I received an ARC of this novel from HQ Digital through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.  All thoughts and opinions on the novel are my own.

I don't know exactly what I expected going into this novel, but I was anything but disappointed.  This book had it all: humor, romance, and a life lesson at the end of it all.  

The novel follows Luca, a 31-year-old woman, who attends the wedding of one of her closest friends from university.  There she meets up with several of her other friends for the first time in ten years.  The night before the wedding, Luca meets Pete, a friend of the bride's, and hits it off with him.  Being the one person in her circle of friends that is not in a relationship, she thinks Pete might be someone worth pursuing.  But after being volunteered to be a replacement bridesmaid, she finds out that the best man is the only man she ever truly loved, and he broke her heart ten years ago.  So now Luca must decide if she is ready to move on from the past with a guy like Pete, who seems to be everything she needs and more, or return to an old flame who seemed to be everything, but never came to be.

I loved how this wasn't a cheesy rom-com like many stories are that are like this.  The major focus of the story is romance, yes, but it didn't feel like the main focus.  I felt that the main focus was about Luca and her deciding what to do with her life, with romance being a part of it.  There were so many other things happening within the story that the romance didn't dominate (but wasn't a secondary aspect either, which I was more than happy with).  

The banter within the story is hilarious.  The story is split up between the present day and the past, which is I think the most interesting part of the story, as it builds up what was the relationship between Tom and Luca.  From the beginning, it's obvious that she is still hurting, and the chapters that go into the past truly tug at the heartstrings when it showcases why and how she got so hurt in the first place.  But with all the melodrama, there was this wonderful lightness to the story because of the banter between Luca and her friends.  They were dynamic and charming, but a little much at times, just like any great friend group from any story.  The guys made me want to punch all of them for being so obnoxious, which I found great, considering that all of the male friends I had growing up made me want to do the same thing.

And yes, I guess the romance was indeed swoon worthy.  I hate rom-coms with a passion, but I honestly couldn't help but be swept away in a day (it honestly took me the afternoon and evening to read this novel).  I loved Luca so much as a person, as she and I are similar people in fashion and personality.  Tom was endearing and interesting to learn about, and Pete was incredibly charming.  I found myself getting lost in Luca's story because I just wanted to be there to experience the entire thing (which was a lot within one fictional day, mind you).

Overall, I immensely enjoyed this read, and found it to be both lighthearted and grounded in some important messages about love, friendship, and acceptance of one's mistakes and experiences.

Rating: 5/5 stars

I really enjoy everything Portia MacIntosh writes. Her characters are laugh-out-loud funny, yet complicated and fragile at the same time. This book did not disappoint. 

I like second chance love stories, and I think Portia MacIntosh nailed this one. There are a few extra characters that seem to push the narrative a little off course, but I think when you're adding secondary characters that can happen. I enjoyed reading about the past mixed in with the present. 

I received an advance copy. All thoughts are my own.

i got this book very close to the pub date, so forgive the review being a bit late. my friend recommended it and said she laughed out loud several times, so i expected to like it too. it was a fun, enjoyable read. definitely 'fluffy' (i don't think there's anything wrong with that!) or kind of like a beach read. i really liked portia and i mostly liked tom - staying with the other girl for as long as he did, even if it was only at uni, wasn't really my jam but at least there is no infidelity. i liked how portia stayed so strong towards tom for so long, when she thought he was still with the other woman or having a baby with her. she stood her ground and has no interest in him and tells him to his face. then he explains and it all works out. i thought it was very cute. i do wish there'd be an epilogue but i'll survive. the back and forth was a bit jarring at times, it felt a bit all over the place. i was very sad about the dog, glad it was okay. the friends were a hot mess. this was a very zany kind of book, reminded me of a sophie kinsella in the way that crazy things keep happening. overall, it was thoroughly enjoyable and just an all around good time.

Well, Portia MacIntosh you have gone and done it again, this is good, so good! I will admit that I am very late to discovering Ms MacIntosh’s work after only reading my first of her work at Christmas, but I am definitely well and truly a fan of hers.

