Really funny book, well paced, good characters and an interesting premise. I’m interested in the ‘manifesting what you want’ theme so it was good to read the calamitous journey of Alice, and a salutary lesson of be careful what you wish for.
Alice was a little frustrating at times; at 37 you might have expected her to be a bit more mature and far wiser to Guy and his tricks, but none the less, a good read with a bit of a different theme to it.

Unputdownable!
I absolutely loved this book and spent every spare minute reading it.
The story is heartwarming yet filled with laugh-out-loud moments. Alice Carver not being perfect or having her life all figured out, combined with the diary/manifest entries, reminded me of Bridget Jones in the best way possible.
The slow burn was perfect, and the banter absolutely hilarious!
Hannah Lake’s writing style is wonderful, and I cannot wait to read her next book. I’d also love to see more of Alice, her family, and her friends in the future—or even have them make appearances in other works.

Alice needs this to be the year her life changes for the better so she decides to manifest the perfect life. She sees herself earning respect from both her family and colleagues, her boss falling madly in love with her, and having the perfect home and wedding. Using the manifestation guide she sees so many successful influencers promoting, Alice sets out to get her perfect life. However, she soon finds out communicating with the universe isn’t as straight forward as it seems.

Straight up: I loved this book! It filled the Bridget Jones shaped hole in my life I didn’t know I had. I was hooked from the first page and wanted to read the whole thing in one go.

This book had me holding in my laughs on the train to work. At times it could be quite predictable and from the start I could sort of guess how it was going to end but rather than that annoying me I actually enjoyed the anticipation of what I thought was going to happen and the excitement when it did.

I loved Alice as a narrator. She isn’t perfect but she is hilarious and unfortunately had the worst luck in the world at times. She could be really naive sometimes and I wanted to jump in to the book to tell her to open her eyes and see what was going on. The form of the book as her manifestation journal worked really well and also added to the books humour. Ngl sometimes it had me wanting to look in to manifestation more. I also loved the enemy tension and miscommunication between her and Matthew.

My only qualm would be I wish the ending wasn’t as rushed and there was more of a longer moment at the end (won’t say anymore so I don’t spoil anything!) I would honestly love if it became a series following Alice as she manifests her way through more parts of her life.

I wanted to love this book, but didn’t.
I wanted to love Alice, but didn’t.

I wanted more! DNF.

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Alice keeps a diary in which she wishes for certain things to happen to her. The book is definitely a reminder of the old adage 'be careful what you wish for'
Interesting, entertaining and not for the narrow minded.

Funny, charming and full of heart, this is a delightful rom com that had me laughing from start to finish. Alice Carver is determined to turn her life around after the humiliation of attending her ex’s wedding.

Armed with a manifestation journal, she sets out her intentions – a dream home, a better job and the perfect man, ideally in the form of Guy Carmichael.

What she does not expect is a bet with Matthew Lloyd, the irritatingly handsome family friend who insists she does not need to manifest anything at all. Their constant bickering soon sparks tension of the very best kind, with moments that had me grinning and willing them to kiss already.

This book is light, incredibly funny and filled with silly, joyous moments, yet it also carries a sweet message about self belief and trusting in change.

A feel good enemies to lovers romance that is impossible to put down.

Read more at The Secret Book Review.

This was an okay read. Funny in parts and a good journey into Alice figuring out what and who she wants for herself. like a slow burn but i wish there was more interaction between the romantic endgame. 3 🌟

This actually really reminded me of Bridget Jones, which is both a good and bad thing (I don't love the book). This was funny and quirky, but the romance element was a bit one-note and this stretched my (normally pretty high) tolerance for posh people in novels.

Alice is trying to manifest her dream life: better job, better flat, better man and things go hilariously off-script. With witty banter, family drama, and a bet that might just change everything.

Thank you NetGalley for this ebook in exchange for an honest review.

Got a lot to say about this one!
Honestly this had a strong start with witty british humour I love, and I was excited for how it was gonna go but it very quickly ended up being an exhausting read.

For me the main character didn’t come off as a 37 year old, but more a bratty, irresponsible, ungrateful, negative girl in her twenties who does nothing but complain. On top of that, which was already a lot and enough for me to dislike the book, all of the side characters were insufferable as well.

Besides Alice complaining the whole time, her mom and sisters were absolutely unbearable. None of the characters including Alice had any depth either. Only two decent characters were Alice’s dad and Aziz and even Aziz, halfway through the book, turned weird and stopped being pleasant.

The manifestation aspect, which I usually enjoy, fell flat for me as it felt superficial and like Alice was only doing it out of spite, or to prove a point. This had so much potential to be a really good book.

Not to mention this was very predictable from the start, which is not always a bad thing, but when the book is not enjoyable you start wanting more to make up for it, which didn’t happen for me.

I enjoyed this contemporary romantic comedy, featuring Alice, a frustrating but lovable female main character. Her life is not what she needs it to be. Manifesting what she wants from life is the way forward, according to her favourite influencer, so she decides to give it a go. Complex family relationships often result in laugh-out-loud or poignant moments. Alice's self-deprecating humour and the story's emotion make it an entertaining read, and you invest in her. Although there are elements of predictability, it still takes you on Alice's immersive and satisfying journey of self-discovery.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher.

I liked it but didn't love it. I found Alice's family really annoying and the plot was predictable but still an enjoyable read.

