Finding Felix

Great story about connecting with old friends.

Both Felix and Dot are likeable characters - you want them to be happy, and to get past the mis-communication between them

Like all the best romantic comedy, this story starts with a dilemma that forces the well-meaning heroine to do anything to achieve the desired end, regardless of the consequences for herself. Finding Felix. follows Dorothy (Dot) whose grandmother Flo is seriously ill with pneumonia as she visits her in hospital. With her grandmother on her deathbed and Dot's single state seemingly over concerning, her granddaughter makes the foolish mistake of inventing a boyfriend to soothe the old lady. Dot wants to make her dying grandmother's wish come true and so plucks a friend out of her past and turns him into her fantasy boyfriend. Faced with the need for a name for this figment of her imagination, in her desperation Dot uses the name of her childhood friend Felix, despite not having seen him for fifteen years. Not unsurprisingly her well-intentioned lie comes back to haunt her when her grandmother rallies and wants to see the mystery boyfriend for herself.


With Nanny Flo making a surprising recovery and with her sister's wedding looming and the family expecting her to turn up with a partner, Dot decides it's time to track down Felix. Full of fantastically funny misunderstanding, which provides the story's humour and an indisputable wake-up call for Dot when she realises that Felix, in reality, is not how she remembered him. Dot and Felix, each experiencing the aftermath of a messy break-up, find themselves not quite honest not only with each other but with others. There's something there though and despite been given the opportunity to extricate herself from the lie Dot doesn’t. There are secrets abound in this novel, creating lots of laughs in the ensuing confusion. This is such a fun read; light-hearted with truthful undertones and sparkling all the way. Finding Felix is a sophisticated romantic comedy that's fun to read and guaranteed to make you laugh. With serious Wedding Date vibes and I may have re-watched it like three times since finishing the book.

Well, this year has given me a series of surprises when it comes to books. A not so appealing cover, a very dull beginning and how can one imagine that I have in my hands a gem of a book! But that was what 'Finding Felix' was. Dorothy (Dot) finds Felix and I have in turn found the perfect romantic comedy to turn my day a happy one.
I never had the pleasure of reading Jo Platt before and her quirky, humorous language captivated me the moment the story shifted its perspective to Dot's. I am not against stories told through both the protagonists, but the highlight of having a single point of view is that it gives us a lot to imagine. I very much doubt 'Pride and Prejudice' will be this famous if it was using a double narrative including Darcy's take on things. 'Finding Felix' pursues a similar vein where it is Felix's actions and not his thoughts that reveals his character. It was fun imagining what could have been going through that charming, intelligent brain of his.
The author introduces a plethora of characters including Dot's meddling but loving mother, caring grandmother, protective father, intuitive younger sister and a stern but supportive best friend and business partner. I loved reading about them all which added a certain depth to the novel apart from the romance.
That being said, we can't ignore some of the loose ends in the plot, particularly the one concerning the missing letters. Even at the end, the readers are not enlightened as to what was there in the letters and how it got misdirected. And I can't help but wish to have more of Felix and Dot.
Thank you, NetGalley and Ellie Pilcher of Canelo for giving me a copy to review and for inviting me to this blog tour. I completely adored this book and it took a while to settle on the next one to read as I was not able to come out of the world of Dot and Felix.

I’ve been in a bit of a reading slump lately but this has been the perfect book to bring me back out of it. From the start I could just tell that I was going to love Finding Felix, it’s the kind of situation that I could totally see myself in, letting a situation run away from me and getting myself in a bit of a pickle over it.

It was such an entertaining book, there were a few moments that I couldn’t help but laugh out loud to and lots of moments that I could relate to. It is a light-hearted book and there is, of course, some romance but actually the bits that stood out the most for me were the interactions between Dot and her friends and family.

The relationship between Dot, her sister Becca, and her mother was great, even though her mother was overbearing at times and drove Dot up the wall a little bit it was lovely to read about a solid family unit that knew and accepted each other's flaws. The friendship between Dot and Kate was also wonderful, they are such contrasting personalities but they work so well together. I also admired the fact that there were no fighting women in this, I’ve noticed that some romances tend to play women off against each other but this book has none of that.