The story is split between two times of Luca’s life; present day and then it flits back to her university days and I really love how this is written, it really gives and insight into what was going on and how Luca found herself where she is in her life. I found that the flashbacks to her university days really brought Luca to life and you began to understand her and her friends all the more, at times this kind of writing can be a bit confused for the reader but Ms MacIntosh has nailed it. 

I really like Luca, she is a down-to-earth, likeable and very real character, she is a woman whose life hasn’t exactly gone to plan she has headed way off the planned path of life – I think every single one of us can relate to that in one way or another! Single, in a job she has come to pretty much hate and surrounded by happily married/coupled people, something she is used to, so when she is invited to the wedding of one of her oldest university friends she knows that it will end up being a reunion – and she is ready for being the only single one left amongst their little circle. She is ready to blow their socks of at what a successful woman she has become – even if that does mean buying an out fit that could make her go hungry for the next few months, but hey; she can always take it back to the shop! What she isn’t prepared for is to unexpectedly bump into the very person her broke her heart all those years ago, a man whom she says she is over but deep down she is in fact still that heartbroken young woman and seeing him again at the wedding is a real punch for her. It is bumping into Tom; the one who broke her heart, that really makes Luca start evaluating her life. 

This is a great story, the present is set during the wedding and we all know what mayhem weddings can bring on their own, let alone mixing in a bunch of old friends, ex’s popping up left right and centre and a bit of a romance blossoming – but from what direction is this romance? You will just have to read it to find out! The main message I got from this above the romance, the heartbreak, the emotional upheaval was that true friendships can last forever, no matter where you are going in life, those special friendships will always be there when needed. 

The Time Of Our Lives is a fun, engaging and very sweet romance that I am positive readers will relate to in some way, there is a realism about it – or more accurately about lead character; Luca. I know that a lot of readers will probably say the same, but there is something very real about Luca, she is one of those character’s that you can instantly see a certain aspect of yourself in and you just know and understand her in every way. This is so rare to find and I absolutely applaud Portia MacIntosh for writing this wonderful story, for bringing Luca into the world where we all can sit back and say; ‘That is so me’ or ‘My, goodness, yes I think that too’. I literally finished reading this, sat back and heaved a sigh, wiped a tear at the perfect story I’d just read.

Ms MacIntosh is an astounding writer, she really captures Luca in this she is so real to me, it is so rare to really connect with a character from the very first page but here I instantly did. The story really does pull at the heartstrings, you will be laughing out loud, blubbering like a baby with it’s intricately woven tale of love and friendship, there are secrets and lies some of the best wedding scenes ever – honestly think Four Weddings and a Funeral and you will know what I mean about fun and love at a wedding. 

Overall, this is one of the best romantic comedy’s I have read, highly recommended and one that you will be pulling of the bookshelf to re-read.

Another great read ..
 Portia always writes romance fun .
Will they won't they drama.
Easy book to read takes your mind away from real life

Luca is fine. Or isn't she? Attending another wedding of her uni's friend she realises that she's always the single one, another are engaged/married/otherwise romantically occupied. She starts to feel that time moves on while she stays in place. When she also meets Tom at the wedding, her ex/not ex - boyfriend, she starts to think and evaluate her life.

The story actually unfold on a wedding day, and it was incredibly how much can happen in a day - well, especially when you are as accident - prone as Luca, that is. The present intertwines with flashbacks to the past and we slowly get to know the characters and their lives as a group. Also, it turns out of course that there are, and were, many secrets, misunderstatements and plays. So as much as Luca is our main character, the others play as important role in the book as she is, because they helped to shape her. However, maybe because of the relatively huge number of characters, I had a feeling that they were not good enough developed. They were there, but there was not enough depth to them and to be honest, I haven't felt connection with them. I think Luca tried to be über - cool and nonchalant in her life. She was your normal, everyday girl, sharp - mouthed and generally happy with herself but I couldn't warm completely to her, to be honest, not sure why.

