The Lonely Fajita by Abigail Mann

This book is about a woman called Elissa who is best described as a total disaster. She is useless at her job as an intern in a media relations firm, has a useless, going-nowhere, relationship, is a messy greedy flatmate who is about to be turned out of her flat, wears dirty clothes, gets drunk, vomits and the rest. You wouldn't want to know her!

She is saved by becoming a kind of live-in companion to a wise old lady called Annie and a series of fortuitous circumstances which, of course, end up with a new job and a rich man with piercing eyes and a chiselled chin inviting her out for a drink.

It's hard to know what to say about a story like this in the 21st-century. I suppose you're meant to think, as a reader, well I'm a bit like Elissa. My nails are always scuffed, I nick my flatmates food and don't put cling film on my leftovers. I can't do my job and I make no effort to do it any better and I have a social life which is constantly compromised and second-rate. Well, if that's you, you shouldn't really be reading this book. You should get out and do something about it!

And that's my gripe. Elissa has to be 'rescued' constantly. Annie, the old Cockney saint with a heart of gold, performs this role but it requires a good bit of suspension of disbelief to think that Elissa would ever have got this job with her even if that kind of job existed. Suki, Elissa's wild lesbian friend, seems to be operating this kind of haphazard life with more success and Maggie, a teacher, is a sort of fund of sensible advice. However, despite their efforts Elissa continues to mess up, arriving ate and ill-prepared for meetings at work, forgetting to make promised meals for Annie and so on.

Well, now I've got that off my chest it's fair to say that the book rolls along with lots of London geography and a view of how hard it is to cope as a young woman without a well paid job in the big city. I think readers can empathise with that. It's also another book where an older woman saves the day and that might appeal to the mature reader! And, successful women might enjoy reading about social casualties!

It'll probably make a great film but it wasn't for me.

This book was so much fun to read. Mann tells a story of love, friendship and life's ups and downs with so much heart. The book is sweet and funny, and the writing is fresh. I recommend!

"There’s nothing sadder than constructing a fajita on your own.”

I can't think of a statement that feels more true than that. Nobody wants to be a lonely fajita, but we should all read The Lonely Fajita. Ok, I'll stop saying fajita now (you should know I'm the asshole that purposely pronounces it FAH-GITA!).

The fajita in question (last time, I sort-of promise) is Elissa. She's stuck in a dead-end internship, lives in a flat with 4 other people who can't get over a stolen tea bag or two, and to top it off, her boyfriend has decided to take an adult gap year and leaves her in the dust. And he was the one paying for the flat...

On the eve of her homelessness, she sees an ad to become a live-in companion in an elderly community. Not ideal, but it's a free place to live. And she's always loved spending time with her Nanny.

Enter her new companion, Annie. She's rejected 23 previous companions, but for some reason, she gives Elissa a chance. Together these two disparate characters find their common ground and also find themselves along the way.

This book is reminiscent of Queenie or Evvie Drake Starts Over. Elissa is at rock bottom, but along the way, she sort of accidentally finds her way back up. The humor woven through the story was delightful - whether through Elissa's self-deprecating jokes or the bonkers situations she often found herself in - it shined on every page. I'm usually bummed when romance isn't the main focus or at least a strong throughline in a story, but Elissa and all the lively secondary characters made the lack of romance a refreshing change.

Do yourself a favor during the horrible-ness that is social distancing and read The Lonely Fajita. Then call your friends on video chat and construct those fajitas together!

I absolutely loved this book, it's heart-warming, joyful and funny.
Elissa is a total sweetheart and Annie is my idea of a perfect flatmate. I'd definitely be going in for that scheme if I could.
Honestly this is pure joy in a book, it will make you smile, chuckle and feel better about the world. Perfect escapism during isolation. Thank you

Elissa's barely paid internship is hanging in the balance while her boyfriend takes off without her. She is left with little choice but to join a volunteer project that pairs helpers with elderly people who need assistance. She moves in with Annie, and they make a great pair, helping in each other in unexpected ways. It was a good book, nothing too spectacular but enjoyable and lighthearted. Solid 3 stars.

