A different romance story, but I could equate with Florence’s counting and consequences games. Eventually getting the right man after having a boyfriend who was totally wrong for her. A pleasant read

Oh, how I enjoyed this book! Florence is such a wonderful character, who reminds me so much of Miranda (Hart) from the telly. So many of the escapades she gets into are so funny and well written. I just couldn't wait to turn the page to see what was going to happen next - in fact, my husband had to tell me to put my Kindle down almost every night as it was really late and I hadn't realised the time again!!

The concept is a great one - write a list of all you would like in a boyfriend and wait for him to turn up. However, when Florence finds one that ticks off a great number of the items on her list, this doesn't necessarily mean she is going to float off into the sunset with him..... I have to say that I did guess some of what ended up happening but that didn't spoil by enjoyment of the book at all. I just wanted to keep reading to see if I was right and how it was actually going to happen.

If you are looking for a great feel-good, uplifting, funny and thoroughly enjoyable read, you won't go far wrong with this one. I can highly recommend it.

Thank you to Net Galley and the publishers for allowing me to read this book in return for an honest review, which is genuinely what I have given.

I always, always read Sophia Money-Coutts' column when I pick up a copy of the Evening Standard, so I was thrilled to get my fingers on her latest novel in return for a review.

When I requested it, I didn't even know the book also features multiple reference to Shakespeare and the Greek myths, cats, ice skating, bookshops, and a lot of alcohol and coffee (seriously, the heroine is hungover at a rate I don't even remember from uni), which are all topics right up my various alleys.

The book in the end wasn't really, though.

You could say it's a Cinderella retelling, but I don't want to say with a twist because at the end of the day, it is still a romance novel, and if you've ever read a romance novel before then you, too, will know how this once is going to end from about 50 pages in, and you, too, will wince a little at the sections of "sincere sentences said by characters in love who don't know it yet." (Actually, I don't know if you will also wince. I have a very low wince-tolerance.)

[SPOILER IN THE NEXT PARAGRAPH]

The reason I'll always be happy to read anything by Sophia Money-Coutts is because she has a very engaging style of writing, she creates characters that are tropey but usually quite fun. This book is a nice escape on a gloomy day. But I seriously, seriously cannot give this book more than two stars because the cat dies.

I requested this title from NetGalley as I fancied something different from the usual genre I usually read. It made me laugh and was a light-hearted read , just what I needed. If you're looking for an amusing read, then this is the one for you.

Loved this book. Heart warming & even made me cry at one point. I’d recommend this book to anyone wanting a nice quick feel good read.

I loved this!!
Relatable characters, and Florence was just brilliant. Easy to imagine being friends with her and her brilliantly written sisters. Love interest that made me cringe and the ups and downs of new relationships. So funny.
Sexy, humorous, and poignant. Highly recommended.

I really enjoyed this. Great characters, great plotline and I really wanted to get to the end to see what Florence would do! Definitely recommended.

This is the first book I have read by the author Sophia Monet-Coutts and I thoroughly enjoyed it from start to finish.
Florence lives with her two step-sisters. Mia is about to get married to Hugo, and Ruby seems to constantly have a boyfriend. Florence however has never had a true boyfriend and so her step-mother arranges for her to see a love guru who encourages her to write a wish list. When Rory appears in the book shop she works in, Florence believes that the list has actually worked! That is until she realises he isn't really the man of her dreams. Thank you Netgalley for sending me a copy if this to read. I can't wait to read another book by this author!

The Wish List is a pleasantly entertaining read about Singleton Florence Fairfax, who resorts to following the advice of a ‘love guru’ , in drawing up a ‘wish list’ of attributes her future mate should possess!

Much tongue in cheek giggles ensue - my favourite part being the description of Flo’s bride to be sister and her lunatic hashtags: # heputaringonit. # shinebrightlikeadiamond!