The humour this time was also not so Portia MacIntosh - it felt too flat and there were moments that probably were supposed to be funny, like with Luca suddenly being a bridesmaid and the bride's wishes and requests but it only felt too overdone. I also think she tried to make it a sitcom - like rom - com, with flashbacks and hilarious situations but, unfortunately it didn't work.

From the author like Portia MacIntosh I was simply expecting something better, ambitious. I was left with a feeling that she herself didn't connect with the story at all, it scratched below the surface, was without a depth. There were some moments that saved the book for me though on the whole I was really hoping for something deeper, with the MacIntosh's hallmark humour and sharp observations. Altogether, "The Time of Our Lives" was a light - hearted, easy and fairly straight - forward and predictable read but nevertheless a read that will keep you reading. The pacing was right, the dialogues dynamic and it dealt with the fact that you should fight for things that you feel will make you happy.

3.5 stars

At one point in this book, you start to think to yourself that Portia MacIntosh is going to throw every wacky situation she can think of at the wall and see what sticks. It’s one thing after another until the book stops feeling like a cohesive story and begins feeling like an episodic romantic comedy.

Luca is delightful. You’ll like her. You’ll empathize with her. She’s single and dateless at a wedding and then she runs into the man with whom, ten years earlier, she thought she would have a relationship. Worse, the woman he picked over her is there, too, and pregnant.

So you feel for poor Luca.

And then come a series of mishaps: forced bridesmaid duties, missing Louboutin shoes, a fall or two, a series of missed connections with a guy she meets, etc., etc. I kept thinking that if Portia MacIntosh had reined in some of the zaniness and narrowed her focus to Luca’s sense of displacement, her feeling that she is missing something, that this would have been a better book.

This isn’t to say that The Time of Our Lives isn’t enjoyable. It’s great fun at times. You will keep turning the pages to find out what happens with Luca and her friends. You think you know where things went wrong, but MacIntosh will surprise you. That’s always a good thing.

Give this book a whirl if you want to be entertained in a slapstick kind of way with a side of romance.

This book was cute and a very fast read. I found some of the plot a little contrived but overall enjoyed the reading experience. The plot goes back and forth between 10 years ago and now, and there were a few times that it didn’t fit, or that the flashbacks seemed pointless to the story, but it gave a good idea of the characters “before”. This would be a good beach read for someone who likes chick-lit.

This was a first pov chick-lit told in alternative timelines of now & then.

'Now' takes place during the wedding of Matt, a university mate of Luca, and one of the the 5 people who she shared a flat with for a year back in the day. Interestingly enough, the entire story takes place throughout the wedding night at present.

'Then' takes place during their university time.

The beginning was promising enough. I could relate to Luca, her feeling of having achieved nothing worthwhile in her 31 years, while her friends were getting engaged, married and just living their life in general. Luca's the only single person in her group of university friends, and isn't actually very excited about attending the wedding. That's something someone in my age can relate to very well. 

But then things take a turn when she meets Pete the night before the wedding, also a guest at the event. But then at the wedding, she's asked to fill in for the one bridesmaid who had her labor at the last moment, she also meets Tom, the guy who broke her heart back at university, and the (pregnant) girl he had chosen over her. And he wants to catch up.

The romance never clicked for me. Luca still has feelings for Tom, but I just never could fathom what was so great about him that even though these two never dated or ever even kissed back then, she still is not over him after 10 years. That leads to my problem with the story-telling. The author fails to scratch below the surface, especially in the past timeline. In an attempt to keep everything cut and dry, I feel the author failed in getting across the feelings of the characters to the readers, and evoke my interest.

I also wasn't really convinced by the misunderstanding and the reason behind Tom and Luca not getting together 10 years ago. It felt like a weak plot device. But that happens at the end. Initially, I was confused who to root for between Tom and Pete. And I was unimpressed with the route the author took for Luca to make the decision.

There was some drama between the group of friends, but that just didn't catch my interest. There were loads of shenanigans that I feel makes the story more fit for a rom com movie. There was promise to the plot, but the execution simply failed it.

First, thanks to #NetGalley for the opportunity to read an e-galley of this book. 

