The Time of Our Lives by Jane Costello

Original Title: The Time of Our Lives

Year publushed: 2014

Published by: Simon and Schuster UK Ltd

Number of pages: 471

First sentence: "There is a universal rule of travel that applies to any holiday destination on the planet: the sunnier the resort you've visted, the more ferociously it will piss down when you land back in the UK."

Goodreads rating: 4/5

Plot:

Imogen and her friends Meredith and Nicola have had their fill of budget holidays, cattle-class flights and 6 a.m. offensives for a place by the pool. 

So when Meredith wins a VIP holiday at the Barcelona's hippest new hotel, they plan to sip champagne with the jet set, party with the glitterati and switch off in unapologetic luxury.

But between a robbery, a run-in with hotel security staff and an encounter on a nudist beach that they'd all rather foget, the friends stumble from one disaster to the next.

At least Imogen has a distraction in the form of the gorgeous guy who's always in the right place at the very worst time. Until,that is, his motives start to arouse a few suspicions...

My thoughts:

I picked this book up at Stansted during the summer when our flight back home turned out to be ridiculously delayed. I figured it would be an easy read without much depth. Turns out I was wrong. This is actually a good book, even though it is a chick flick in book form.

Imogen is the main character, and she is absolutely lovely. A walking disaster, who is great at her job, permanently single and with a phone obsession. The trip, although it’s a friendship vacation, is also another opportunity for her friends to get her back on the dating market. Imogen’s last relationship did not end well and she is still healing from the wounds it inflicted. The snippets of her background story are amazing and you will alternately laugh and cry when reading them.

Meredith is the fancy and fortunate best friend who has a complicated relationship with her fiancé. She is quirky and fun, and although she comes up as self-absorbed she is very loving and cares deeply for both Imogen and Nicola.

Nicola is the more stable woman of the three. Her relationship with her long-term girlfriend is not so stable however, since Nicola still hasn’t told her parents she’s gay.  I love the fact that Costello do not make a big deal of her gay character, she’s just there and normal, just like it should be.

Harry is the gorgeous yet mysterious guy. He’s another amazing character. He is the boy next-door, gorgeous but funny, intelligent but not obnoxious. The kind of guy any girl would be lucky to have. 

The situations that arise between him and Imogen are both hilarious and saccharine sweet.

It’s a fun book to read. It’s absolutely perfect for lazy days when you don’t want to think too hard but still want to be entertained. The friendship between the three women is hilarious and dysfunctional in the best way and the characters are flawed but complement each other perfectly. 

Do I recommend this book:

Yes I do. Like I said, it's a good book for lazy days or during summer when you yourself are lying at the beach.