My So-Called (Love) Life

I loved the sound of my so called love life thats why i signed up for the blog tour and was very happy to be chosen.

As soon as i read the line ' He dumped me because i started going to the gym and my tits got to small ' me and Tig connected.

I really liked Tig i think her name is great as well as her character she is very likeable character she has moments of insecurity but she still fought on to find her own happiness and i was 100 % behind her and wanted tig to be happy.

My so called love life had a lovely mix of feel good and laugh out loud moments it is certainly a lovely feel good book and that i had pleasure in reading and reviewing.

Im part of the blog tour for this book so review will go on blog the 25th Feb

I was given an ecopy of this book by the author in exchange for an honest review as part of the blog tour for 'My So-Called Love Life' which I'm more than happy to give.

I liked the synopsis for this book, it wasn't just the thought of copious amounts of cocktails to get the setting right - honest, who doesn't love a margarita?

Tigerlily - Tig to her friends is a member of the Misery Dinners Club, she and her two closest friends Dana and Ame are on serious downers. Gathering weekly to put the world to rights, wallow in self pity and stick pins in the virtual bodies of their ex's. Sounds like a good idea at first, but as the three women's lives continue without their parters - cracks being to appear within the friendships.

The main focus of the book is on Tig, her boyfriend ceremoniously, dumped her on Valentines Day five days before her wedding - they'd been together for twelve years, since they were 15 years old - you can imagine how low she was feeling when she opened an invitation to his wedding, mere months after he had ended their relationship! She's not been able to pull herself together since and her whole life had been put on hold - instead she spends her days drinking tea in Enchanted (a tea shop/cafe) and evenings hitting the bottle to drown her sorrows.

Despite all this, there is a ray of sunshine in the form of Ollie, the new waiter at Enchanted who ends up being a shoulder to cry on - his personality jumps off the page, more than making up for Tig's wallowing and self pity. He is just passing through, he will be around for a few months before continuing his travels and offers more than an ear to Tig - he really could be the answer to all her problems. Tig needs a date for her ex's wedding and Ollie readily agrees but lays down a few conditions.

I literally devoured the pages of this book. The characters were so well written, visualising each of them was easy. At first Tig came across as flat and lifeless but, even at the beginning I could see the occasional spark - she was feisty and quick to react but clearly had a heart of gold that she'd managed to successfully bury in her bid to protect herself from more hurt. It was a beautiful journey that I travelled with Tig, watching as her true self emerged and the feistiness gave way to a gentle character that grew in strength and determination as the story unfolded. As I'm sure everyone who reads this book will agree Ollie was just a dish, he oozed charm and sexiness without coming across as smarmy and fake - all credit to the author as this sort of character is one that I usually find difficult to buy into. Somehow, they always come across as smug and self important, two qualities I can honestly say are not shared by Ollie. The temperament of Tig and Ollie couldn't be more different. Ollie being the antidote to Tig's poison. He is the catalyst in the changes in not only Tig, but her friends too. He comes across as totally selfless, focused on making Tig feel good about herself, he was a total ray of sunshine, pushing Tig but stopping just short of bullying - all the while letting her make her own decisions, knowing when to push and when to back off. But the best characters in this book without doubt have to be Tigs, hippy, parents. I literally choked laughing at some of the things they came out with - some truly, cringeworthy moments that only a parent can orchestrate - they were hilarious.

This truly is a story of trust, hope and determination, communication and honesty - sometimes focusing on someone else's problems and situations is the best medicine a person could have and as each one makes moves to start living their lives again you can literally feel the bounce, determination and energy leap off the page. Each and every character in this book eventually learns to both give and take, realising that successful relationships of any kind cannot be built on just one thing at all. The Misery Dinners served a purpose in the beginning as a support structure but it took just one person breaking out to make them all realise - life is for living, not wallowing in self pity. It's better to be happy and alone than miserable in a relationship and ultimately no matter what we have to be responsible for our own destiny. As for Ollie, outwardly he is Mr Happy, strong and supportive, is he exactly what it says on the tin? He's travelling the world, never laying down roots - is he happy or is he escaping? You'll have to read this book to find out for yourself, read all the history both past and present of each of the characters and travel with each of them as they learn to compromise and discover what is important and what is superficial in their lives.