I really enjoyed this story.  It went back and forth between the past and the present of college roommates from the past, who are coming back together as guests at the wedding of one of their college roommates. 

I laughed, and cried at the hijinks that ensues when they all come back together after 10 years have gone by.  I would highly recommend this to anyone who loves a good romantic comedy!
#NetGalley  #TheTimeofOurLives

My thoughts and feelings for this book swung back and forth. It took a moment for me to get really into it and in some parts, I lost interest. I'm not a big fan of the back and forth (present and past) but it worked wonderfully here. We were able to learn from past happenings why Luca feels the way she does in the present.

The Time of Our Lives stars Luca, a single 31-year-old, curvy woman who is attending one of her college roommates' wedding. Luca cracked me up, especially because she speaks my type of sarcasm. It's amazing. Luca is dreading this wedding so much. All her college friends who are attending are all attached in one way or the other and are happy and successful in their lives and careers while she is not. She is the only single one amongst them and hates her job. 

As she arrives at the hotel where the reception is to be held, she meets Pete. Pete is one smexy hotsicle and they hit it off immediately. He is also attending the wedding single. Once the wedding commences, Luca becomes one sought after woman. First, she has to step in as a last minute bridesmaid, so the bride is after her making her do bridesmaid's duties she hadn't signed up for. Secondly, Tom (her would be ex (had they dated)) and her real ex-Al, not to mention Pete are all after her attention She is one hot commodity. You are thrown into the mystery of which man will she choose. I went back and forth before reaching the end and seeing the result. 😉

The story that ensues is full of omg moments, laughing-out-loud moments, and even some eye roll moments. You won't want to put it down.

I recieved an early preview copy of this book in return for an honest review.
I have read and enjoyed previous books by this author, so I was looking forward to reading this book.
The main plot is set around the wedding  of Matt, he has invited all of his friends from University, some of them haven't met up for 10 years, and it is obvious that there is history between them.
The main protagonist is Luca, the wedding has made her reflect on her life. She is single, and in a job that she hates. A chance meeting with Pete, one of the guests, seems promising, and they promise to have a drink at the wedding.
Luca finds herself suddenly being thrust into a bridesmaid role, and she spends the rest of the wedding being in demand. 
As the evening moves on, and drinks are consumed, the university friends discover that there is unfinished business.
I enjoyed reading this book, however the storyline jumps from past to present, which I found a little confusing at times. The book was entertaining to read, it was fun and amusing in places  but I thought there could have been more details at the ending. The book was lighthearted and easy to read.

Luca was on her way to the wedding of one of her friends from her university days. Matt was one of the five people Luca had shared a house with her third year at university. It had been ten years since they all graduated and five years since they had all seen each other. As Luca was driving at 10:30 pm  a red sports car recklessly passes her. Luca thanks god when she finally gets to the hotel parking lot but she’d rather be anywhere else. But then she notices the red sports car, it’s unusual for Luca to leave notes saying no one is impressed by your driving or car and leaves the note under the car's windshield wiper. It is also not like her to hang out at the bar alone- in the hotel- but she wants a piece of red velvet cake and couldn’t face going to her room. Half of Luca’s problem is nothing ever happens and it feels like nothing ever will. Than a man orders a drink next to her  and asks about the red velvet cake and the bartender tells the man the woman bought the last piece. Since the piece was rather large and Luca didn’t think she could eat it all she offered to share. The man said his name was Pete and bought her another drink as a thank you. They talk for a little while and learn they are both single and all their friends were going to the Matt and kat’s wedding as couples. Pete was good looking with kindness in his eyes.  Than the bartender said he was closing Pete told Luca  he’d like  to spend more time with her the next day. Luca said she’d like that a lot. The next day Luca spots her friends FiFi and Zach-  who had also shared the house with her- and Luca goes to them.Matt comes to Luca to stand in as a bridesmaid one of Kat’s bridesmaids had went into labor and it would throw everything off being down a bridesmaid as much as Luca didn’t want to she said yes for Matt.  When she walks down the aisle she notices the guy standing next to Matt his best friend Tom. The guy who had broke Luca’s heart back in her university days. At the reception he comes up to Luca as she is taking around the guest book to sign- apparently a bridesmaids duty- and Tom said her got her little note.  He was the one with the red sports car Luca realizes. Luca said she had to go around with the guest book and Tom asks if the can meet up later and catch up. Than Pete comes up to her. Luca wanted to avoid Tom But tom pursues her and lets her know he wants her back in his life. Than Al an actual ex boyfriend also tells Luca he wants her back. 
I found this an  average read I enjoyed it to a degree  but wouldn’t read it again so that matters in my rating. I did chuckle at times while reading this. I did like the pace. But why was Luca’s weight brought up several times in this book? Once was enough as far as I am concerned. The typos were really annoying and there were several types in this book. I also felt the ending was rushed. But the chemistry between Luca and Tom was hot for sure. I also didn’t like going from the past to present just not my favorite style  of writing for a book. I did like how the friends all still stayed in contact after so many years even if it had been a long time since they had all actually seen each other. So this shows I had mixed feeling for this book.

