Review: Some Kind of Wonderful by Giovanna Fletcher

When the love of your life says you're not The One, who are you? Lizzy and Ian have been a couple since the first week of university. Now, after celebrating a decade together, everyone thinks they're about to get engaged. Instead, a romantic escape to Dubai leaves Lizzy with no ring, no fiancé and no future. Lizzy is heartbroken - but through the tears, she sees an opportunity. This is her moment to discover what she's been missing while playing Ian's ideal 'better half'. But how much has Ian changed her, and who should she be without him? Determined to discover who she is at heart, Lizzy sets out to rediscover the girl she was before - and, in the meantime, have a little fun . . . 

Review: This book instantly felt like a classic rom com as soon as I started reading it. The strong female lead, the rubbish boy friend, the whole premise of the book screams everything that I love from my favourite genre of book and it delivered as well. I loved the fact that we have a strong female lead in this book. All of Giovanna's books have this in common but this one seemed a little different from her others so I was a little worried that the lead might be a little more of a pushover but she is feisty and I loved spending time with Lizzy. The other characters in the novel provide great comedy moments and great moments of tenderness too. I loved that fact that Lizzy is close with both of her parents. She has an amazing best friend who is a serial dater and so has great stories to tell. My favourite supporting character though had to be sister Emily. She was wonderful, I want to be her and I loved every scene with her in. 

This book is also very easy to relate to. Lizzy is in her late twenties and so has a lot of the same teenage memories that I have. She has some really nostalgic moments that I was nodding along with thinking 'me too, me too' so that was wonderful. She is also at a bit of a crossroads in her life and so goes back and relies on the support of her parents, something which I could also identify with, and I;m sure a lot of readers out there will also be able to understand. This book is also set in a very relatable setting Lizzy doesn't have a glamorous London lifestyle, she lives in Essex, so not a million miles away from London but still embraces the village life and is around those she knew growing up, I really liked this aspect of the book. 

Although this isn't a Christmas book, Christmas does take place during the course of the novel and is a cosy family affair so I really enjoyed the fact that I left this book until December to really get into. There are also themes of a new beginning and reflection on the past which people do during the last month of the year before we see in a new one! I listened to this book on audiobook and I really enjoyed the voice that the narrator gave Lizzy, I found I could identify with her more because I got used to that particular voice. For more exciting moments though, the narrator was a little monotone. I couldn't imagine Lizzy not getting more than a little het up at an argument with her boyfriend or exciting moments on New Year's eve. 

If you follow this author on YouTube or Instagram then you will definitely be able to see parts of her personality in this book and I liked that, she also mentions the charity that she works with which I thought was great. one of the other moments that I really liked was that she mentions more of my favourites authors, Lizzy apparently has the same taste in book as me since we are both fans of Lindsey Kelk and Paige Toon. 

This was a really lovely read and if you are after a very classic, Sophie Kinsella feeling, romantic comedy then this one is most definitely for you. Although it isn't a Christmas book it makes for perfect reading at this time of year and so I would definitely recommend popping this one on your Christmas list or downloading it now and enjoying a moment of calm in the run up to the festivities. 

To order your copy now, just click the link: UK or US