When London boy Simon dreams of becoming a New Zealand rock star, he has no idea he’ll duet with a suspected murderer, model for posters with a dairy cow, accidentally present the weather on the radio and be upstaged by an apple crumble.
As he struggles to impersonate Elvis, forgets the most important birthday song and scares away a hen party, will he ever realise his rock star ambitions, or will he have to pack away his guitar and abandon his dreams forever?
My Review
I was given an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review – thank you Simon!
The Pomegranate Busker is the third book in the South Pacific Shenanigans series, and it did not disappoint, each of these books has got better than the last. This has been a very enjoyable series with many laughs and surprises along the way.
The story continues where book two left off and in this episode Simon decides to try and fulfill his dreams of becoming a rock star. Billed as “London Musician Simon Michael Prior” he begins his new career by getting himself booked to sing and play guitar in the local pubs and birthday parties around Hokitika, New Zealand, where he lives on his girlfriend’s Dad’s farm.
With his positive attitude, Simon seems to be able to successfully turn his hand to pretty much anything he attempts, but he gives himself a pep talk on the night before his first gig:
“This is it.
You’re a guitar hero.
You’re a rock legend.
You’re a superstar.”
This book is a breath of fresh air with some hilarious characters introduced among its pages. I loved the Yorkshireman complaining about the proximity of his hotel bed to the window and the lack of proper Yorkshire tea in his room. The lady in the travel agents with a list of requirements for her trip to America also made me chuckle. I wonder if her husband managed to encounter bears in the wild as he so desired!
There are plenty of heart warming moments on the farm as Simon takes part in the annual calving season and also some tear jerkers – boy calves are of no use to a dairy farm.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and look forward to seeing where Simon is going to take us next!
About the Author
Simon Michael Prior insists on inflicting all aspects of life on himself so that his readers can enjoy learning about his latest trip/experience/disaster/emotional breakdown (insert phrase of your choice).
During his extended adolescence, now over forty years long, he has lived on two boats and sunk one of them; sold houses, street signs, Indian food and paper bags for a living; visited almost fifty countries and lived in three; qualified as a scuba divemaster; nearly killed himself learning to wakeboard; trained as a search and rescue skipper with the Coast Guard, and built his own house without the benefit of an instruction manual.
Simon is as amazed as anyone that the house is still standing, and he now lives in it by the sea with his wife and twin daughters, where he spends his time regurgitating his experiences on paper before he has so many more that he forgets them.
Sue's Musings 
Looking forward to reading this one. I have so enjoyed Simon’s other books.
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I love the name of the series. South Pacific Shenanigans! What fun
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