Source - Received from publisher to review
...And how it was nearly ruined by evil cats, gin and unsuitable men.
It's Fran's thirtieth birthday and things are good. She's bluffed her way into a Very Posh Job and her outlandishly handsome and talented boyfriend Michael is escorting her to the Ritz with a bulge the size of a ring box in his pocket.
...And how it was nearly ruined by evil cats, gin and unsuitable men.
It's Fran's thirtieth birthday and things are good. She's bluffed her way into a Very Posh Job and her outlandishly handsome and talented boyfriend Michael is escorting her to the Ritz with a bulge the size of a ring box in his pocket.
But something has gone wrong. Very wrong. By the end of the evening Fran is howling in bed with a bottle of cheap brandy and one of Michael's old socks.
In her quest to figure out why her life has suddenly gone down the pan, Fran comes up with a failsafe plan: live like a badger, stalk a stranger called Nellie and cancel her beloved Gin Thursday's in favour of drinking gin every night. But then Fran's friends force a different plan on her and it's nowhere near as fun. How could eight dates possible make her feel better?
But eventually she agrees. And so begins the greatest love story of all time...
Fran thinks that life couldn't be any more perfect, she's got a great job, great friends and boyfriend Michael is going to propose to her on her 30th birthday. Except that's not quite how it turns out, instead he asks her for a 3 month break which sets her on a path of self-pity... not eating, not going to work and drinking every day instead of just on 'Gin Thursday's' so her friends, Leonie, Stefania and Dave come up with a plan for her... the 8 date deal.
She has to register for internet dating and arrange and meet up with 8 dates before the 3 month period is over to enable her determine that Michael is in fact the right man for her. This is where the fun starts with the accounts of each disastrous date all making Fran believe that Michael is still the man she wants. That said she has great rapport with Freddy who she's arranging to be date number 7 with Michael being the final date number 8 which is cheating!
As well as the main storyline being Fran's internet dating, her friends own stories emerge throughout the book including her mum Eve's affair with a married politician which is outed during the run up to an election... but who was the source of the leak as only a few people knew.
Meanwhile Fran thinks that Michael has started dating someone called Nellie so she sets out to try and find out what this woman has that she doesn't. So she starts to stalk her by searching through his Facebook friends until she finds her, then arranges a fictitious meditation class for successful business women, joins the same running club...even though Fran cannot run... and finally turning up at a meal that's been arranged with a surprising outcome.
But when Michael breaks the no-contact rule and asks her to meet him in Paris, she cancels her date with Freddy and jumps on the Eurostar to meet him and when he proposes she thinks he's finally ready to settle down with her but something doesn't quite feel right for Fran after all the waiting...
Thank you to the Penguin Group who actually sent me two copies of this book to review so I'm able to offer the second copy as a giveaway prize to one lucky reader. To enter simply fill in the form below, entries close at Midnight on Saturday 21st April and winner will then be selected at random and contacted to obtain postal address.
Although I am opening this competition up internationally, please note the postal methods below as I cannot afford to send all packages abroad by Airmail.
UK - Second Class
Europe- Airmail
Elsewhere - Surface mail (so could take a while to reach you)
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