My So-Called (Love) Life

by A. L. Michael

Meet Tigerlily James: romance cynic, North Londoner and die-hard margarita fan.

Tigerlily James has been a member of the Young and Bitter Club ever since she was dumped on Valentine’s day. By her fiancé.

Surviving on a diet of cynicism and margarita-fuelled ‘Misery Dinners’ with her best friends, she’s become a romance free zone…and that’s the way she likes it. Until an invitation for The Ex’s wedding arrives. Suddenly in need of a plus one, Tig has little choice but to bin the takeaways, ditch the greying underwear collection…and start pretending to view the opposite sex as something other than target practise.

Then, she meets Ollie – ie. the perfect solution. No sex. No strings. Fake boyfriend. The only catch is that she has to pretend to be his girlfriend for three whole months.

Dating without the heartbreak: the best idea Tig’s ever had, right? Wrong!

Praise for A.L. Michael

‘I know it’s a good book when I shut the kindle cover and sigh with contentment. The Last Word totally did it for me.’ – 4* from Angela (Goodreads)

‘This is a funny, funny book.’ 5* to The Last Word from Rosee (Amazon)

‘Fresh, fast and…had that magical romance feeling and a bit of hotness that you just can’t help but love. Absolutely brilliant!’ 5* to The Last Word from The Book Geek Wears Pajamas

‘I LOVED THIS. I laughed, I cried, I fell in love. All of the emotions were felt in the reading of this book and it is definitely one of the best Christmas releases that I’ve read this year.’ 5* to Driving Home for Christmas from Erin’s Choice

‘I laughed, I cried and I was left with that warm fuzzy feeling you get when you read something wonderful.’ 5* to Driving Home for Christmas from That Thing She Reads

• ISBN13: 9781474030700
• Publish Date: 9 February 2015
• Publish Status: Permanently Withdrawn
• Out of Print: 22 August 2023
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Imprint: HQ Digital
• Format: eBook (EPUB)
• Pages: 384
• Language: English
• URL: http://harpercollins.co.uk

Reviews

[Leah]

When AL Michael put a shout out on Twitter for people to take part in her blog tour for her new book, I jumped at the chance, thinking it sounded really interesting. I'm actually really glad I did because My So Called (Love) Life is one of the most enjoyable books I've read so far this year, and good Chick Lit has been very hard to come by for me recently!

First off, I have to confess I really really wished AL had given her main character a different name. Tigerlily isn't a name. And the excuse that her parents are hippies didn't really wash with me, especially since her sister is called Carolina. My reaction was much like Ollie's when I heard her name - you must be kidding me. But I got over it (it was either get over it or just not read the book!) and while I never warmed to her name, I did warm to Tigerlily herself. I loved Tigerlily. I felt so sad that her ex had left her so down - and a bit perplexed because Darren was a tool, and we never saw any happy memories between the pair making me wonder why it had left Tigerlily in such a mess. He was hardly a prize and she was by far better off without him.

Ollie was by far my favourite character. He and Tigerlily just clicked right from the word go, and when they decided to fake date, to teach Tigerlily the ways of the dating world, I was so excited. I knew it would inevitably go wrong, but they were so well matched, so good and had great banter. When they eventually kissed I was soooooo excited, so happy for them, and also obviously filled with trepidation because I knew Ollie wasn't staying. It was everything I wanted but then on the flip side so wrong!

I really, really enjoyed My So Called (Love) Life. AL Michael tells such a great story with such good humour and delicious romance. Sigh. No, I wasn't a fan of Tigerlily's name, but I loved her. I loved that she transformed herself (though I wish we had seen it! I'm currently transforming myself slowly but surely and it would help massively to read about it and not just see the finished product). She and Ollie were just a match made in heaven and it made my heart ache in a good way. I also thought Tigerlily had some of the best friends a girl could ask for in Ames, Dana and Ruby! I'll definitely be checking out Andrea's other novels, she's definitely an author to look out for!