Dot was such a fun character, if she were real we would be fast friends, a bit ditzy but also the kind of character that brings a lot of life to the book. Towards the end there were a few points that I felt like she maybe should have learned a little bit from her actions, but it didn't hinder my enjoyment in any way.

I liked Felix best when he started to open up a little, I can totally see why he was more reserved at the beginning but I felt like I couldn’t really warm up to him and Dot maybe becoming something when he was so uptight. Nanny Flo was also a gem, she always made me smile with her amusing and cheeky lines.

Finding Felix is a delightful book that I was engrossed in whilst reading and one that I was looking forward to getting stuck back into any time I put it down. This is one that I would definitely recommend and I’m looking forward to checking out some more of Jo Platt’s work.

Yes, another great book from Jo Platt. This is the second one I have read, reviewed and taken part in the blog tour for after her 2017 release You Are Loved. Click for my review.

Her latest title, Finding Felix. follows Dorothy (Dot) whose grandmother Flo is seriously ill with pneumonia as she visits her in hospital. All Flo wants is Dot’s happiness in life and love. She invents a boyfriend who is really Felix, a friend she hasn’t seen for 15 years. What Dot and her family don’t expect is for Flo to recover.

Can she keep her lie going or should she come clean about Felix? She decides to track him down but the guy from the past is all different now.

Will things work for them? What will happen when they see each other again?

Jo Platt writes a brilliant witty true-to-life page turner with realistic characters and I really liked Dot.

Thanks to Jo Platt and Canelo for my ARC in exchange for an honest and voluntary review and an opportunity to take part in the blog tour.

This is the second book I've read by Jo Platt (You Are Loved was the first - which I loved!), and it didn't disappoint. Like others have said, I didn't take to Felix at first, and I do wish he'd opened up a bit more than he did, but he opened up enough for me to like him, and his behaviour is explained. I loved Dot - what a great character. And her mother was entertaining, if somewhat annoying. Perhaps she could have been toned down a bit. I don't think we ever met Lynda from the office, but she had a role to play too. Unless I missed it the Gwyneth/Beattie mix-up wasn't explained, and also, not much was said about the letters / postcards going astray. I did find it a bit odd that considering Felix and Dot were so close when they were young, that they lost touch for over 15 years. If they cared that much surely they'd have followed up, even if letters / postcards weren't replied to. Well-written, great characters, funny, romantic, nostalgic - I'm sorry to have finished this book.

With thanks to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Like all the best romantic comedy, this story starts with a dilemma that forces the well-meaning heroine to do anything to achieve the desired end, regardless of the consequences for herself. Dot wants to make her dying grandmother's wish come true and so plucks a friend out of her past and turns him into her fantasy boyfriend. Not unsurprisingly her well-intentioned lie comes back to haunt her when her grandmother rallies and wants to see the mystery boyfriend for herself.

Full of misunderstanding, which provides the story's humour and an undeniable wake-up call for Dot that Felix, in reality, is not how she remembered him. There's something there though, and despite the opportunity to extricate herself from the lie, she doesn't. An excellent supporting cast of believable characters adds depth to the story, which like all good romcoms ends happily.

Sophisticated romantic comedy that's fun to read and guaranteed to make you laugh.

I received a copy of this book from Canelo via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

I raced through Jo Platt’s zesty-paced romantic comedy Finding Felix! Funny, uplifting and simply irresistible, readers looking for a feel-good romance will certainly not go wrong with Jo Platt’s latest first class page-turner!

Single girl Dot Riley is faced with a dilemma: her grandmother Flo is on her deathbed, absolutely heartbroken that her granddaughter does not yet have a boyfriend. Flo is distraught that Dot will spend the rest of her life alone, never having known the happiness a relationship can bring. Dot, unable to see the pain and heartbreak in her grandmother’s eyes and determined to make her grandmother’s last days as pain-free as possible, does the only thing possible in such an uncomfortable situation: she invents a fake boyfriend! Knowing how fond her grandmother was of her old childhood friend, Felix, Dot tell Flo that they’ve reconnected and that they’re in a relationship – even though Flo hasn’t seen Felix in fifteen years! Her grandmother is overjoyed that Flo has got somebody in her life at long last and Dot thinks that she has dodged that particular bullet and can now focus on making Flo’s days as comfortable as possible – until her grandmother makes an unexpected recovery just a couple of weeks before a family wedding and makes it abundantly clear that she wants to meet Felix! What is Dot going to do? How is she going to dig herself out of this particular hole she has inadvertently found herself in?

