My So-Called (Love) Life – by A.L. Michael

Original Cover 

My own copy

The blurb:

Meet Tigerlily James: romance cynic, North Londoner and die-hard margarita fan.

Tigerlily James has been a member of the Young and Bitter Club ever since she was dumped on Valentine’s day. By her fiancé.

Surviving on a diet of cynicism and margarita-fuelled ‘Misery Dinners’ with her best friends, she’s become a romance free zone…and that’s the way she likes it. Until an invitation for The Ex’s wedding arrives. Suddenly in need of a plus one, Tig has little choice but to bin the takeaways, ditch the greying underwear collection…and start pretending to view the opposite sex as something other than target practise.

Then, she meets Ollie – ie. the perfect solution. No sex. No strings. Fake boyfriend. The only catch is that she has to pretend to be his girlfriend for three whole months.

Dating without the heartbreak: the best idea Tig’s ever had, right? Wrong!

My Opinion:

*Book provided by the publisher on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

A.L. Michael’s writing took me right into this fabulous story! It was so much fun reading about Tigerlily and her story.

She has been with the same guy for over 12 years and then he dumps her, 6 days before her wedding!!!

Tigerlily is ready for a new start now, but she doesn’t even know how to date. Then she gets an invite to his wedding…

Meeting Ollie is perfect timing. Ollie is gorgeous, thoughtful, funny and they build up a friendship really fast. Both of them are really honest and tell each other pretty much everything about their lives. They make a deal to help each other out and “boom” Tig found herself a fake boyfriend. There are rules of course: no sex, no strings…

Time passes and Tigerlily has difficulties dealing with the rules! Image what happens, when real feelings get involved. Oh and did I mention, Ollie leaves for his chef job in the Bahamas in a few months, doesn’t make the whole situation easier.

I loved Ollie’s and Tig’s scenes, very entertaining, fun, sweet and with a lot of spark. I really liked both characters so much. Tigerlily is confident and had a great spirit and Ollie just sounds like a wonderful guy. He was there to help her, guide her and make her see the light, but she also changed him… They have to go through a lot, to finally realize what they really want and by the end I just thought that what they had from the start was adorable and really authentic. I loved the ending!!!

Tig’s best friends Dana and Ame were also a great addition to the story and I really admired their friendship. It was portrayed in such a real and honest way.

The title of this book fits perfectly and I really like the idea of the whole storyline. It had flow, the right amount of drama and some fabulous characters. The story put a huge smile on my face and it’s just a feel-good with a lit of spark, glimmer, friendship, heart, fun and love. I couldn’t put it down!!!

Rating:

My possible cast:

Tigerlilly: Mia Serafino

Ollie: Harry Lloyd

http://www.almichael.com

www.twitter.com/almichael_

www.facebook.com/A.L.Michael.writer

A Real Life Book Character

When I was invited by my sweetie over at The Girl in the Moonlight to write about A Real Life Book Character I didn’t really know how to start. However I started thinking about it and I think in life we are surrounded by lots of people, who have the potential to be a real life’s book character.

A real life book character to me is someone, who has a unique story to tell, not just a great story, but a story that is different and special, in a good or a bad way, or both. A real life book character is also someone, who is strong, passionate, brave, creative – a real role model. It’s also an inspirational person, who can bring out the best in people. Of course there are also book characters, who are sensitive, introverted and don’t know what to do with their life. But as long as the have something to tell…

The first person that comes to mind, is a 19 year old girl I know. 5 years ago she had a surgery and ever since then her life has changed, she can barley see, has to take lots of medicine and she is struggeling with lots of things because of her condition. Someone has to be there for her 24/7 and a normal life is unimaginable. She has a big passion though – drawing. Whenever she has time she draws beautiful patterns and colours them. She created several cards and also a beautiful scarf. She is one of the bravest people I know and she is full of energy and happiness whenever I see her. I really admire her, her future is uncertain, but she still manages to help others and make something of the things she still can do.

People suffer, people have to fight for there dreams. I know a lady, who had to go through a lot when it came to job searching, she got lots of rejections and then she also had to deal with a tragedy. The most important thing though – she fought and went for it all, taking a risk, but eventually it paid off and she met the love of her life through it. Such a sweet and adorable story…

Thinking about it, I believe that each and every one of us is a real life book character. We all have our own story to tell and maybe someone would like to read yours. I often find myself relating to a book character so much and I start to adore them. You never know, but someone might feel that with you and we can also make another person’s story more complete and wonderful.

What about your real life book character?! I’d love to hear more about them ;) I’d like to ask some of my lovely blogger friends to tell us about their real life book character – so if you are up for it Jenny, Suze, Becca and Holly Martin You don’t have to of course, but it would be very interesting…

Liebster Award!

Thanks to the lovely Jody over at Spoonful of HappyEndings for nominating me. I love doing posts like this, it’s so much fun!

Here are the Liebster Award rules:

1. Post 11 facts about yourself.

2. Answer the 11 questions created by the person who nominated you, then create your own set for the people who you are going to nominate!

