Thank you so much NetGalley for an advance copy of The Lonely Fajita in exchange for my honest opinion.

This book is something I would have probably never chosen if it wasn't for the fun title and the cover (Loved it, by the way)! I don't usually read romances but I kind of trying different genres lately and I wanted to try this fun read!

The book ended much better than it started. I came to eventually like Ellie, the main character but I have to be honest and say that I wasn't a big fan of hers at the beginning of the book. However, the more I read about her, her life, her adventures and her way of narrating what happened to her, I started to like her more!

I liked how she faced the problems that appeared in her life. I thought she dealt with them in a mature way and could focus on what it was really important at that moment.

I really liked this ElderCare idea and what brought to Ellie and Annita's life. I started enjoying the book a lot more from this point.

It reminded me of me and my Grandma! It's obviously just slightly similar but that relationship they built, all the secrets they shared, how they helped each other without really realising about it... It was priceless and those chapters were my favourite parts to read!

Annita. Annita was magic. She is my favourite character in this story without a doubt. I loved hearing from her every now and then, I loved how caring she was, how she looked after Ellie, how she adviced her in the best of ways and how she opened up a bit about her life too.

There were some of Ellie's behaviour that I found a little bit annoying, especially the ones regarding Annita's privacy. I know she meant well but I didn't like that.

I also thought the end was a bit rushed if fun and jolly and so I'd have liked to enjoye that part a bit more.

I did, overall, enjoy this book. It entertained me and I got to like a few aspects. I didn't love it but it's a good quick and fun summer read.

The Lonely Fajita is a modern story of Elissa Evans, a 26-year-old social media manager on the edge of homelessness who suddenly finds herself single and moving in with an elderly person Evergeen Village, London. This effortless and amusing story was really easy to read. I finished it in 24 hours!

The first thing I noticed is that I didn’t love the protagonist, Elissa. I actually liked her friends more than I liked her. There were a lot of moments where I wanted to grab this character by the shoulders and shake her into reality. And there were countless times where I just wondered what on earth she was thinking, some of the selfish and thoughtless choices she made frustrated me. Generally, she really struggled to get it together, even staying in a job with a psycho boss and an unfair wage. She settled for a lot of things that she definitely didn’t deserve.

I also didn’t like a lot of the secondary characters, such as Elissa’s flatmates or the other residents at Everygreen Village. However, I think the author’s intention was for the reader to despise Craig, and that was perfectly achieved.

My favourite character was Annie, the elderly lady who takes a liking to Elissa and allows her into her home. Annie is a Yorkshire lass (like myself), and a very smart, self-aware, and layered character. She has her flaws, but was a bright and notable part of the story. I loved her backstory, her authentic personality and of course, her Yorkshire accent.

My biggest issue with The Lonely Fajita was the pacing. It was just so slow! While it was humorous, and entertaining in some parts, I felt a lot like I was reading large chunks of text without actually getting anywhere. The temptation to skim through grew stronger and harder to resist as Elissa’s life continued to sit in the same place. I was looking forward to seeing some real growth in Elissa’s character, I wanted her to develop a love for herself, her career and her life. I was waiting for the lightbulb moment full of inspiration and excitement that usually comes with contemporary books focused on 20-somethings. Unfortunately, I found her story anticlimactic.

The book has been described as a feel-good romantic comedy. And while there are comedic, feel-good moments, there’s next to no romance in the book. The hopeless romantic in me wasn’t excited by any dreamy prospects in the story. It’s certainly a fun book, and the author has a skill for well-timed, relatable comedy. It doesn’t feel loaded down with jokes, or like the author is trying too hard.

While The Lonely Fajita struggled to evoke any emotion or memorable moments for me, it did make me laugh and was definitely a light and easy read, perfect for fans of contemporary fiction.

I absolutely adored this book. Elissa is such a wonderfully fleshed out, complicated character and I was rooting for her all the way through! I loved that this wasn't just a book about heartbreak and finding someone else, it was about Elissa finding herself. Brilliantly written- I read it in a day!