Should Dot just take a very deep breath and admit that she lied to her grandmother? Or should she try and find Felix? Dot opts for the latter and begins her quest to find the man she has not seen in almost two decades and convince him to be her fake boyfriend for the family wedding. With all her relatives clamouring to meet him, Dot knows that when she finds Felix, she is going to have quite a job on her hands to try and persuade him to act the part of a loving boyfriend, even though they have not had any contact for fifteen years. However, little did Dot realise that finding Felix would turn out to be the easy part, it’s liking him that proves to be the real challenge! What is Dot going to do now?

Has singleton Dot ended up causing even more heartache for herself by creating a fake boyfriend? Will she ever find her own Prince Charming? Or is she destined to keep on kissing frogs?

A fun read that will make you laugh out loud on many an occasion, Finding Felix is a book you will struggle to put down! Uproariously witty, heartwarming and unputdownable from start to finish, Finding Felix is a gripping tale full of love and laughter with a delightful heroine, a terrific cast of supporting characters, heartwarming drama and plenty of hilarity to keep you gripped to the page from beginning to end!

Jo Platt is a fabulous writer of romantic comedies and readers who love Sophie Kinsella and Milly Johnson, should add her name to their auto-buy list!

Jo Platt was one of the very first authors I reviewed for this blog; her book was 'You Are Loved' and I was so impressed that I jumped at the chance to review this one.

With her grandmother on her deathbed and Dot's single state seemingly over concerning, her granddaughter makes the foolish mistake of inventing a boyfriend to soothe the old lady. Faced with the need for a name for this figment of her imagination, in her desperation Dot uses the name of her childhood friend Felix, despite not having seen him for fifteen years ...

With Nanny Flo making a full - and surprising - recovery, her sister's wedding looming and the family expecting her to turn up with a partner, Dot decides it's time to track down Felix. Since splitting with the last man in her life and having no other romantic interest on the horizon, it would get her family off her back - wouldn't it?

What follows is fantastically funny and full of misunderstandings; a wonderful array of characters each with their own traits make this absolutely hilarious! Dot and Felix, each experiencing the aftermath of a messy break-up, find themselves not quite honest not only with each other but with others. Remaining characters all have their own things going on, creating even more enjoyment. The secrets abound in this novel, creating lots of laughs in the ensuing confusion. This is such a fun read; light-hearted with truthful undertones and sparkling all the way. Worthy of no less than five plump, glowing stars and the highest recommendation for a superb, giggle-fest which will leave the reader with a great big grin of happiness.

My thanks to publisher Canelo for my copy via NetGalley, and also for inviting me to participate in this blog tour. This is my honest, original and unbiased review.

My review has been posted to my blog & Goodreads.

Review has also been tweeted as usual.

Thank you! :c)

This book is joyful, funny, warm, witty, daft and full of life and I loved it. I read it in one sitting and was rooting for Dot all the way along. Dots grandma was dying so to keep her happy Dot invented her boyfriend Felix. But the her grandma recovers and dot actually has to find Felix! And find him she did! This book will make you laugh out loud, smile, giggle and snigger. It really is that good!

Dot Riley’s grandmother is knocking on death’s door. In a moment of madness and desperate to make her beloved Nanny Flo happy in her last few moments, singleton Dot invents a boyfriend. In another moment of madness, she chooses Felix, her old childhood friend and one of Nanny Flo’s favourites even though she hasn’t seen him for 15 years.

Surprisingly, Nanny Flo manages to pull through and is fighting fit for Dot’s sister’s wedding a few weeks later. Should Dot come clean? Should she confess that she doesn’t have a boyfriend even though it could have disastrous consequences for poor old Nanny Flo. Or should she try and find Felix and hope he will pretend to be her boyfriend for the wedding. Of course, Dot plumps for the latter but when she finds him he’s not quite like what she remembered!

