How to Get a (Love) Life

How to Get a (Love) Life by Madeline Miller

Age: Adult / Young Adult
Category: Romance
Rating: 4 stars

Helen Thinks: Nicola Brown is borderline obsessive compulsive. She likes control and order in her life so much so she eats at the same time every day, has a set menu for her week and absolutely does not day. She likes to be alone. So when her fun-loving, carefree colleague Caroline dares her to get a date for Valentine's Day which is in three months time, Nicola flat out refuses. However, when her brother later tells her again that he couldn't date a woman at thirty three due to the effort of wooing her and them being a relationship would leave her infertile due to her age has her wondering. Has she left it too late? So she accepts the dare to get a love life in three months and the chaos that ensues allows Nicola to see that not only did she need to get a love life but she needed to get a life.

How to Get a (Love) Life is Rosie Blake's debut novel and what an entrance to the literary world she has made. How to Get a (Love) Life is a funny, romantic and addictive novel that I read completely in one sitting. Her characters were poles apart in their personalities and yet jammed well to make a realistic work setting while going on a hunt for possible dates. Nicola's brother, Mark, comes and goes through her life leaving the reader with small smiles on their faces. With chapter openers being laid out like a lonely hearts advert Blake shows a unique style of keeping the audience entertained with her novel.

I obviously won't ruin the book by telling you if Nicola finds love but I think the important lesson learnt through this book isn't about finding love. It's about finding time to live and to enjoy things in life. Yes, you're going to have dates from hell. Yes, your perfectly organised world might crash around you at times. But it doesn't matter. Life is a learning curve and one you should enjoy no matter what. So why not enjoy it a little more and give this book a read?