Book Review: Single in the City by Michele Gorman

I'm already a little behind on my posts for reviews. *sigh* so much for a new year, right? Anyway, on Sunday (Jan 1st) I finished another book, in addition to The Leftovers. It was a very different genre from The Leftovers, and one I really enjoyed reading: Single in the City by Michele Gorman.

I had entered to win this novel in a giveaway through Goodreads' FirstReads program. I did not "win" a copy of the novel. A few days later, I was contacted by the author who asked if I would mind reading and reviewing the book anyway. I agreed, and she purchased the Kindle edition for me as a "gift" through Amazon.

Although it's a lesser-known novel, I would rank it right up there with the well-known Sophie Kinsella/Madeline Wickham, Jane Green, or Jennifer Weiner. Here's the book's description, courtesy of Goodreads:

Take one twenty six year old American, add to one two thousand year old city, add a big dose of culture clash and stir.

To think Hannah ever believed that Americans differed from Brits mainly in pronunciation, sophistication and dentistry. That’s been the understatement of a lifetime.

She lands upon England’s gentle shores with no job, no friends and no idea how she’s supposed to build the life she’s dreaming of.

Armed with little more than her enthusiasm, she charges headlong into London, baffling the locals in her pursuit of a new life, new love and sense of herself. 

Hannah is a very likeable character. I related to her in the personal aspect. Unlike Hannah, I have never spread my wings and moved to another country spontaneously. I've never even visited Great Britain, so I often couldn't relate to the little quirky cultural differences. What I appreciated was that Hannah was like the rest of us women, but acted on her ideas. At some point (often in our twenties, as with Hannah), we feel the need to run from everything that could possibly be holding us behind. However, we tend to stay where we are, in hopes things will get better. Hannah leaves all that may be holding her behind, even though it means leaving behind some things she'd rather not abandon (like her best friend, Stacy). For this, I envied her. Because of this, I soaked up every experience she had in London--from flings to romances to fall-over-laughing anecdotes. I highly recommend this novel for any woman who has ever wondered "what if..."


Here are my stats for the book:

Single in the City  by Michele Gorman
Rating: 4/5
Pages: 352
2012 Reading Goal: 707/15,000


For the record, this was my first e-book. Ever. It wasn't so bad. Maybe I can be a Kindle convert after all...