Sunday 29 January 2017

Book Review & Giveaway - How to Get a (Love) Life by Rosie Blake - #AroundTheUKIn144Books #Bristol - Fab Firsts



Fab Firsts is my new regular Sunday feature, that is going to be highlighting books that are firsts. When interviewing authors, it will be about their first book, as well as other firsts in their lives. When reviewing books for this feature, there will be a mix of debuts, first books in a series, the first time I read an author, and possibly other firsts depending on what I can think of!

If you are an author wanting to take part in Fab Firsts then please do email on gilbster at gmail dot com and I'll whizz the questions over to you.

I hope you enjoy this look at a variety of hopefully fabulous firsts, while making some sort of dent in my review and paperback TBRs which are my current main focus!

How to Get a (Love) Life was Rosie Blake's debut novel and is now coming out in paperback on the 2nd February. 

Amazon UK
Title:  How to Get a (Love) Life
Author: Rosie Blake
Format reviewed: Ebook
Source: Purchased
Publisher: Corvus
Publication Date: 2nd February 2017
Rating: 4 Stars


Nicola Brown doesn't like to lose control. Her flat is always meticulously tidy and her weekly meals carefully planned; Nicola keeps her life in order. When her carefree colleague Caroline challenges Nicola to find a date for Valentine's Day, it's a surprise to them both when Nicola agrees.

As Nicola's search for a man begins, she is thrown in at the deep end - sometimes quite literally - of the dating scene. From men more likely to sell their mother than open their wallet, to those who are determined to find a girlfriend who shares their passion for extreme sports, Nicola has to run the full gamut of dodgy dates. But as the deadline looms closer, Nicola realises it isn't so bad to lose control. It turns out that trying to get a love life can be rather a lot of fun...

How to Get a (Love) Life is a highly amusing story about one girl and her attempts at dating. Nicola is at the start of the story an incredibly regimented person, she is slightly OCD, has a habit of eating the same food the same day each week, and even waits until a certain time of her lunch break to eat a sweet treat. Her life seems to be in  a bit of a rut, but she isn't completely sure she needs to change. 

Her colleague Caroline dares Nicola to have a date by Valentines Day which is four months away. Nicola agrees which is rather surprising and from that her life slowly changes.  There are some absolutely hilarious dates which Nicola is set up on, my favourite of which involved Kayaking in the sea, in November! 

While Nicola is trying to see if she can find anyone she would even like a second date with, her brother keeps coming round too, and has his own romance problems. Her brother is absolutely bat mad, and seems to be fairly socially inept. He has his own specific way of looking at things, and even comes up with a plan to win the girl he loves, including graphic stick figure drawings!

I loved seeing the lengths Nicola was willing to go to, just to try and win a dare. You get the first hint as to her whole mindset in the prologue, while the majority of the book is leading up to that point in time. Amongst the ways she tries to meet men is going to a driving range, and taking up a carpentry class. Add in a whole bunch of unreliable and dodgy men, and you have the general idea of her current attempts at dating! 

I found as the book went on, I was liking Nicola more and more, as her personality opened up a bit, and her brother grew on me too. I also was loving both Caroline and James who she works with, and in fact the whole entire nutty office environment she was working in. 

This was Rosie Blake's debut novel but yet its the third book of hers that I have read, and with that point of view, I can say that her writing, and storytelling gets better with each release. How to Get a (Love) Life is a very pleasurable debut, and is a book I thoroughly enjoyed. 


Giveaway to win 1 x How to Get A (Love) Life (Paperback) (Europe only) 

I happen to have a spare copy of the new paperback release of this book, for one lucky winner. 


Giveaway is open to Europe only (but don't worry there will be more INT giveaways in the future) , all options are voluntary, but please do what they ask, as I will be verifying the winner. Giveaway closes 23:59 6/2/2017. Winner will be announced on twitter and emailed, and they will need to reply within 7 days, or forfeit the prize, and I will re-draw for a new winner.  Good luck everyone.

Win 1 x How to Get A (Love) Life (Paperback) (Europe only)

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