I totally did not expect to enjoy this book as much I did. If you like Beth O’Leary, this is absolutely the book for you! The characters are real and likeable, and it is full of the same millennial charm, and the balance of laugh out loud moments and the more heart warming, sentimental ones. This was a great book to read in these difficult times as it provided some much needed happiness and escapism - this was such a lovely book! (I also felt very sentimental at hearing it was written in The Millennium Library in Norwich, as when I lived there that was 100% one of my favourite places in that city!)

The cover of this book draws you in - the millennial pink, the intriguing title (Fajita like the food?) and the beautiful brown skinned woman smiling at you to come in.

I know it's not the done thing to judge but I did judge the cover and got exactly what I expected. I expected an easygoing, feel good read and that's what I got. I can see this on the screen (part of my job is to imagine how books translate to screen) as a kind of Confessions of a Shopaholic/Legally Blonde/ Bridget Jones type story where the funny and relatable protagonist comes out on top.

Elissa, in her twenties, moves in with Annie through the ElderCare programme and they form an unlikely friendship.

Taking into account the CoronaClimate it will be published in, this is a good book to promote community and taking care of one another.

Cute book. It started a bit slow for me but really picked up in the second chapter. Took me about 3 hours to read it. It was a good book to pass the time with.

I absolutely loved reading The Lonely Fajita! Laugh out loud funny, an addictive story line with very well thought out characters and a touching friendship. As a 27 year old, I relate to so many of the situations in this book - Abigail Mann has absolutely nailed the life of a twenty-something year old trying to get by in London. I highly recommend!!!

Honestly, I requested this book from NetGalley purely based on the title and cover. The Lonely Fajita seems like the perfect description of a lot of 20 somethings and wrapped up in the blanket, like the character is here looks very like how I spend my non-working hours! I'm not single, but a lot of my friends are and so I thought this book would be relatable and a funny, easy read.

This book follows Elissa, a 26 year old who is living in London and interning at a dating app start up company where she barely gets paid enough to get the underground to work and treat herself to a Greggs for lunch twice a week. Thankfully, she shares a room with her boyfriend who covers the cost of the rest in exchange for her making dinner a couple of nights a week. Elissa is bumbling along well until her boyfriend decides that he actually wants to go travelling in Asia and leaves her without a home or partner for the first time since her teens.

While visiting the Doctors for a smear test as some kind of sick birthday treat to herself, she finds an advert for ElderCare. A scheme which looks for volunteers to live in with and help the elderly in exchange for a free room to stay in.

The book was lighthearted and easy to read and I loved that it didn't follow the typical rom-com approach to being newly single which I thought it might. Although part of me does feel like that it tried to cover too many different approaches and I would have preferred to focus on one or two.

I loved the character of Annie, the elderly lady who Elissa gets paired up with and I would love to hear more about her and her past. I also think Suki is a great character and would love to read a spin off focusing on her and her dating struggles!

It was pretty difficult for me to get through this book. I felt like it was pretty slow and dragged on for the most part. The main character was incredibly difficult to connect with and seemed very irresponsible for someone who was surrounded by people who had their lives together. She had redeeming qualities too and that kept me somewhat engaged, but the most likeable character was Annie, the elderly woman. Annie is straight forward and tells it like it is. Also, so many of the characters or their plotlines seemed too over the top to be believable. Overall, it was a decent read, but not one I would likely recommend.

*this ARC was provided for an honest review- Thank you HarperCollins and NetGalley*

The Lonely Fajita is about Elissa, 26 year old living in London, interning at an App Development company who created a dating app called Lovr- which isn’t doing too well. Elissa can’t afford her rent and is on the brink of homelessness. But then she finds an advert for a living with the elderly scheme.

This is a lighthearted story that was easy, effortless read. My favourite part of this book was the elderly lady Annie, who reminded me of my nanny. She was interesting and I liked that she did engineering (as I may go into that field) However, in comparison I didn’t like the main character and she had little development. And seeing that many people found this book amusing I was looking forward to having a giggle, but unfortunately it didn’t happen. Also, i really did not get on with the slow pacing as it took away from the easy enjoyment of reading it.

Would I recommend?
If you are trying to get into reading, the contemporary genre or looking for a beach read ,then yes. Because, this book is an easy lighthearted read. But, if you read contemporary often then i would give it a miss.

The Lonely Fajita was the feel good read that I needed. Elissa is 26 and trying to make it in London, despite an internship that barely pays expenses and a boyfriend who may as well leave. So she decides to join an elderly care scheme and live in with Annie.