Elissa is stuck in a job she hates, a relationship that’s very one sided and in a house share that’s even worse. When her relationship breaks down she finds herself moving in with Annie, a pensioner, in exchange for board she gives companionship. What could possible go wrong.
This was such a lovely read and I really enjoyed it. Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

Heartwarming and hilarious, The Lonely Fajita is 2020s feel good must read!

'Suddenly single, and not quite ready to mingle', Abigail Mann gives the seemingly clichéd romcom plot a refreshing makeover when homeless and skint Elissa finds herself applying for an elderly live-in companionship scheme. When paired with feisty and stubborn Annie, Elissa is quick to learn that hitting rock bottom was probably the best thing to ever happen to her.

Witty and wonderful, The Lonely Fajita is a light and uplifting story of new beginnings and unexpected friendships. I hope we get to see much more of the loveable Elissa and Annie in the future!

What a sweet and joyful book! Slightly weird thing to say when I distinctly remember finding some bits rather sad and heartbreaking. Also being able to relate to Elissa's feeling of deep professional inadequacy was a bit too real for me at times but her burgeoning friendship with feisty pensioner Annie was an absolute joy. And who doesn't love a happy ending that involves a sunny village fete? (it felt like minus 4 here when I finished this book so I was living hard for that ending)

A light, feminist comedy of modern errors that reminded me it's ok to be ok at stuff.

This is a magical hug of a book. Elissa and Annie are a wonderful double act! If you’re feeling blue and need a pick me up then pick this up - you won’t be disappointed!

A fun and light read, perfect if you're not looking for anything too serious. There's a lot of funny lines/moments (a personal favorite of mine is when Elissa buys herself a meatball marinara sub as a birthday treat and a meatball falls into her lap on the train, so she just picks it up and eats it right away because the sub was too expensive not to. Very relatable!

Readers, I have news. I read a non-romance.

The Lonely Fajita stars our heroine Elissa, a twenty something living in London. She’s working as an underpaid intern for a dating app and sharing a ho-hum room with her ho-hum boyfriend. When she finds herself soon to be homeless (mostly because of the ho-hum boyfriend) she applies to essentially be a companion for an elderly person. The person she gets paired with is Annie, an octogenarian widow.

The Lonely Fajita was a delightful read. Elissa summarizes well what I imagine a London millennial to be. She undergoes these blind dates in an attempt to salvage her company’s app with hilarious results.

Her relationship with Annie was the standout of this story. They develop a friendship and true bond. The side characters were interesting and added to the story without being overwhelming.

Overall The Lonely Fajita was a light and enjoyable read.

A fun sweet read Elissa young woman whose life is falling apart moves in with Annie an older woman to help her.In this at times hilarious times warm novel Annie is the one who helps Elisa navigate her life .Really enjoyed this book and all the wonderfully written characters,#netgalley#harpercollinsuk

This is a light hearted, easy read that had me laughing out loud in places. It was quick to read and enjoyable, although I probably liked the main character's friends more than I liked her - Elissa made me want to give her a shake and tell her to pull herself together!! The older characters were also well written, although I did feel as though Annie's family history could have been explored a bit more, it seemed like an aside that I didn't really get a satisfactory explanation for.
Overall, I enjoyed it and would look out for more by this author. With a release date in May I can see it being a popular holiday read!

The book felt like it dragged I couldn't get through it

*******netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.******

Elissa is a young woman who, on the face of it, has her life figured out. She lives with her boyfriend and has a cool internship with a dating application, in the hip part of London. Pretty early on, though, all of that changes and she finds herself without a job, home or boyfriend in one fell swoop – unless she can come up with the perfect idea.

I enjoyed this book, overall, but honestly, I don’t think it’s aimed at me. I’m about ten years too old and far too sensible to relate to Elissa, who takes about four chapters to realise that living somewhere beautiful rent free is a good idea and a great opportunity, even if it does mean living with an elderly woman. With little social life and no cash, it’s not like she’s cramping her style.