This was my second book by this author. I loved the first one I read, You Are Loved, so had very high hopes for this one! The blurb sounded great fun and it just had to be read! I have to admit, I was hooked after the first page and got very little done until I’d finished this one! Dot making up a boyfriend on her Nanny Flo’s deathbed was great, but when she actually decided to try and find Felix to get him to pretend to be her boyfriend at her sister’s wedding was superb!! I loved Dot’s character and, on more than several occasions, she made had me chuckling loudly to myself! I also loved the chemistry between Dot and Felix, despite Felix being so moody to begin with! I almost wanted Dot to tell her family the truth just to get rid of him, but I’m so glad she keeps the pretence going a while longer as when Felix begins to warm to Dot he turns out to be utterly delightful!!

The book is a fabulously funny and light hearted read, full of friends, family and love! It is absolutely perfect for a lazy day’s reading and it’s such a wonderful read that you won’t want to put it down until you’ve finished it! Highly recommended!!

Dorothy's beloved grandmother, Nanny Flo, has a severe case of pneumonia, and the doctors aren't hopeful that she will make it through. Nanny Flo's one fear is that Dorothy will be alone and as she tells Dorothy this, Dorothy did the only intrinsically thing she knew: she lied. After concocting a tale that an old beloved friend, Felix, had come back into her life after fifteen years and they were not dating; Nanny Flo was overjoyed. And she was even more overjoyed when she made a full recovery, albeit a tad fragile; however, the pressure is on when Dorothy's sister Rebecca's wedding is coming up and their parents and Nanny Flo are absolutely delighted to be meeting Dorothy's beau, Felix. Now Dorothy is in a rush to find her old friend, but once found, Felix doesn't seem too overjoyed to see her.

Finding Felix: The feel-good romantic comedy of the year! literally took me two hours to read. It was such a light, warm, immersive piece. The narrative and colloquialisms is traditional with a decidedly British rom-com. There is a mild theme of body image throughout this novel, coupled with the romance and the comedy, but I found that the author, Jo Platt, rather than barrelling close mindedly into such a delicate and opinionated subject, decides to lightly embrace the issues instead, going for normalising all body types in her book, rather than body shaming.

Dorothy is such a likeable character, she's hare brained, funny, and endearing. She is nicely three dimensional, she defies equanimity in a quickly witted, captivating way. Her and Felix's relationship weaves undeniably good humour throughout the story, making the narrative immersive and enjoyable.

Felix initially is an enigma. For that reason only is why I read the book so quickly. The author depicts him as a dichotomy; past Felix, kind, caring, supportive, and present Felix, businesslike, dismissive, stoic. The mystery surrounding his inexplicable change is engaging and credible.

The novel concluded really nicely. All questions of any manner were answered, and the ending for me, was a satisfying one.

Thank you to Net Galley and Canelo for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Dot is single when her beloved grandmother is on her deathbed and worried about how Dot will cope alone and that she might be lonely so Dot lies to her and tells her that she is seeing her childhood friend Felix. When her grandmother then rallies in time for a family wedding Dot is in trouble...... she hasn't seen Felix in years can she get in touch and persuade him to go along with her lie or will she have to admit all to her grandmother and really disappoint her?

A great light hearted fun book, easy reading with lovely characters and plenty of humour so perfect summer breach read

Nanny Flo on her deathbed is distraught that her granddaughter Dot is still single at 36 years of age. On a whim Dot lies and tells her family that she is seeing Felix Davis, a boy she hasn’t seen or heard from for 15 years but who was a great childhood friend and loved by her family. But things go astray when Nanny Flo rallies back to life, instead of admitting to her family that she has ‘broken up with Felix’, Dot says things are going great and suddenly things are getting out of hand. Now she must find Felix to invite him to her sister’s wedding.

If I had to describe one word this book made me feel..... it would be HAPPY! I loved all the characters, they seemed grounded but quirky all at the same time and many times I laughed (snorted) out loud. Having recently spent a holiday with friends from high school (many, many years ago), it just confirms that deep down we don’t change as we get older. The story line rolled on seamlessly and if you’re looking for a laugh out loud, feel good book I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend ‘Finding Felix’.

