The Great Escape – Fiona Gibson

Three former student house-mates, thirteen years on, find themselves in rather more grown up situations. Hannah is getting married to a lovely man and wonders why she’s not looking forward to it- mostly thanks to her two step-children-to-be. They clearly don’t want her around, should she take the hint? Meanwhile, Sadie feels like a shadow of her former sexy, corset-designing self, having relegated herself to rural obscurity, neglected her marriage, and allowed her world to revolve around her twin 8-month old sons. Finally we have Lou, whose promising career making jewellery faded away along with her hopes of a baby, mainly because she needs to lose about 200lbs- of slacker boyfriend.

When the three old friends reconnect for a low-key hen weekend in their former university city of Glasgow, things turn out to be a little more eventful than planned- despite the lack of cheesy ‘L-plates’.

Kooks for your Kindle?– With three main ladies in addition to their people left behind at home for the weekend, there are a lot of characters within, and lots of compelling stories to explore. My favourite character was possibly Felix, the generous stranger they met on the train to Glasgow. His interest in the ladies was heartwarming, as was his supply of champagne and the subsequent weekend of cocktails. Spike was Lou’s aforementioned slacker boyfriend, who was thirteen years Lou’s senior but still her inferior in emotional maturity. He refused to let go of his dreams of reviving his musical career after a long-ago one-hit wonder, and was also deluded in his cheating shenanigans too. Petra was Hannah’s fiance’s first wife, an insecure, self-centred cellist, who was determined not to let Ryan find happiness without her.

The Bella-Swan-Pathetically-Self-Sacrificing-Factor– Despite their initial (less than ideal) situations, none of the ladies have lost their spark. All are refreshingly assertive and intelligent in their own ways, even though they all clearly need to wise up and make some big changes at home.

Painting a picture for your paperback?– Don’t be deceived by the cover, although it’s fun and entertaining, it’s not as frothy as it looks; there’s more to it and a definite edge there. Themes of infidelity and identity are examined, especially with Sadie, adjusting to her full time job as Mum of twins.

Evaluation of your eBook?– We’re a little behind the times reviewing this one now, partly because the author has another book out right about now, as well as the fact that’s she’s been doing this a while and is chicklit royalty! The latter is demonstrated by how effortlessly written this book seems, while feeling top quality. The ending especially, unexpectedly written from someone else’s point of view, works beautifully. While some of the outcomes were anticipated, they didn’t happen quite as I expected, and were all satisfying. Ultimately it’s a sweet, thoughtful, fun read with some great original characters and a lovely conclusion.

Frothy Ranking: 4.5/5 cocktails.

Can be obtained from:

UK: From amazon for £2.99. Click on the price for the latest though, I got it for £1.99 not long ago.

US: Amazon have it for a variable price, click for latest, or Kobobooks have it for only $7.29.
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