Not That Kind Of Ever After by Luci Adams

Bella Marble is a true, hopeless, despairing romantic. Above all things, even above her wish to be a writer, she wants love.

But when her beautiful best friend moves out of their flat share to live with the most boring ogre in history, and her perfectly paired parents tell her their own love story is coming to an end, Bella's illusions of a happily ever after start to shatter. If they can't find 'the one', what chance does she have?

Disenchanted, Bella throws herself into looking for love in all the wrong places. London may be fresh out of knights in shining Armani, but it's got a surplus of frogs - and as Bella learns, kissing frogs can be extremely fun.

But Bella is forgetting the essential rule of all fairytales.

There is nothing more powerful than a first kiss . . .

Not That Kind of Ever After by Luci Adams is a modern fairy-tale as Bella tries to find her Prince Charming in the dating game in the modern world and being a keen writer she longs to have her first book out in the world so why not combine the two and write about every frog she kisses and every hairy wolf she meets.

I have read a few books recently which are centred around modern day dating but they have all been a little flat and drag on a little too much so I will be honest and say I was a little hesitant when starting this book so it had to do a lot to try and win me over but win me over it did! It was clear from the opening line of the book which I read again and again just to make sure I had read it right that this was going to be a funny storyline with a main character who had no filters!

Bella took a while for me to warm to and even towards the end of the book there were times that she made me cringe or just rubbed me right up the wrong way but this is what gave her character more grit. At times I was routing for her and felt quite sorry for her but then she showed another side to her and she was like a hormonal teenager! What Bella does do with help from the author is provide us with copious amounts of humour as she embarks on each dreadful date and just when you think she couldn’t get any worse she then tops it with another unexpected encounter especially with certain housemates which I won’t lie was a shocker.

Although the book has this extreme unbelievable fairy-tale dating front there is also a more down to earth storyline weaved in which focuses on the effects on friendships as we grow up, separation issues and a more believable love story. I think in some ways a lot of people will relate to Bella as stripped back she is a woman who is at a point in her life where everything and everyone in her life is changing and moving forward and she doesn’t seem to be able to do the same.

This was a light witty modern read that I thoroughly enjoyed and I think fans of Beth O’Leary and Lindsey Kelk will enjoy this as long as you are not too prudish! 

 

Paperback               Kindle