Light-hearted and humorous. Alice is a walking disaster and her family seem to think so too. When her Dad gives her money to get rid of the rats in her flat she spend most of it on booze, even though she’s facing redundancy. For Christmas, her mother gives her a manifestation journal in which she writes things she hopes to make come true. Her witty self-depreciation runs through the book making for an amusing read with romance, fun and self-discovery.

a book that made me smile. a book that had me uplifted and at time heart tugged. a book that had me hoping, hoping for our character and hoping for the whole dam world.
a book for the soul this one. and one that will i have to say have you doing those big smiles and little giggles with possibly a few random laughs out loud.
all the while you are rooting for our characters and sometimes a little too tense whether it might work out or not.
this is a rom- com without the awkward cheese us cynics cant attach to.(im aware this is entirely a cynics ie me's problem, lol)
this is a book that cover important stuff and silly stuff with great balance. and isn't that just life?
Alice isn't doing so good. ok she is a mess(her words not mine) it feels like life isn't making her go wrong, making everything go wrong, is it her thats all wrong? shes lost everything or got nothing. so what does she do? manifest. haha yes that one. she will manifest the perfect life. all done. sorted. right???
so does the tick list of perfect make a person happy? her happy? because where does this tick list come from. often it comes from a society that wants to bring you down. or sell you something. or be toxic blah blah blah blah...
there are some challenges that Alice needs to face, some known, some not. and some unexpected moments of reflection she might find herself in. amongst the chaos of cause. and the laughter. oh and yeh come on of course and the romance!
i really enjoyed this book. its a lesson in lots of ways but also just sit and enjoy this book and dont try and ask yourself too many life questions. put DOWN THE MANIFESTING journal people.

First, allow me to say it out loud: Bridget Jones is back!!!

Okay fine, I get your skepticism. I know a lot of books claim to be the new Bridget Jones but I truly believe Alice Carver deserves the title.

This one’s an easy read, incredibly funny, full of silly moments that will leave you in stitches, all wrapped up in an unmissable (and I repeat, unmissable) full-of-tension, enemies-to-lovers, what-is-going-to-happen?, can-they-please-kiss-now? love story.

My honest opinion here is that this kind of books generally do what they say on the tin, but it’s hard to find one that really makes you laugh out loud and truly hooks you. Rom-coms are here to stay and I enjoy reading my fair share of beach reads. This one stood out because it tapped into family dynamics, work grind, misogyny, dating chaos, manifesting (It’s been all the rage for a while but I’m still wondering what manifesting actually means), and basically being a single woman in your thirties… all delivered with hilarious, can’t-put-it-down charm.

It’s a big yes for me, particularly because I love Bridget and Alice is a close second. If you’re looking for something breezy, sometimes silly and I repeat completely hilarious love story, this one’s for you.

This book made me properly laugh out loud which is a rarity.
It's a feel good romance which also mercilessly sends up the manifesting industry. Alice is in her mid 30s and in her eyes everything that can go wrong has gone wrong. Single, homeless and in danger of losing her job, she decides to manifest her perfect life. But is what she perceives as perfect really going to make her happy? I loved that Alice is actually far more capable than she perceives herself to be - and she gets the chance to sort her life out without anybody's help. Obviously we get a fab romance too and Hannah Lake gives us some great potential and ex boyfriends.
One of the most fun books I've read for a while.

OMG, I have to say I was cracking up, giggling all the time when I read this book. Alice's life is totally a mess, but isn't it that is also our real life too? The way she is trying to manifest and put her life into the right place, but there were so many unexpected and inevitable challenges out of nowhere drop down to her life. I was so sympathetic with Alice 'cause I was the one just like her, manifesting every single day, in every aspect of my life. But she is luckier than I 'cause her love life was predictable, I knew it from the very first line because I love his attitude so much, small hint for all of you, it was a classic love line troupe.

Despite all things I love about this book, I am still not acquainted with the writing style. I get the idea and understand it crystal clear, but sometimes it tires me when I read between the paragraphs. But I enjoyed this book and hope for more books in the future from Hannah.

Thank you, NetGalley and HQ, for accepting my ARC request.

I found this a genuinely enjoyable read. The format of the story being told through entries in her manifestation journal is refreshing. The journal quotes and affirmations add humour and personality, and some of Alice’s entries had me laughing.

Alice Carver believes that manifestation will make all her dreams come true. she will bag her dream man, she will get promotions in work, her own place to live. ......Will manifestation work? A story full of hope, making the reader wish that all those dreams will come true.

Thank you so much to HQ for an E-ARC!

3.5 rounded up to 4 because the slow burn was good.

Gotta say this got me frustrated as I thought I loved a slow burn, which I do, but this was a whole different type.

First off the whole relationship between Alice and Matthew is a sort of focus but not like one I've read before. There's tension there, mainly from Alice since we only get her perspective through her entries etc. but you find out why later in the story. Matthew and Alice hardly interact in the first part of the book other than some short meetings and scenes but yet I found myself rooting for them. I was reading purely to see more of them together and to shake Alice with some of things she would do or choose to manifest.

The main focus is Alice trying to make changes to her life but I was mainly focused on a slow burn that was simmering away in the background that I was hoping would engulf oxygen and just burst lol

Really enjoyed it!