So is it just me or everyone else fell in love with the cover of this book too? because i have...big time. So, when i got a free copy of the book from the publisher...guess what i did...u got it right i broke into a dance. BIG TIME.😜

Okay so here's what i thought about the story. Portia macintosh is not a new author to me . I read her previous books and i loved those too but this one is my favourite one of her. The story is told from our heroine's point of view. The story revolves around our heroine luca( i know its a boy name) and her six friends at the uni. It starts off with luca arriving at the wedding venue a day before one of her pal matt was going to marry his soulmate kat. There is encounters a charming man named pete who charmed her moments after meeting her. So at the wedding she meets other friends from uni - fiona(fifi or fi) ,her bf Zach, doctor Ed and my favourite in the story troublemaker clarky. There she also meets her almost boyfriend from uni days and Matts bestfriend/bestman Tom ten years after he broke her heart. Poor girl.....
"I notice him, standing there at the end of the aisle. Not Matt, next to him. Standing dutifully by his friend’s side, in a matching black suit, is Tom Hoult, the man who broke my heart."

And thats not the worst part. The girl also had to deal with seeing  Tom and his gf  (from uni) togather because...guess what she is also kat's sister......
"It’s Cleo. What could be worse than the man who broke my heart being here? The woman who helped him do it being here with him"

What follows is a very busy day for both luca and her friends. And lets not forget luca's ex bf Al who now too wants to rekindle their relationship. And Tom - sweet ,gorgeous Tom , the love of Luca's life who eagerly persuades her throughout the whole book . Its clear he wants her back. My heart broke for them both. There is a lot of flash back from ten years ago . And as the story graduates we get the whole picture to what happened then and why the thing are the way they are now. The romance theme is undeniable but this book contains a renewal sense of friendship which got lost altogather but not forgotten. This book made me think about the situation i am with my friends and where will we be 10 years from now. It is about continuing the friendship after 10 years. This is one of my favourite lines from the whole book....

"One thing I know for sure though is that even if it doesn’t always seem like it, and even if we lose touch, we’ll be friends forever. Five years, ten years, fifteen years … it doesn’t matter, I know that meeting up with these guys will be like slipping on an old pair of jeans. You might not wear them anymore but, when you try them on again, you remember how right it felt. I’ve spent the past few months convinced that I lost my chance at true love, but maybe I found it after all … just with this bunch of misfits"

 So, i cried , i laughed, i swooned reading this book. Basically , what i wanted to say is that i had the time if my life reading this gem of a book where people fell out in the bathroom stalks, broke trust, stole shoes, broke ancient bridges , lied , and ruined foods but most of all reunited again. So , i highly recomend you to read this book since its coming out on 12 th of april. I can't praise it enough.

The Time of Our Lives is a perfect summer read. This was a hilarious book filled with awkward scenarios, a great deal of clumsiness and a main character with a tendency to run headlong into trouble. 

