Michele Gorman's 2013 novel Bella Summer Takes a Chance is to be re-released with a new title, Life Change. The summary says: "What would you change the second time around?
There've been a few changes in Bea's life lately, starting with accidentally ending her decade-long relationship over a Friday night takeaway. Next goes her flat and then her job. Single, unemployed and living in a rented room, Bea is flying without a safety net for the first time in thirty-eight years.
So what is she supposed to do now that she's rewound her life to start again? She has no idea how to date anymore. It's all gone online and with so much competition at the click of a button, her aging bosom might not be up to the job. People are waxing in places she can't even reach and posting red carpet-worthy selfies every ten seconds.
She used to dream of a musical career but is only getting gigs at corporate away days or as background music for drunks in pubs. And her ex is being a hundred times more charming in trying to win her back than he bothered to be when he had her. Maybe grasping life with both hands won't be so easy after all... Can she really become who she wants to be?" Life Change is out in August 2016.
Bella Summer, known to all as B., embarks on a journey of self discovery when she realises that her life has become stagnant. Her decade-long relationship with boyfriend Matthias comes to an abrupt end when she concludes they were never in love. Her reliable consultancy job has caused her musical career to take a back seat, so she decides to take control of her life, and with the help of her best friends, goes on a search for true love, happiness and a successful singing career. I really liked B. as a character. Her big realisation about her relationship drew me into the story from the beginning. When she decides to become serious about her musical career, it really begins to take off and she is quite an inspirational character in that she takes a huge leap of faith in order to follow her dreams. Her friends were brilliant, my personal favourite was Frederick, and I felt that they really added to the story. B.'s love life after Matthias consisted of a series of men, none of whom were fatally flawed but weren't quite right for her, which I felt was true to real life. I had my eye on a certain man who I thought was perfect for her, and I was slightly disappointed when they didn't get together in the end. Michele Gorman has an excellent style of writing that keeps the plot flowing effortlessly and keeps the reader engaged throughout. (LO)
Bella Summer Takes a Chance, by Michele Gorman, is about a woman taking a chance on her dream. The summary says: 'Bella's career and relationship are her life's foundationwear: not glamorous and perhaps a bit binding, but supportive enough... until she realises that they're not enough. Her life is sagging badly. She's never been 'in love' with her boyfriend, despite a decade together. And somehow she stopped being a musician with a day job and became a consultant who was musical. So she takes a terrifying leap of faith, leaving her boyfriend and resolving to follow her musical dreams no matter what. However, the life you walk away from doesn't always let you walk away. With a wonderfully warm and witty cast of friends, all navigating between their ideals and the realities they face, together they'll find out what love and compromise really mean in this empowering tale about grasping life with both hands."
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