3. Choose 11 people (that have under 200 followers) to nominate and link them to your post.

4. Let the people you nominated know they've been tagged. No tag backs!

11 Facts About Myself:

•  I’m obsessed with hockey, I follow our league here in Switzerland, but it’s nothing compared to the NHL. My fave teams: Dallas Stars, Vancouver Canucks, Tampa Bay Lightning. My favourite player: Tyler Seguin, Dallas Stars.

•  I love musicals. Whenever I go to London I go see at least one. My highlight so far: Seeing Assassins and then meeting Aaron Tveit, he’s amazing!

•  The school I work for has a wonderful view down to he city, the only problem in winter: the snow, I don’t like driving in the snow.

•  I love being a Beta reader, it’s so much fun to get „behind the scenes“ if writing a book.

•  I haven’t read the Fifty Shades books (yet).

•  I love coffee, Starbucks is ok, but in Italy you still get the best one.

•  My English essays were always better than my German ones, and German is my mother tongue.

•  London and Vancouver are my second homes. I try to go back to London regularly, I wish it were that easy with Vancouver.

•  Singing is my way to relax. I have a rehearsal every week, without it something seems weird.

•  I love fashion and that’s why I started the Fashion Corner on my blog. I love trying out outfits and defining my style.

•  Starting my blog has been one of the best decisions of my life.

11 Questions:

•  What's your favourite colour combination? Different shades of blue and turquoise, like the sea.

•  Which book did you last read that was way better than you expected? That's kind of a hard question, because when I pick a book, I usually pick one I think will be great. Of course with review copies that's different. I'd say The Dandelion Years by Erica James, because it was my first book by her and I had no idea what to expect. I loved it!!!!

•  Which genre of films are you definitely NOT a fan of? Horror, I hate it!

•  Which character from 'Friends' are you most like? Good questions, I’d say Rachel probably, I always felt close to her and I did a playbuzz quiz on it and the answer: Rachel ;)

•  Cereals or toast? Both, it really depends on my mood.

•  If you would take part in a Miss World competition, what would your talent be? Playing the piano and singing a song.

•  What is the last thing you watched on TV? NHL Hockey.

•  Are you happy with your name? I am. My mum told me she wanted Vanessa, I’m glad my dad didn’t like the name, there are so many Vanessas out there. I wish they would have made my second name official though.

•  What is your guilty pleasure? TV series and coffee.

•  Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny? Definitely Santa Claus, I never really was a big fan of the Easter bunny.

•  What's one of the most important things you've learned in your life so far? Be yourself and go after your dreams, it doesn't matter what other people think, you have to feel happy. 

11 New Questions:

·      List 5 things you want to do before the year ends.

·      What do you value most in a friend?

·      List at least 2 things that you like about yourself.

·      Where would you like to travel?

·      What fictional character reminds you most of yourself?

·      What was your favorite TV show as a kid?

·      What’s the first thing you’d do if you were the opposite sex for one day?

·      If you had to get a tattoo on your face to save your life, what would it be?

·      What is something you find romantic?

·      Do you focus more on the past, the present, or the future?

·      How many languages can you speak?

·      A book you could read over and over again?

11 Bloggers I Nominate:

Agata @ Vanilla Read

The Girl in the Moonlight

Maryline @ M's Bookshelf

Holly @ Bookaholic Confessions

Emma P. @ Star Crossed Reviews

Ashton @ Beauty Books and Babble

Eve @ Eve's Chick Lit Reviews
Laura @ Little Northern Soul
Finished Reading
Tika @ Fangirl Confessions
Dawn @ A Page of Fictional Love

Cover Reveal - Lost by Elle Field

Lost – Elle Field

Release date: April 7th, 2015

Available to pre-order on Amazon now:

Amazon UK

Amazon US

Blurb:

"I’m starting to realise that age is just a number, but Tabitha pointed out I’m only saying that because I’m twenty-five, engaged, and have my life together. (Touch wood things stay that way.)"

Arielle is back! OK, she’s not on her way to becoming the next Coco Chanel, her childhood dream, but she is one way step closer to running her very own shop with business partner Felicity.

She’s also planning her perfect romantic wedding to fiancé, Piers, and Arielle is starting to think that she’s finally found her place in the world... Of course life is never that straightforward.

With a new-found foe interfering with her shop decisions, not to mention haughty wedding planners and loved ones facing personal struggles, will Arielle figure out what’s important before all is lost?

Lost is the second book in the delightful Arielle Lockley chick lit series, following on from the #1 best seller Kept, which was long listed in the Best Romantic Comedy category, SpaSpa Book Awards 2013. Shopaholic and Lindsey Kelk fans will love the next book in this funny coming of age series.

About the author:

Elle Field is a twenty-something chick lit author who lives in London with her boyfriend and their cat. She enjoys exploring and photographing Blighty’s capital, seeing far too many musicals, and eating her way around London's culinary delights.

You can read Elle’s literary, London and life adventures on her blog: http://www.ellefield.co.uk

Follow her on Twitter: @ellefie

Like her on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ellefieldauthor

Connect with her on Goodreads: Elle Field on Goodreads