Review: "Bella Summer Takes a Chance" by Michele Gorman

Bella Summer (known as B.) is stuck in a rut. She loves her boyfriend of 10 years, Mattias, but she is not in love with him, nor does she think that she ever was. B. decides that this is an important distinction and she breaks up with Mattias despite his earnest protests. B. also realizes that it's not just her love life that is stuck in a rut, but her career as well. For years she was a musician who consulted to pay the bills but now she realizes that her musical career has fallen by the wayside.

B. figures that if she is taking a leap of faith with her love life, she may as well take a leap of faith with her career too. As B. discovers how the dating world has changed since she last put herself out there, she puts herself out there musically as well. Along with her group of wacky and fiercely loyal friends B. finally finds out what exactly she is made up of.

I loved Bella Summer Takes a Chance. It was one of those books that I started out liking a lot (solid, interesting plot, a likable main character) but finished off loving. As I read I fell more and more in literary love with this book. I can say with certainty that one of the things that I loved the most was the colorful cast of characters. B. is, of course, central to the plot but her friends have ample reasons to shine and author Gorman makes sure that she leaves them plenty of space to do so. My favourite supporting character had to be B.'s new roommate Frederick. I wanted to be friends with him from the moment that he introduced us to his Thighmaster-toned thighs. Also excellent additions to the plot were B.'s long-time girlfriends Kat, Faith, and Clare. These ladies were not shrinking violets, and they most definitely did not blend into the background of B.'s story. They all had their own valid storylines, and I enjoyed each one of them.

I also couldn't help but love the adult feel to the book. Gorman didn't shy away from the more mature topics of sex, threesomes, and pornography but she also didn't make them her focus. The way that she handled those topics made the whole story seem more realistic to me. She made them feel necessary. Most of the books that I read in this particular genre either stay away from these topics altogether or address them in a way that feels awkward to read so it was a refreshing change that Gorman made their inclusion feel so natural.

Witty, well-written and next to impossible to put down, Bella Summer Takes a Chance is a must-read in my opinion. My thanks to the author for providing me with a copy for review. Please note that my review copy was a copy of the English version and that different versions may vary.