It's Fran's thirtieth birthday and things are good . . .
She's bluffed her way into a Very Posh Job and her outlandishly handsome and talented boyfriend Michael is escorting her to the Ritz with a bulge the shape of a ring box in his pocket.
But something has gone wrong. Very wrong. By the end of the evening Fran is howling in bed with a bottle of cheap brandy and one of Michael's old socks.
In her quest to figure out why her life has suddenly gone down the pan, Fran comes up with a failsafe plan: live like a badger, stalk a stranger called Nellie and cancel her beloved Gin Thursdays in favour of drinking gin every night. But then Fran's friends force a very different plan on her and it's nowhere near as fun. How could eight dates possibly make her feel better?
But eventually she agrees. And so begins the greatest love story of all time . . .
What do you do when you're having the time of your life on your birthday, with the man you love who's about to propose to you. But then decides that he needs some time apart, and decides to give it three months with no contact between the two of you without an explanation of why he's done it?
You go to bed of course! Spend all day in bed for weeks, crying your heart out and drinking Gin and Tonics like your life depends on it. Well, it does if you're Fran.
When her beloved Michael Slater wants a break for a while, Fran does exactly that, hibernating in her bedroom in a swarm of groggy tissues and Michael's old socks, drinking cheap Morrisons brandy from the bottle and crying to her best friends, Leonie, Dave and Stefania.
Trying to get over the devastated state that she's in, her best friends make up a game for Fran to play. The Eight Date Deal. This meaning, that Franny has to sign up to an online dating agency and go on a total of eight dates before she can see her beloved Michael again. Though reluctant to this deal, Fran doesn't want to, she just wants to stay in bed and drink herself to death by Gin and Tonics.
When upon hearing the deal that Michael can be her eighth date, Fran agrees to go on them, even though she won't enjoy them one bit. The first bloke has a massive saggy bottom, the next doesn't care and rants on about his ex down the phone in the middle of the date, the one after that dresses like a cowboy and there's more to come.
But when Fran hears about Nellie, Michael's secret lover, a whole new world kicks off as Fran goes on one massive stalking mission, which has no limits to try and find just what on earth is happening, with her boy.
Though Dave and Stefania strongly disagree, they are trying there very best not to let anything come between Fran and Michael, by trying to find out all the evidence they can to prove it and to keep her going on her eight date deal.
Dave the big massive, Glaswegian "tough as fuck" man as Fran says, is as lovable as a big friendly bear and one of Fran's closest mates, he knows what Fran wants and where her head really needs to lie. And as for Leonie, Fran has known her since nursery, growing up with her through Primary school, secondary school, college and even university, and even though she wanted to be an author, her dreams have faded away to the point where she is a charity worker on the streets. Not to mention brewing up a secret love affair with Michael's best friend Alex, much to Frans disapproval.
Then there's Stefania, Fran's lovely foreign friend. She's quirky and different and always manages to get her words mixed up, but she's as loyal as they come. Plus she looks after Frans cat Duke Ellington and sends her cooked dinners through the cat flap so she doesn't die from alcohol.
Frans father lives far away in sunny Spain and her mother lives at home, with a very bad drinking problem. She needs help, and Fran hopes to help somehow. But when the press get ahold of her, at the biggest moment in everyone's life, who will Fran turn to and who exactly ratted her own mother out to the press.
And with the only man out of all the eight dates apart from Michael, Fran finds someone who males her smile and likes her for who she really is. But is he closer than she thinks?
The Greatest Love Story of All Time by Lucy Robinson is a wonderful book! It made me laugh so much and I could relate to it as well, just like the other one. I really do hope she writes more as I really really enjoy them.
This made me laugh out loud so much, I loved the Character of Dave ever so much, I just loved the way he was created and even his foul language. I honestly know someone like Dave and he's just like him. It was honestly like reading a book in his point of view.
And Stefania was such a lovely character, reminded me of one of my friends from the Ukraine. The character was friendly and different, made me giggle with her accent and she was just portrayed very well. Was nice to create an image of what she would be like
I even liked just the way of life of all three friends, like Gin Thursday's like just smoking weed (I myself have never done it and don't intend to) But I just like the way how there life was so chilled out. I loved the story line as well, it was one of those where you're certain you know who she's going to fall in love with, but as it starts to get more into the story you think "Oh hang on, I may be wrong"
All and all, the story line was marvellous, the character's we're great, made you think and it was the greatest love story of all time. Also I loved the name Duke Ellington for a cat. Think I might use that one day! Haha
I will give this books 10 out of 10
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