Rory the greasy and stereotypical Tory, seems to inspire a mixture of cringe inducing distaste and complete revulsion. Surely most readers would join me in screaming out loud to Flo... “DUMP HIM!

**Thanks to Netgalley and HQ for the advanced reader copy in exchange for this review!

Florence Fairfax is a thirty-something anxious bookworm, living with her 2 step-sisters in Kennington and working in a small bookshop in Chelsea. The problem is she's never had a boyfriend and everyone is on her back about finding one especially as her sister is about to get married. Her obsessive tendency with counting - and what good or bad thing happens as a result, she likes order and she likes routine. As a result of her lacking love life, she attends a therapy session with results in a wish-list for her perfect man predictably the suitor doesn't actually need these requirements, he just needs to show up for her when it matters. Hilarity ensues as she muddles through life, work and balancing a new man on top of all that. Her life and quirky mis-adventures reminded me so much of Bridget Jones or of Georgia from Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging, in that they were funny if a little eye-roll inducing.

This story made me laugh, and tugged at my heartstrings. it was heartwarming and I can never look at the word 'cowabunga' in the same way again. It was romantic, if a little predictable I was so glad she got rid of bloody annoying Rory and instead went for Zach, we love an underdog and slow burning romance as I did call what would happen quite early on. Nevertheless it was a nice book to cosy under a duvet with on a Sunday afternoon.

I do feel as though her obsessive compulsive tendencies were added as a character quirk and I would have much rather there was an element where that was addressed more such as how she overcame it rather than running off with her new boyfriend and suddenly being completely cured of this and her need for routine and structure.

I really enjoyed this book it was funny and the perfect summer read.

Florence for all her "habits" I guess OCD behavior was likeable and i could relate to her perpetual counting..

I would certainly recommend this book to others.
Many thanks to NetGalley and to HQ for my arc for which I have given my voluntary and unbiased review.

What a lovely read! I loved Florence who is quirky and interesting. All the characters were well written and though a little predictable, I really enjoyed the warmth and humour of the story as it unfolded. The wedding day writing made me nod with approval! A fab summer read that’s a little bit different.

Florence is 32, lives with her two half-sisters in her parental home and with her cat, Marmalade. She works in a bookshop and is rather content with her life until her family (her stepmom in particular) start bothering her about her love-life and pays for a 'love-coach' (at Harley Street no less). There Florence makes a list for a suitable life partner. But is that list what is going to make her happy?

I enjoyed the writing style and the setting. It is more chick-lit than romance (not in a negative way). It gave me a few hours of reading pleasure.

*** I want to thank Netgalley and the publisher for granting me an ARC and this is my honest and voluntary review. ***

I really enjoyed this book, a great light, fun summer read! Florence is very likeable and relatable. I loved that while her OCD tendencies were a focus, it wasn't the main plot line and helps to normalise people who also experience them. I also enjoyed the sister's plot line and I liked the general message of the book that if you go out looking for particular traits of future partner, they might not be a perfect as you thought! I also thought it was very well written and great steamy sections! Thank you for Net Galley and HQ for giving me a copy of the book.

Really good read. Would recommend to friends and family. I could sympathise with characters (important for any fiction novel!) and looked forward to picking it up and reading the next few chapters! Interesting plot line and a good ending. Will look out for more novels by the author. Thank you.