Luca is gong to the wedding of one of her college flat mates and will be catching up with all her old University friends. The only problem is Luca is attending the wedding solo and isn’t ready to admit to her friends that the last ten years since graduation haven’t been all that she’s hoped for. To complicate matters further she discovers that Tom, her college crush that she soon realizes she might not be completely over, is at the wedding too. As Luca attempts to avoid Tom and all the feelings that come rushing back with his appearance she runs into one disaster after another. 

Luca’s character was relatable and the relationship between her group of friends was highly entertaining. There was also evident chemistry between her and Tom which made this a fun read. I’d recommend this book to fans of Love and Other Words by Christina Lauren and The Wedding Date by Jasmine Guillory.

I really enjoyed this novel! It was such a fun read with a relatable cast of characters. I liked how we got a glimpse of two timelines in this book, which made it richer to read. These characters popped off the pages and I can't wait to read more from Portia!

I so badly wanted to like this one but I couldn’t get into it. The characters were too blasé for me and I was not having fun. I wish I was!!

This is a new-to-me author and I really enjoyed the story, although there were a few issues I had with the main relationship.

Never having gone to uni, I loved reading about these life-long friendships. I liked that, for the most part, they'd remained in touch after so many years. It was fun to read about the comedy of errors that occurred at the wedding. Everything from the misunderstandings, the accidents, the missed opportunities, and the big dust-up at the end was reminiscent of Bridget Jones' Diary with a hint of The Big Chill thrown in for good measure.

The pacing, the characters, the dialogue, the humour had me tearing through this story in a matter of hours. Was I thrilled with the flashbacks? No. Was I happy that the main couple don't actually connect and clear the air until a good 79% of the book is over. (And that's including the Author Notes, Publisher info, and Excerpt from another book.) Definitely not. Plus, I'd like to know how long he and his ex had been broken up, or why he didn't immediately look her up after having asked after her for the entire decade apparently.

But like any good rom-com, if I can suspend my disbelief long enough to accept that Elle Woods solved the case based on a perm, or that Jane can afford an apartment with enough closet space for all 27 of her bridesmaid dresses on her PA salary, I am able to suspend it long enough to accept that even though he'd moved to Manchester (was that deliberate, by the way?) and was single, he had to wait until the wedding before finally hashing things out with Luca so they could have their happily ever after.

MacIntosh is definitely an author I will be seeking out for her back list and future books.

Ever been to a wedding with people you haven't seen in 10 years?  Luca finds herself in a bit of a bind because she really doesn't want to chat with some of her old university friends.  The bright spot, however, is Tom.  Parts of this are silly, parts are annoying,  and parts are actually funny.  At it's heart is a nice little second chance romance.  Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.  Don't look for anything deep- this would make a good beach read.

Have you ever felt that strong emotional pull towards a book after reading the first page? The feeling that you are meant to read this or the book is calling to you? Well, that is exactly what I felt when I randomly clicked open this on my kindle. I was putting it for another day but just thought it better to have quick look. I stopped only at the end and even now, I could feel the story as if I have lived through them all.
        A romance with the structure of a crime thriller is hard to find nowadays and that is what drew me into it from the start. Luca driving alone in the night will have anyone on the edge. What a stunning start to an unputdownable novel! Whoa! don't get me wrong, this is not crime fiction. Well, there is a small crime involved when you think about it, but still, it won't qualify for the genre.
       The entire story unfolds on a wedding day which also gives way to a reunion of six friends who stayed together (I loved the premise. Who could have known so many things can happen on a single day!). Some flashbacks are also there giving us a preview of the group's life together. They are weird, funny and constantly reminded me of my hostel mates. As always, secrets and misunderstandings play their parts and there ensues a cacophony. Ha!
          Don't want to be a spoilsport by giving out the storyline but I hugely recommend you to pick this book. Luca is the perfect narrator; she is our ordinary girl with no serious moral flaws or past regrets. Life just didn't work out for her, but not anymore. I loved the way she resisted Tom's advances instead of swooning over visibly. Every time they come together, I mentally urged her to stick with her decisions and speak up and she did. You go, girl! 
           On the whole, 'The Time of Our Lives' is an emotionally charged, well-crafted novel that will remind you that some friendships last forever.