This is my first novel by Jo Platt and I have since found another on my Kindle, so I’ve bumped this up my reading list.
Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for an ARC to read

Dot Riley is only thinking of her beloved Nanny Flo when she reassures her dying grandmother that no, she isn't single - she's actually in a happy relationship. Desperate to soothe Nanny Flo's fears that she'll be forever alone, she invents a fictitious boyfriend - her childhood friend Felix, who she actually hasn't set eyes on in 15 years. When Nanny Flo makes an expected recovery and is able to attend a family wedding, Dot has to choose between 'fessing up or finding Felix. But once she tracks him down, will he be everything she remembers?

Stories about fake relationships are nothing new, and from reading the title alone I thought I knew the plotline before I'd begun. But I was wrong - and I loved the twist on the story of Felix not being hard to physically track down at all, but about the reconnection of two old friends being more troublesome.

Have you ever had a friend who somehow always manages to get themselves - and you - into some of the most ridiculous and hilariously awkward situations? That's Dot, our main character. She always manages to somehow screw things up without meaning to. I think Dot is written absolutely perfectly - in another person's hands, she could have been ditzy, self-centred and irritating, whereas Jo Platt manages to make her self-aware, extremely likeable and someone you can't help but fondly chuckle at. In fact, for the first time ever, I actually highlighted a line from a book on my Kindle to come back to, because I laughed out loud at it and thought it was genius:

"I always favour empathy over pity because it lets me focus at least fifty per cent on me too."

I loved the other characters in the book too. Felix's personality develops slowly across the story and I loved the exploration of what drew Dot to him as a teenager. If I was being picky, I could probably have done with a stronger confrontation between the two about his frostiness with her in the present day, but overall I enjoyed his character a lot. Other honourable mentions are Kate, Dot's business partner, who is involved in a cute, heartwarming secondary plotline, and of course, Dot's overbearing mother who had me chuckling to myself with her lack of tact and inability to stop meddling. For me, Kevin and Linda were the hidden gems! I loved their inclusion in the book.

That's the thing - this book is genuinely laugh-out-loud funny. A lot of 'romantic comedies' are heavy on the romance but lacking in the laughter, but I really enjoyed the writing style for this. It wasn't ever cheesy or schmaltzy (is that a word?), it was humorous, witty and engaging. I found this so easy to read but never over-simplified or predictable. It's just an uncomplicated, light-hearted, but very enjoyable story that I really loved reading. I'm not going to say that this is relateable because honestly, some of the scrapes Dot gets herself into are hilarious in their ridiculousness, but it is sweet and warm, and pretty much impossible to dislike. If you love your romance with a dash of laughter, this is the perfect book for you.

I have been a fan of Jo Platt for some time now and was so excited to read this when I heard it was being released. Let me tell you, Jo did not disappoint (as if she could!?). A mesmerising bunch of characters and a little (okay, big!) white lie lead to a hilarious and laugh out loud adventure. A really fun read that is lighthearted and honest and completely delightful! Jo Platt is fast becoming a key player in my favourite authors list!

When Dot's grandmother is on her death bed and her wish of Dot finding happiness with a man is still yet to be granted, Dot does the only thing she can think of - she fakes a boyfriend. Usually when you fake a boyfriend, it would be easy to just make up someone who genuinely doesn't exist, right? Apparently Dot thinks otherwise, as she reveals her 'boyfriend' is an old childhood friend, Felix. A friend her family happened to be rather fond of in previous years and whom she has not seen in fifteen years.

The family are not about to forget about Dot and Felix' budding romance anytime soon with her Grandmother making a speedy recovery, meaning the only choice Dot has is to track the now stranger down and hope that he will attend a family event to convince them that the pair are legit.

The whole book was light-hearted and entertaining with some scenes that loved to tug at my heart strings - especially when their feelings blossomed and things/people kept getting in the way. Felix wasn't the most likeable character in the beginning and kept himself reserved, however he started to progress when he began to open up to Dot about his life. Every character was such a joy to read and I find myself relating to Dot in many ways, especially having a mother who likes to get a little too invested in to your love life!

This is the second book of Jo's that I've read and I will continue to read her work in the future.

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. This book had me in stitches and I absolutely loved all the characters. This is the first book I have read by this author and won't be the last. A well deserved 4 stars

Really enjoyable light hearted read. I liked the character of Dot and the plot of her trying to reconnect with Felix and pass him off as her boyfriend. It was an easy read and moved along at a nice pace.