Review: "Single in the City" by Michele Gorman

Desperate for big change in her life, 26-year-old Hannah drops everything and moves to the UK. She has no job, no home, no connections, and no friends in London, but she's confident that things will work out, somehow. Despite a rough start and a considerable dose of culture shock, Hannah starts getting her new life together in London. She lands a job, although her boss certainly seems to hate her, she meets men, although none seem to be real prospects, and she makes new friends, although they can't quite compare to her best friend at home. As she adjusts to her new life, Hannah learns that the happiest endings are worth the extra work that it may take to get there.

Michele Gorman decided to self-publish her novel in the US (more on that to come when Michele guest posts here tomorrow!) and I'm certainly glad that she did. Single in the City is witty and charming, and it's filled with laugh-out-loud scenarios (salad cream anyone??). I've long been fascinated with England and English culture, and this book allowed me to do more than a little armchair travelling in a city that I would love to someday visit. I appreciated the main character, Hannah. I can't imagine how much guts it would take to just pick up and leave your home country without a job prospect on the horizon. Hannah manages to turn her impulsive decision into a positive one and I loved how she managed to land on her feet (although not without complications!).

Women's fiction lovers will enjoy the underlying romantic plot (I certainly did), but I appreciated that Single in the City touches on the issues of friendship, culture shock, and being willing to take risks in life. It all blended together to create a funny, highly readable book perfect for anyone who enjoys reading humorous women's fiction.

Gorman is doing something exciting that I haven't heard of before. Single in the City will have a sequel, and we, the readers, get to have input into what will happen to our heroine next. Gorman is on Facebook, she has a Twitter handle, and she has a website, and she will be soliciting input as to what direction the new book will take as well be providing us with updates along the way. There have definitely been times when I wished that I could have had input into a sequel, so I think that this is a great idea and I can't wait to read it myself.

Single in the City is now available in the US on Amazon as well as Barnes & Noble. I thank the author for providing me with a review copy.