Review: 'How to Get Hitched in Ten Days' by Samantha Tonge (2016)

Meet Mikey, every girl’s best friend – he bakes the creamiest cheesecake, loves movie nights and is a great dance partner.
For Jasmine, Mikey is the perfect flatmate – he owns a 50s diner that turns out the best food around, gives the best bear hugs and amazing romance advice – after all they’re scoping out the same hot guys! So when her boyfriend proposes in the worst possible way, Jazz knows her best friend will be there to pick up the pieces with gourmet popcorn, Pinot sleepovers and a shoulder to lean on.
But Mikey isn’t about to let Jasmine give up on love, and he’s ready to do whatever it takes to mend her broken heart – even if it means helping the one person who sees him as the enemy…
Because at the end of the day, all’s fair in the pursuit of true love… right?
If there’s a chick lit/rom com author who I continue to come across on Twitter, other book blogs, Goodreads and Amazon but whose books I somehow haven’t read yet, it’s Samantha Tonge. I’ve seen the lovely covers and read the descriptions for some of her novels like ‘Doubting Abbey’, ‘From Paris with Love’ and ‘Game of Scones’, and I have a good feeling I would really enjoy her work. So, when Carina UK approved my Netgalley request to review her latest release, ‘How to Get Hitched in Ten Days’, which was released on February 11th, I was really excited. Finally the chance to be introduced to Samantha’s work and discover her stories myself!
Mikey and Jasmine are flatmates and the best of friends. Mikey serves the most delicious comfort food at his own 50s-style American diner and is always there to help Jasmine when she needs a shoulder to cry on or advice on her love life. So, when her long-term boyfriend Dave drunkenly asks Jasmine to marry him after a few drinks too many, Jasmine definitely needs Mikey’s listening ear. While Jasmine is confused and needs to think about her future with Dave, Mikey decides to help Dave win Jasmine’s heart back, even though Dave doesn’t appear to be his biggest fan…
I was a bit surprised when I discovered ‘How to Get Hitched in Ten Days’ is actually a novella instead of a full-length novel, but this definitely didn’t ruin the reading experience. I’m really glad I finally managed to check out one of Samantha Tonge’s works, because she has an entertaining writing style that suits the chick lit/romantic comedy genre really well. The story is told from the perspectives of leading characters Mikey and Jasmine, who are the best of friends. It was incredibly easy to warm to Mikey, I honestly thought he was a great character and would love to read more about him. His friendship with Jasmine is a great one, even though I have to admit I didn’t particularly like Jasmine. Perhaps it also has to do with the fact that this is a novella and there’s not a lot of space to really get to know characters in-depth, but I just didn’t really connect with Jasmine on any level, unfortunately.
I don’t want to give too much away about the story, but I really enjoyed the plotline of the book and think it would have definitely made a great full-length novel as well, especially with the room to expand more on the characters and their backgrounds. However, this has definitely provided me with the chance to be introduced to Samantha Tonge’s work and I already can’t wait to read one of her other books. So, overall, ‘How to Get Hitched in Ten Days’ is a light-hearted, cute, quick read with a good dose of romance; a great novella to pick up when you’re looking for a fast-paced and quick read!        

Rating:8/10

  For more information about this book: Amazon.co.uk / Amazon.com / Goodreads

Thanks to the publisher for providing me with a review copy in exchange for an honest review.