Sample sales, Saks and Sephora. What more could a girl want?

If that girl is Becky Bloomwood -- a lot.

Sophie Kinsella's indulgent heroine Becky is back in Shopaholic Takes Manhattan, sequel to 2001's Confessions of a Shopaholic.

Becky's triumphant chick-lit return sparkles with the same wit and style that made the first novel as popular as a pair of platform flip-flops. After her financial collapse in Confessions, Becky emerges as a changed woman.

With her "Buy Only What You Need" mantra, Becky maintains her ironic job as a financial guru TV personality, sustains a relationship with media mogul boyfriend Luke and buys only what she needs. And what Becky needs obviously includes fencing gear, thirty picture frames and two pairs of the same style of strappy sandals. (It's an investment! Becky won't have to buy new shoes for a year, maybe more.)

Although her sweet flatmate Suze monitors Becky's spending, Becky manages to form quite a rocky relationship with her bank manager due to her excessive overdrafts and yet-to-be-paid shopping bills. When entrepreneurial Luke decides to move from London to New York City for business, he asks Becky to come with him.

Becky's shopaholic situation intensifies when she makes the trans-Atlantic relocation. America certainly is the land of opportunity. New York City beckons Bex and her credit cards with power lunches, eyebrow waxes and multi-level luxury department stores.

"This is where I'm meant to be," asserts Becky after experiencing NYC's not-so-cheap thrills, including Soho and Fifth Avenue. Becky spins once again into predictable financial chaos. This time, though, the stakes are raised.

When a British tabloid gets a hold of Becky's unruly credit history and shopping compulsion, Becky finds herself facing a wrecked career, a soured romance and the realization that her addiction is not so harmless after all.

With her characteristic cleverness, Becky manages to set everything straight before the book's no-surprise-there happy ending.

Though Becky is clever and amusing, she is also a ditz who sees no consequences to her actions. Bex never learns from her mistakes, indulging in the same dangerous shopping excesses multiple times within Shopaholic Takes Manhattan. Her flaws turn her into a Gap sales rack -- exasperating, frustrating and delightful.

While her inability to reason rationally is irritating, Becky does strike a promising chord. At last, here is a chick-lit woman who is not obsessed with her weight. Hurrah! May there be many more.

Perhaps Becky's most annoying feature is that she's a little too much like me. Actually, she's a little bit too much like most girls I know -- a hopelessly flawed, though quite bright individual who finds pleasure in discovering that perfect Kate Spade brown leather clutch (what a find at only $500!).

Shopaholic Takes Manhattan certainly is not quality literature. However, it is a flashy, fun read for any girl who has ever called an absurdly pricey purchase an "investment" or feels that tingly adrenaline rush whenever she sees a "sale" sign.

While Becky seeks more glittery halters, more stiletto knee-high boots, and more sparkly, silver eye shadow, us chick-litters can stop out search here. We've found our comic heroine.