NEW RELEASE
My So-Called (Love) Life - A.L. Michael (2015)
Tigerlily and her friends, Ame and Dana, meet up for regular Misery Dinners. Tig is still getting over being dumped five days before her wedding, Ame is going through a divorce and Dana is grieving the loss of a loved one. When Tig's former fiance, Darren, sends her an invitation to his wedding, a charming barman named Ollie offers to be her plus-one - and coach her in the fine art of dating over the next three months. Then he's clearing off overseas. Trouble is soon Tig's getting used to having her fake boyfriend around - and there's definitely something real about the feelings she's got for him. This is a light and easy read, written in a way that would definitely make me seek out the author's other books. There's nothing special about the plot but it's an enjoyable read, nonetheless. It would have been nice to have seen the friend characters developed more - for example, it was never fully explained what happened with Dana and whoever Elodie was.
My So-Called (Love) Life, by A.L. Michael, is about a girl who needs to date a fake boyfriend for three months. The summary says: "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 fiance. 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 practice. 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!"