This is Sophia Money-Coutts' third novel, and it's every bit as filled with fun and laughter as the first two. Florence Fairfax is 32, single, working in a job she enjoys, but which isn't going anywhere, and is just a little bit stuck. Her flighty, hilarious stepmother decides to change this by sending her to a love coach that she saw in a magazine. She's definitely not a quack, because she was written up in the magazine!
Florence's love coaching involves writing a list of the qualities she wants in a man, which include having a nice bum, liking cats, and not minding Florence's counting, an anxiety mechanism that permeates her life. And, the week after she has her first meeting with her love coach, a man walks into her bookshop and asks her out. Taking her first tentative steps into a relationship, Flo realises that perhaps what she wrote on her list wasn't necessarily everything she wanted in a man.
Rory the Tory, the tall, handsome man who sweeps her off her feet and introduces her to black and white dinners, trips to his country home, and sex that makes you say 'cowabunga!' is a Very Nice young man, with good prospects and a good work ethic. But even if he ticks all the boxes, perhaps Florence is going to discover that what she wants and what she needs are two very different things.
I thoroughly enjoyed this novel, as it weaved together family concerns, anxiety, comfort zones, relationships, friendship, and a gorgeous, grumpy cat called Marmalade. Flo is a really relatable main character, with a frank, funny inner monologue, and I really felt like I could have been friends with her. Rory is a fairly infuriating first experience of a boyfriend, but he felt really real. And Zach, the nephew of Flo's boss who comes in to help out in the bookstore, the tattooed photographer with a motorbike and a penchant for leaving cups of coffee in places where they definitely should not be, is a real dreamboat, even if Flo doesn't think so. Florence's fractured, funny family, where her two half-sisters and stepmother feel like the real family and she's the tagalong from the first marriage, feels very real, as she tries to cope with her feelings of isolation from the family unit, but the love between them is still solid and heartwarming. And I absolutely loved Mia and her feelings about her wedding, together with her mother's outrageous reactions to the wedding day scandals.

All in all, a funny and warm book that felt like just what I needed to cheer me up in these strange times.

Unlucky in love Flo has lives at home with her 2 half sisters and has never had a boyfriend. Until her new social climbing step-mother forces her to meet the latest love guru. Flo writes a list of the man she wants and just days later he walks into the bookshop in which she works but is he what she's really looking for.

This was a light easy read that I could definitely manage reading by a pool or on a beach with a drink in hand.

Full of heart, laugh-out-loud & so oh binge-worthy!

This novel was so addictive honestly couldn't put this down, its the humour is pitch-perfect. The 'cowbunga' moment had me in absolute stitches, even now writing this I'm chuckling about it.

Money-Coutts writing style is so effortless and engaging, it is reminiscent of Marian Keyes.

I whole-heartedly recommend for anyone looking for an uplifting read filled with laughter. I for one absolutely cannot wait for her next book!

A huge thanks to HQ Stories & NetGalley for sending me a copy in return for an open & honest review.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

This is my first sophia book, it wont be my last. It tells the story of Florence and her search for love. I actually really enjoyed this story, and i like all the characters apart from Rory. There was just something about him that didnt sit right with me. But, he and all the other characters all worked perfectly within the book. There were times i laughed out loud, and times i really felt for the characters. I did figure out the storyline quite early on, but that being said, i did really enjoy the story as a whole. I would recommend this book if you fancy something querky and cheerful as it does deliver. A lovely story all about finding true love. Thank you to net galley for the oppurtunity

This is the story of 32-year-old Flo who’s never had a boyfriend, finds one after a love guru gets her to write a ‘wish list’ for her ideal man so that the universe can deliver it to her – in the form of Rory the Tory. And, I loved the essence of this book which is that “having the wrong boyfriend is way more complicated than not having a boyfriend at all.”

It’s pretty predictable in that Flo naturally ends up not with Rory the Tory but the guy who doesn’t meet any of the criteria on her wish list and who she dislikes instantly upon first meeting. But, mostly this genre is pretty predictable and I think that’s the point, it’s a tried and tested formula that we love because it works.

This is also slightly quirky in that it’s a bit yin and yang. In some respects it’s quite twee with brace-wearing toffs, Cinderella style stepmothers, Dickensian bookshops and vocabulary like “calamitous”. But, it’s also weirdly contemporary with laugh-out-loud situational humour, descriptive sex scenes, bloggers and hashtags. I particularly enjoyed the bit where a teenage Instagram poet’s dog humps Flo’s leg live on stage at the bookshop’s first author event.

This is an easy read, despite long chapters, providing much-needed funny feel-good escapism.