Ivy Feckett is Looking for Love

I absolutely loved this book. It was the sort of book which is a bit of everything - funny, romantic, clever and then a big whack of meaningfulness gets you right in the face! It’s well written and builds characters well, so you feel like you really know them. The introductory phrases for each chapter added a little bit of extra finesse.

This is happy reading time following Ivy around in her life while she researches the most gruesome things of mankind. Ultimately, being kind is what we all should aim for.
And while waiting for the world to pick up that theme, laughter is what we need and what you'll get with Ivy Feckett is Looking for Love and therefor deserves a place on my for-a-rainy-day shelf!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of the book.

Ivy Feckett is looking for love... and gets mixed up in some crazy stuff along the way! Her routine is set, research for her job, dinner with her friend Sam and his family on Saturdays and geocaching with him on Sundays. Things start getting interested when the secretary informs her that one of her articles has just gotten her in trouble with the boss. They meet and she is pleasantly surprised to find that she likes him. As he draws her more into his world she begins to discover that things may not be going as smoothly as she hoped. Filled with a fun cast of characters, you will be rooting for Ivy the whole way.

A very amusing romantic comedy that simultaneously satirizes the genre and contemporary society, particularly institutionalized religion but also sexual relationships. The central character is a nerdy wallflower full of good intentions but slightly naive and easily manipulated. With the help of her friends, however, she is able to resolve the mystery at the heart of the novel and find a happy ending appropriate to her personality.

The book is set in Birmingham, England, an atypical location for a romance, and among an intellectual subculture for whom geocaching and boardgames are the height of excitement. The whole scenario is very endearing even if some of the scenes are highly adult and unorthodox for this genre.

Ivy Feckett is Looking for Love: A Birmingham Romance by Jay Spencer Green
Publication Date: July 28, 2016
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Description from NetGalley...
“The "nerds-against-the-patriarchy" romcom guaranteed to tickle your inner geek!

When brainiac dweebs and smooth-talking power players meet up, there's no telling what can happen. In the case of Ivy Feckett, what happens is a nonstop romp of wry, quirky fun. 

Bookish Ivy's cluelessness is as endearing as it is comical, from the first peek into her random sexual fantasies to the moment she realizes that her boss, the rich, handsome Ned Hartfield, is a serial manipulator.

Her search for love may not go as smoothly as her search for geocaches, but its route through awkward hookups, clumsy intrigue, and fake evangelicals is both hilarious and touching.”
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Thank you to @NetGalley @booksgosocialgroup for the digital ARC in return for my honest review.
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My thoughts...
This is my first book from this author. This particular book was “Voted Best Indie Comedy Book of 2016.” What did I think? Ok (pause). Ok. Uhm...OkOkOk! When I began reading this book, I did not know what to think. It started off with Ivy, a naive, geeky researcher, who was compiling a list of disparaging terms for the female genitalia, from books she has read. The weirdness at the start and the writing style kept my interest. I really like the characters of Nana and Sam. The story may seem meaningless and offensive to some, as portrayed by the different characters, but the last quarter of the book brought it altogether: what it means to be loved. It was an “in your face” book, that made me laughed out loud. It had romance, but not your typical romcom - nope, not at all! It was clever and there were a few philosophical moments, that made me ponder. Overall, I really enjoyed this book.

Ivy Feckett is Looking for Love was a delightful suprise. The characters were very likeable and relatable, each one in their own way. For me, Nana is the best, and she deserves a book all for herself.

Nothing in this book follows the recipe for a romance novel. I mean, there's romance, but it's not a romantic story. In fact, I think there's a bit of everything (romance, suspense, mystery, intrigue), plus a lot of humour!

I really enjoy reading this book, I could never tell what the following page would bring. I look forwads to reading more from Jay Spencer Green.

Thanks NetGalley and the author for my ARC;

Clever and charming with some delicious storytelling surprises toward the end, this novel is a genre-defying romantic fairy tale that also manages to be a philosophical treatise on cooperative ecology and religion. I read this delightful book in one day.