I truly loved this fab story and highly recommend it to all chick lit readers who love a happy ending but want a story that is more than just gloss - My So Called Love Life will give you several hours of escapism and an ending that doesn't quite happen in the way you might initially think it would. You'll laugh out loud, sigh with happiness, cringe a little and may even be close to shedding a tear.

I went through a phase of refusing to read romantic comedy books. I admit, I was embittered by being cruelly dumped that my bitter and twisted response was to cut off reading about the girl who gets the guy when at that time of my life was the complete opposite to my situation. You may be wondering why I am sharing this part of my past but I swear to you that I have a point. Basically, I became Tig. I had gone through something similar (nowhere near as bad as what Tig went through but enough to leave me cold and angry and in need of the feel good factor) and this, dear reader, is what is great about this book. Any girl that has had their heart cruelly broken will find this a great read.

Besides a storyline that is easy to empathise with the characters are truly loveable. You want Tig to come back to life and you want her and Ollie to make it. Apart from that, you also want someone to come into your life and sweep you off your feet with a series of romantic dates.

In a storyline that could very easily become cheesy AL Michael has managed to avoid that plot pitfall and created lively three dimensional characters with real world lives and real world problems…you know in a fictional format. What I am trying to say is that this book will fill you with the warm and fuzzies and you should add it to your ‘to be read’ pile straight away.

My So-Called (Love) Life has surpassed all of my previous reads of 2015 and has quickly taken the top spot. It is going to be a hard book to beat for my personal favourite therefore I bid all future reads good luck.

My So-Called (Love) Life by AL Michael is available now.

You can follow AL Michael (@ALMichael_) on Twitter.

*Book provided by the publisher on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

A.L. Michael’s writing took me right into this fabulous story! It was so much fun reading about Tigerlily and her story.

She has been with the same guy for over 12 years and then he dumps her, 6 days before her wedding!!!
Tigerlily is ready for a new start now, but she doesn’t even know how to date. Then she gets an invite to his wedding…

Meeting Ollie is perfect timing. Ollie is gorgeous, thoughtful, funny and they build up a friendship really fast. Both of them are really honest and tell each other pretty much everything about their lives. They make a deal to help each other out and “boom” Tig found herself a fake boyfriend. There are rules of course: no sex, no strings…
Time passes and Tigerlily has difficulties dealing with the rules! Image what happens, when real feelings get involved. Oh and did I mention, Ollie leaves for his chef job in the Bahamas in a few months, doesn’t make the whole situation easier.

I loved Ollie’s and Tig’s scenes, very entertaining, fun, sweet and with a lot of spark. I really liked both characters so much. Tigerlily is confident and had a great spirit and Ollie just sounds like a wonderful guy. He was there to help her, guide her and make her see the light, but she also changed him… They have to go through a lot, to finally realize what they really want and by the end I just thought that what they had from the start was adorable and really authentic. I loved the ending!!!

Tig’s best friends Dana and Ame were also a great addition to the story and I really admired their friendship. It was portrayed in such a real and honest way.

The title of this book fits perfectly and I really like the idea of the whole storyline. It had flow, the right amount of drama and some fabulous characters. The story put a huge smile on my face and it’s just a feel-good with a lit of spark, glimmer, friendship, heart, fun and love. I couldn’t put it down!!!

I would like to thank author AL Michael for sending me the link to this book on NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

When we first meet Tig she is still down about splitting with her ex-boyfriend just a week before their wedding. Tig and her friends set up the Young and Bitter club where they would meet and slate all relationships.

Tig then meets the gorgeous Ollie, he has a proposition for her, pretend to be his girlfriend for three months and he would help her get back into the dating scene, simple Tig thought, plus Ollie agreed to be her plus one when she receives an invite to her ex’s wedding. Ollie would be leaving after three months so this would be perfect for both of them.

I really liked both Tig and from AL Michaels way of writing I really felt that I knew Tig within a few pages. Ollie however was different he is an enigma who’s story unfolds gradually as Tig and he get to know each other. Also with other books that I have read he is hot stuff.

This is a wonderful idea for a book, in parts is was laugh out loud and in others I found myself shaking my head, although the book is set around twenty something year olds this could so easily be set with older characters as I’m sure we have all felt the same as Tig and her friends at some point, especially when it comes to the ups and downs of relationships.

The only downside to this I found the timeline to be a little bit out, maybe me. This didn’t detect from the story and it’s probably me being pedantic.