Review: 'How to Find Your (First) Husband' by Rosie Blake (2016)

It's a beautiful day in 1994 and the turn-out in the school playground is fantastic. Isobel is eight years old and marrying Andrew Parker, the boy of her dreams. Life is perfect. Then the ceremony is over, and a week later so is the marriage. Twenty years on and Isobel is dressed as a prawn handing out promotional fliers outside an L.A. fish market. Her career is going nowhere and her love life leaves a lot to be desired. Nothing Isobel hoped for has gone to plan. Then, she catches sight of Andrew, her first husband, in the background of a TV news item and wonders: if she can track down Andrew, will she recapture the happiness that she felt all those years ago? Isobel travels the globe to find her first husband, via Cornwall, Devon and a remote Malaysian island, but is he really what she is looking for?
I love romantic comedy novels that really make me laugh out loud, and if I have to name a few authors who definitely do that with their novels Rosie Blake is one of them. I've had the pleasure of reading Rosie's other books 'How to Get a (Love) Life' and 'How to Stuff Up Christmas' (click here to read my review), which I both really enjoyed, so I was excited when I recently found a review copy of her 2016 summer release 'How to Find Your (First) Husband' on my doorstep! The book has a lovely cover and promises another great Rosie Blake story, so I couldn't wait to get started and dive in! 
Isobel Graves gave up her life in the UK to go to LA to live her dream of becoming a TV presenter. Unfortunately, her career doesn't really follow the plan Isobel originally had as she mainly finds herself dressing up in various costumes to promote food, just to be able to pay the rent. When Isobel unexpectedly spots her childhood best friend, and also first husband (sealed in the form of a playground marriage when she was 8), Andrew Parker on TV, she decides to go on a chase to find him, to see what they had was real; you don't just choose anyone to be your very first husband after all! Isobel's adventure eventually brings her to the other side of the world, where she is forced to really think about what it is she wants from life and what will make her happy.
When I look for the perfect holiday/summer read, there are a few things a book needs to have: a captivating storyline, a light-hearted topic that isn't too serious, a bit of romance, and a good dose of humour. Rosie Blake's latest release 'How to Find Your (First) Husband' ticks all of those boxes and is a great read which I can highly recommend to any rom com/chick lit fan. I personally really enjoy Rosie’s funny and distinctive writing style and I instantly enjoyed Isobel’s story. I was curious to see whether she would eventually find Andrew and whether he would match the idea she had of him in her head. The extra layer added to the book by having Isobel travel all over the world to find Andrew was an entertaining one, and there wasn’t a moment in which I felt like putting the book down because I just wanted to keep on reading and discover what was going to happen.
I particularly loved the friendship between main character Isobel and her best friend Mel, who is quite simply hilarious, and the two of them just form a fantastic duo. There are other great secondary characters, such as Isobel’s mother, and enough going on to keep the reader’s attention at all times. This really is a wonderful summer read by Rosie Blake, and I am once again really excited about Rosie’s work and can’t wait for her next book! Overall, ‘How to Find Your (First) Husband’ is a light-hearted, funny and entertaining romantic comedy, perfect for fans of authors such as Lisa Dickenson and Tracie Bloom, but also worthwhile to pick up if you’re looking for a fun and not too serious summer read!

Rating:9,5/10

  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.

Review: 'How to Stuff Up Christmas' by Rosie Blake (2015)

Tis the season to be jolly. Unless you've found an intimate picture of another woman on your fiance's phone... 
Eve is heartbroken after discovering her fiance is cheating on her. Being surrounded by the joys of Christmas is more than Eve can bear, so she chooses to avoid the festivities by spending Christmas alone on a houseboat in Pangbourne. Eve gets an unexpected seasonal surprise when handsome local vet Greg comes to her rescue one day, and continues to visit Eve's boat on a mission to transform her from Kitchen Disaster Zone to Culinary Queen. 
But where does Greg keep disappearing to? What does Eve's best friend Daisy know that she isn't telling? And why is there an angry goose stalking Eve's boat?
I've been looking forward to picking up Rosie Blake's festive latest releae 'How to Stuff Up Christmas' for several weeks now. I read her debut novel 'How to Get a (Love) Life' in 2014 (click here to read my review) and thoroughly enjoyed it. Rosie's writing style is so easy to read and really funny and I was really excited when I heard Corvus would be releasing this festive novel in November 2015. I straight away loved both the book description and the cover (if that doesn't make you feel all festive and Christmassy, I don't know what will!) and already had a good feeling this would turn out to be a Christmas read I would thoroughly enjoy!
Eve has been going through the motions since she and her ex-fiancee Liam broke up after she discovered he was cheating on her. Last year at Christmas she couldn't have been happier, but this year the only thing she wants is to just get away from it all. Despite protests from her family, Eve decides to spend the whole month of December, just her and her dog Marmite, on a houseboat in Pangbourne, where she will also do a pottery course. Pangbourne has a few surprises waiting for Eve, though, in the form of handsome local vet Greg and an angry goose who doesn't want to leave her alone. Will Eve manage to find some peace and quiet during the festive lead-up to Christmas or does life have different things in store for her...?
This book certainly lived up to the pretty high expectations I had and I don't think Rosie Blake will ever disappoint me. Her incredibly fun and easy-to-fall-into writing style already grabbed me from the first few pages and I still had that smile on my face when I finished the novel. This book is a great title to pick up when you're looking for a fun and festive read, because if the story doesn't make you feel like Christmas, the delicious recipes included in the novel certainly will! Next to that, it's also quite a quick read with a good length (just over 300 pages), an entertaining storyline and a well-drawn group of characters.
Protagonist Eve is someone many female readers will be able to relate to; haven't we all been disappointed by men and wishing we could get over it with a snap of our fingers? Eve is dealing with quite the break-up and she decides to spend her Christmas alone. I easily warmed to Eve and also loved the secondary characters, such as handsome vet Greg, Eve's best friend Daisy, and the incredibly cute and funny Marmite, Eve's dog. I did feel like the story had a bit of a slow phase in the middle of the book, but the pace picked up again, luckily. Overall, I thought 'How to Stuff Up Christmas' is a simply stunning, hilarious and heart-warming festive read; a novel that will make you go into the holiday season with a smile on your face!

