Everything Is Fine by Gillian Harvey

Published : 28th May 2020

Publisher : Orion

Format : Kindle, Paperback, Audio

Genre : Romance

Synopsis

Jessica Bradley has it all: the perfect boyfriend; influential healthy-eating blog; successful PR company and wonderful daughter, Anna. Or at least that is what her thousands of followers believe.

The truth is, her boyfriend just broke up with her in four words on a post-it; her zest for healthy-eating has all but disappeared; her PR success is all reliant on her now not-so-honest online-life and she just got caught eating her daughter's Coco-Pops.

So as they say: fake it 'til you make it. A few little white lies and phoney smiling selfies and Jess can keep up appearances. But when her real-life starts to spiral out of control how can Jess tell the truth from the lies? And will she be able to seize real happiness when it is right in front of her?

My Review

Where to start with this one! Firstly thank you Alex at Orion for reaching out to me and offering the chance to join in on this blogtour, after reading the blurb I must admit I was quite excited, and I just loved the front cover.

I had been reading quite a few heavier reads before this one so this was a very refreshing break. The story is all about Jessica Bradby. A single mum who has her own blog "FIT@30" and a small PR business that she runs alongside.

Everything seems perfect in her life. She has an amazing sculpted gym buff boyfriend, her blog is gaining more followers by the day and she lives and breathes the gym lifestyle, organic, vegan healthy eating diet life.

The thing is Jessica is faking it more and more each day. She was all about the fitness and eating healthy to tone up, especially after she met Dave, but Jessica is starting to get bored with it all and she is finding herself more and more opting for the cookies and glass of wine in front of the tv then the organic bean free green coffee and carrot sticks after the heavy gym session. She can't just give it all up though because all of her thousands of followers expect to see Jessica Bradby at her best, working out and posting healthy meals all day every day, and one morning she comes down to find a post it note on her fridge stating that its over, her boyfriend has just dumped her because of her lack of interest in all things gym and the fact that she has gained a little weight has put him right off...

Why I Loved It

I found this such a great read, I giggled out loud on more then one occasion and related to Jessica quite regularly throughout the book. I hated her boyfriend, all his judgy comments about her weight and dictating what she can and can not eat was infuriating, but loved that I could see other relationships blossoming even though she herself was oblivious.

I loved Jessicas character, funny, kind of confident business woman and a single mum trying her best to balance it all whilst keeping thirty-thousand followers happy on a daily basis.

I would have loved to have more of a conclusion at the end with a specific character but I guess leaving it open ended allows readers to make up their own minds as to what was going to happen going forward with Jessicas life.

If you are after an uplifting, funny read that will make you laugh out loud and find you nodding in agreement quite a lot then this is most definitely the read for you.

Perfect for a summers day at the beach.

Rating

★★★★★

Buy From

Waterstones

Amazon

BookDepository

Meet the author

Former Head of Department and English teacher, Gillian Harvey, 40, began her freelance writing career in 2012, after a move to France.

She has since written articles on a variety of subjects for national newspapers including Guardian, Telegraph, Sun and Times Educational Supplement, as well as magazines such as Prima, Living France, Woman's Weekly and My Weekly.

Gillian lives in France with her husband Ray and their five young children

Everything Is Fine is her Debut novel.