The Greatest Love Story of All Time [Kindle Edition]

I have been reading Lucy Robinson's blog on Marie Claire for a good couple of years now and feel like I know her.
From day one I connected with her hilarious/tragic/happy trials and tribulations, so I was ecstatic to find out she had a book in the offing...

As with her blog, reading 'The Greatest love Story of All Time' feels like catching up with a friend over a nice bottle of wine. There were a LOT of laughs and a few lumps in the throat.
Fran was a likeable buffoon who I can imagine a lot of readers identified with. Some reviews say there is too much swearing, well, spend a day with me and you'll see it's not unrealistic!

Robinson takes the "chick-lit" genre and gives it a new edge; with the use of internet dating, texting and social media (which gives her the ability to hilariously stalk Nellie) she brings us bang up to date. We are all guilty of such "face-stalking" at some point I am sure.

We know these books are going to have a happy ending for all those who deserve one, but it was a thoroughly enjoyable living through the 90 days with Fran and her pals. Here's to Gin Thursdays!

I'll start this review with a confession - I am a man. I don't believe this book was aimed at me and I certainly didn't go to the shops to buy it. But there is a copy in the house and my flatmate was laughing so hard when she was reading it that I simply had to find out what all the fuss was about. And it is funny. Very funny. I honestly couldn't put it down and read from front to back cover in one long but enjoyable session. Yes, Fran is a bit mental but she made me laugh - what a loon! Do girls really go to these lengths to stalk their ex-boyfriends?! Hilarious. Her circle of friends are entertaining and unpredictable; the adventures were amusing; and yes, there's a broken heart - which I believe is the staple of 'chick-lit' - but that heart was broken in an unexpected way and the onward journey was colourful and felt original. I laughed throughout. It felt modern and very down to earth, and I really cared for our potty mouthed heroine by the end of the book. A fun read for the tube or the beach or simply when your flatmate's gone out. Good work Lucy Robinson. You've got another fan!

This is a story of Fran who gets dumped by her boyfriend Michael and then gets some "help" from her mates to get over him. Well, technically, Fran doesn't get dumped as Michael asked for a 3-months break but her friends decide she needs help in getting over him anyway as he's not explained why he needs a break, Fran never asked, so seems like a "plausible" conclusion to think she got dumped. So, the help comes in the shape of online dates, all of which are a mixture of weird, unattractive, pitiful or all three and more. The condition is Fran needs to go on 8 of them before the 3-months' period is over just to find out what else is out there.

Long story short, this book, at best, can be considered a variation on the theme of Bridget Jones in that it is a story of a 30-year old lunatic (well, sort of... because Bridget Jones was funny) and, at worst, a story with no imagination, no real humour and no memorable characters. The culmination of Michael and Fran is just simply weird in the end and it is completely unclear how you got there. If it was intended to keep you guessing, it wasn't done well.

Fran's relationship with her friend Dave who is basically her rock also lacked depth and any degree of interest as did her relationship with all her other friends.

In the end, I couldn't wait to finish this book but for all the wrong reasons. Two stars because the idea was good and could have worked if it wasn't so poorly executed.

The greatest love story of all time... Definitely not. If it was the greatest, then the question is how did its author only end up devoting the last 20 or so pages describing its peak to her readers?