Published by Bookouture on December 3, 2019
Genres: Fiction, Romance, Contemporary, Women, Humor, General, Romantic Comedy
Pages: 374
Format: eBook
Source: ARC
You know when you sleep through your alarm, trip over running for the bus, and then someone points out that your dress is stuck into your hotdog-print knickers? That’s basically my life right now.
Gemma didn’t expect her life to look like this. She’s still living with her mother, who steals her leggings and tells her off for leaving crumbs in the butter. After twenty failed interviews she thought she’d got her dream job as a journalist – except it turns out to be writing articles about cats that look like George Clooney. Luckily she has her wonderful boyfriend, Jack, to help her forget just how awful things are.
Then Jack dumps her out of the blue. With nothing but her childhood teddy bear, Stanley, and a whole heap of heartbreak, Gemma resolves to turn things around. She throws herself into her new job and soon she’s hanging out with cheeky, golden-haired hunk Charlie, eating in swanky restaurants and sipping trendy cocktails – and her old life seems like a distant memory.
But it’s not long until her shiny new world starts to lose its sparkle – and Gemma misses the days of wearing battered pink converse and eating peanut butter on toast in bed. Then Jack turns up, backpack in tow, and things start to go wrong with Charlie. ‘Out with the old, in with the new’, the saying goes. But what happens if neither one is quite right?
This laugh-out-loud romantic comedy is for anyone who’s ever cried their eyes out to love songs after a break-up or accidentally drunk-texted their ex. Fans of Sophie Kinsella and Lindsey Kelk will love this unmissable read which is all about falling in love with the most important person: yourself!
Ranald weaves a story that keeps a reader turning pages and ignoring adult responsibilities. Just enough detail to perfectly imagine a scene and yet still allows the reader some creative liberties. More importantly, I love that each story I have read by Ranald contains an underlying message of empowerment, self-love, and self-care. We all have been Gemma at some point. Flailing about, pretending to be an adult while we apply for job after job, still live with our parents and dreaming of a glamorous life that doesn’t require a diet of instant ramen for two out of three meals a day.
Gemma was a bit of a mess but her story is a relatable one. Well… mostly. I struggled to connect with Gemma and her passion of lifestyle vlogging. There was so much information about vlogging and Youtube that the pace slowed significantly. Of course, it picked right up once dialogue saved the day. Additionally, the relationships felt awfully abrupt in Gemma’s story leaving me a bit confused. I wish we had a chance to see more of Gemma interacting with others outside of boyfriends specifically at the office, her mother, and with her roommates. Even more of her adapting and rising above cat content at work would have sated my greedy palate.
While this story didn’t gel with me as much as the others, I still devoured it and I suspect other readers will connect with Gemma in a way that I couldn’t. After you finish Gemma’s story, pop on over and read Sorry not Sorry and Its Not You, Its Him because both of those are fabulous.
*I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
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