Rating:9,5/10

  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.

Review 'How To Get a (Love) Life' by Rosie Blake (2014)

Some people book last-minute holidays, walk barefoot in the grass or party on a week night. Not Nicola Brown. Nicola is the kind of girl who double-locks the front door, leaves the plastic covering on new furniture, sticks to a super-strict diet and definitely, absolutely Does Not Date.
Her colleague Caroline – loopy, warm and exasperated by her, knows that Nicola's reluctance to lose control means she's living only half a life. And so she lays down the gauntlet: Nicola must cast aside her hang ups and go on as many dates as it takes to find true love in time for Valentine's Day.
The pick of local men is, quite frankly, a bit rubbish. And there are only three months until February 14th. Surely it's an impossible task? But, as Nicola is about to find out on her dodgy dates, letting go isn't quite as scary as she imagined. In fact, it's rather a lot of fun...
I can’t believe it has almost been a year since popular women’s fiction website Novelicious announced its own digital imprint! So far, Novelicious’ releases have been paired with quite a bit of attention and excitement and this was also the case with Rosie Blake’s debut novel, ‘How to Get a (Love) Life.’ I’ve been following Rosie on Twitter for quite some time and her Tweets are incredibly funny, so I was really looking forward to checking out her book. Thanks to Rosie herself and Kerry at Novelicious I received a review copy and couldn’t wait to sit down with it and read!
Nicola Brown is nearing the end of her twenties and as single as can be. Not that she has a problem with that; Nicola likes to control everything in her life, from what she eats to at what specific time she eats it, and letting a man into her life doesn’t really fit in with that. However, Nicola’s colleague Caroline has different ideas about this and believes it is time for Nicola to find her Mr. Right. She challenges Nicola to go on as many dates as possible in order to find the perfect guy to celebrate Valentine’s Day with. This gives Nicola three months to find her way around the dating scene, including dating her brother’s friends and being set up on blind dates. Will Nicola be able to let go and have fun or is three months simply not long enough to find the right guy...?
When this book was released, it caused quite a bit of a hype on Twitter and within the book blogging world. Everyone seemed to be talking about Rosie Blake and her debut novel (which, by the way, has a fabulously bright and lovely cover I instantly adored); this made me quite curious but also gave me certain expectations. Thankfully, the book definitely lived up to them! I immediately warmed to Nicola, the protagonist; she’s likeable, down-to-earth, and I could relate to her in numerous ways, which I’m sure numerous other female readers will be able to do as well. Her dating journey to find Mr. Right was hilarious and entertaining, and because of that I wouldn’t have minded if it had consisted of a couple of more dates. Next to a great heroine and enjoyable storyline, the book also has a lovely collection of support characters, such as Nicola’s brother Mark, her colleague Caroline and her boss James (whom I definitely developed a small crush on while reading!).
I have to agree with some other reviews that the book ended a bit suddenly, but it did have the ending I was hoping for, so I wasn’t disappointed. The book was exactly what I expected and hoped it would be: a thoroughly enjoyable and funny read, and it has only left me with a feeling of wanting more of Rosie Blake’s wonderful writing. ‘How to Get a (Love) Life’ is a fun, light-hearted and uplifting read, a story which I’m sure any chick lit fan will enjoy!
Rating:

      9/10
For more information about this book: Amazon UK / Amazon US / Goodreads    Thanks to the publisher for providing me with a review copy in exchange for an honest review.