This book gave me hope, bolstered my ambitious side and gave me a little more faith in my future. Nothing life-changing, but a little bit of laughter and positivity goes a long way! Elissa was relatable, and I saw a lot of her character in myself.

I loved this book, do pick it up if you fancy a fun read, with a little bit of a moral and some fantastic OAP characters who put everyone in their 20s to shame!

Thank you One More Chapter, Harper Collins and Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I enjoyed and disliked this novel, I found it very slow and the beginning and the end. I also found myself confused during the majority of the book. The vocabulary and description, while good was almost too detailed and didn’t seem to fit with the character.

This book is the feel - good book of the year.

Ellissa finds herself all of a sudden without a boyfriend, without a home and as an intern, pretty much without money. Completely by chance, she finds a flyer asking for live in companions for the elderly. Ellissa is matched with Annie, a typically stubborn, independent northern woman living in a retirement village in London.

There were times where I would find myself feeling so embarrassed for the pickles that Ellissa found herself in, that I thought I would't be able to continue reading . . . but I really loved her and Annie that I just couldn't stay away.

A book that is full of women who are lifting each other up and being each others biggest cheerleaders, there is nothing not to love in this uplifting book.

Couldn't really get into this one. It feels like a story that I've read a hundred other times - the quirky, supposedly comic novel of a twenty something girl who can't get her shit together and has an awful time romantically. There's only so much time I could give to a novel like this and honestly, I think there are better written ones out there. Also - it feels as though this book wanted to be set in the US but settled for the UK? There are Americanisms intertwined with the text...maybe that was just my reading of it. Sadly, not for me.

I was really excited about this book. I love old people, I love stories about old people, I love stories about old people that surprise you. Unfortunately this book had a weird pace and a number of plot lines where it felt like I never got a chance to really get invested in any of it. Each plot line seemed to just skim the surface. I wish there was more of Annie and her story, or more of her and Elissa's relationship growing. Or even more about Elissa getting through work stuff. By the time I was 80% done with the book I was concerned that so many of these plot points were going to conveniently get tied in a rushed sort of way. Overall I would say this is a quick and easy read, but it definitely left me wanting more.

Just when you need a funny, light hearted, comforting book to snuggle up with amongst all the uncertainty, along comes The Lonely Fajita! One to snuggle up with and enjoy!

I was laughing from the first page, I really enjoyed the writing, great pace, entertaining and endearing.

We follow Elissa, a 26 year old who moved to London with grand plans of what her life would be. When she finds herself single, she decides to try an alternative way of solving her housing and loneliness problem, with heartwarming results.

It would have been so easy to focus on her being single and going on a series of dates etc and magically finding someone. I love that the author focuses on different types of heartwarming, life affirming relationships and that Elissa is empowered as the story goes on. It makes such a difference and I loved it! It has inspired me to try and find opportunities to do something similar in my community.

Thank you to @netgalley, @abigailmann and @onemorechapterhc for the opportunity to review.

Released on 14th May 2020.

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This was the tonic I needed in these depressing weeks of the coronavirus! Funny and charming. Not my usual read but so glad I gave it a whirl! I can recommend highly, especially if your in need of a little pick me up!

⭐⭐⭐.5/5

Congratulations to the author! And many thanks to netgalley for the ARC

Belly laughs abound! Or so I expected from the hype….and in the beginning it truly was profoundly funny but by the end the humour had definitely petered out for me. Don’t get me wrong I enjoyed this novel but I just didn’t find it hilarious.

I felt real affection for elderly widow Annie….but Elissa was difficult to relate to. I mean, What is she like? Working for expenses only, in a shite relationship with someone who couldn’t give her the time of day, flapping around, getting drunk – no self respect, no confidence, no sass. I often felt myself cringing when I know the author meant me to be laughing. She made some questionable choices and her whole journey toward self-discovery was a bit lacklustre.

Annie on the other hand …what a gorgeous old soul! I’d happily be her live-in companion. She was a delight! And the whole reason I ramped this book up to 4 stars from 3.

If you’re looking for a light and super quick read and don’t have too many expectations, this book might be for you. It’s entertaining enough without requiring too much thought or feeling…and sometimes that’s exactly what you need.