Review: SINGLE IN THE CITY by Michele Gorman ****

It’s official. Hannah has left her friends and family in the US behind and is following her dream. To live in London. Unfortunately she's completely unprepared for what's in store. She’s going to find:
1. Her dream guy. A prince or Hugh Grant would be nice. Or does she have to settle for her half-naked Australian housemate or an "English gentleman" with terrible hygiene habits?
2. Her dream job. Something fantastic in fashion. So how has she ended up being the mini-me for an evil party planner who doesn’t even trust her to arrange the paperclips?
3. Her dream friends. But everyone in London seems to have known each other for years and Hannah’s having trouble getting to know nice people. Who’s she going to have fun with?
Dream life? Should Hannah just dream on? Maybe it would have been simpler and cheaper to just get a new haircut. Was she mad to move 3,000 miles away from everyone she knows? Will she ever find love and her perfect life in England?

I've been looking forward to reading this book for months - a book about a twenty-something moving to London (♥) with a gorgeous cover? It was just screaming my name and I had to pick it up asap. ;)

I expected the book to be funny based on Michele's awesome tweets, but I was in no way prepared for the hilarity that ensued - the book literary had me in stitches! To get a quick taste of what I'm talking about, click here to read the first few pages! :)

The plot wasn't exactly gripping - it's just the story of a twenty-something American expat who moves to London more or less on a whim and tries to make a fresh start and so we follow her on her journey as she searches for a new flat, a new job, makes new friends and hooks up with several (interesting) guys in the process.

It's a simple story really, nothing particularly ground breaking, but what *makes* this book is Hannah, the narrator herself. We follow the story from her point of view and she's just an awesome chick! Her thoughts are all over the place and she gets herself in the most embarrassing and hilarious situations, backed up with fantastic commentary. I absolutely adored her and you could hardly wish for a better narrator in a romcom! The supporting characters are fab too - Stacey and Chloe and Sam and the flatmates etc., and even the less positive characters were a lovely addition to the story.

All in all, this was a fantastic debut and a lovely light read - perfect for fans of Sophie Kinsella or Jenny Colgan! I have to say the book was even better than I expected and I cannot wait to read more by Ms Gorman! I do hope she has a sequel in store - she damn well should as our Hannah is obviously embarking on another massive adventure and I wonder what happens next!

overall rating:
plot: 4/5 | writing: 5/5 | characters: 5/5 | cover: 5/5