Her friendships are written well, and I can see Suki and Maggie quite clearly – they temper Elissa’s daft decisions and make her ‘real’ and human. They obviously care about her, which makes the reader care too.

It might be because I read this quite quickly, but I found the routine was quite repetitive – Elissa always seems to be going to work or coming from work. I wanted to see more of her actual life, told in real time – her birthday night out, for example. We had some flashbacks but nothing much from the night itself.

The love interest(s) were a good narrative, but honestly, I felt that it would have been a better message without the main guy. Elissa is badass enough without a guy to complete her, and I hoped she’d come to that conclusion in the course of the novel. Again, that might be just because I’m old and I’ve seen this before!

Recommended for a light beach read, will definitely cause a hankering for Mexican food. As always, thanks to Netgalley and HarperCollins UK for the ARC.

Overall - 3.9/5
Story - 3.5/5
Writing - 5/5
Character - 3.5/5
Memorability - 3.5/5
Enjoyment - 4/5

Just to be nice and transparent, Abi is a good friend of mine. That being said I really enjoyed this tale of love, loss and reconciliation. Since having a baby I'm finding I only really have the head space to enjoy light, heartwarming stories and The Lonely Fajita is just that.

Abi is a fantastic writer. I felt she captured millennial London perfectly, whilst not alienating (I'm just about a millennial apparently!) older readers. She's also incredibly witty and I loved her main character of Elissa. She was perfectly flawed, yet caring, car crash, yet driven. She felt very real. I'd love to read a book from Annie's POV, and also - live with her.

This is a lovely cross-generation story, which I'd happily have read 100 more pages of and I can highly recommend.

This book was a funny, heartwarming read about unlikely friendships and the challenges of adulting and growing up. I could relate to Elissa in so many ways - the housing troubles, having a job she didn't like, and feeling lonely and lost in life -, and I was rooting for her hapiness till the end.⁠
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Overall, it's a light book you'll probably read in a few days, and a good palate cleanser if you just finished something darker, heavier, or more complex.⁠

What can I say, i liked the book espically Annie as a character. However, the MC was a little bit frustrating to read extremely low self esteem but also self centred makes for a troubled person. I don't know why her friends are friends with her i would run for the hills shes not there for them but wants them to be there for her.

However, i love the cover design and title i thought i was pretty clever.

Review left on goodreads and instagram.

This book had me in stitches from the beginning!

No money, no boyfriend, nowhere to live and no job prospects forces Elissa to think outside the box and finds herself applying to be a live in companion to Annie; stubborn, proud and independent.

I felt so many times throughout this book that I was in the room with Elissa such was the depth, warmth, intrigue and hilarity within this refreshing story that include characters that span across three generations.

Every situation and drama felt so plausible and relatable and I feel the author really knew her characters inside out, giving each of them such different personalities that worked so well in this novel.

Elissa is a 'can do' kind of girl that gets her into tricky situations as well as getting her out of them. The relationship between herself and Annie goes through almost every state of emotion and yet still comes out the other end and it is filled with surprises along the way.

This story was so good I had to cancel a lunch date to finish it!

A quick, fun read, showing the importance of friendship not just with one's peer group, but throughout the generations.

Very good read. I really liked Elissa, she was a very likeable and relatable lead character and watching her grow into herself and find her way was very enjoyable. Her friendships were a highlight of the book and secondary character had a wonderful distinct personality. Annie was a great as were Suki and Maggie. The writing style was also really good and it was easy to get wrapped into the world created by the author. I would definitely recommend.

A beautiful story about the journey of life and finding our place in it!

Elissa is coming off one of the worst times of her life when a strange opportunity presents itself! Unsure at first she decides to go for it and in the process discovers how strong, smart and beautiful she truly is! Of course she has some help from amazing friends like Suki and Annie! I love that this is a story about the relationship we have with ourselves and those around us! Elissa could’ve just thrown the towel in and given up but she kept going and kept finding ways to land on her two feet! She started taking Chances and learned just how beautiful life truly is!