bad guys to go away, and then he brought her home. She met him for five minutes, and then it was suddenly 'Oh why didn't Tyler come back and become my boyfriend?' Eh, hello! And it was a little predictable, because you knew which guy she was going to pick. But apart from that is was fabulous!

Overall, this book gets a rating of 4/5. It's a light, girly read that I read in one day. It's hilarious and written well and I really enjoyed it. I definitely recommend it, especially if you need cheering up. Good job, Cathy! ( I always say that, don't I?!)

Age Group: 11+
Official Publication Date: 22 May 2008
Publisher: Piccadilly Press Ltd.
Author Website:www.cathyhopkins.com

This review was done as part of the British Books Challenge ,hosted by The Bookette.