The Bucket List To Mend A Broken Heart by Anna Bell

That is what infuriated me about this book - everything Abi does is to win the affection of her ex-boyfriend Joseph.  Her behaviour is, not to put too fine a point on it, borderline obsessive and I found that to be actually quite disturbing; the fact she could only admit to a near stranger that she was only putting herself through this to rekindle his passion for her shows that the character knew it was wrong but still she behaved in this way.  To be honest it creeped me out more than a little - next stop bunny boiling for sure.

There is some humour in the book but more of the wry observations of personal calamity so we are laughing at the characters rather than with them.  The situations are a little contrived and don't really stand up to scrutiny but this is a novel after all so artistic license is allowed - this is never more obvious than in the detailing of Abi's work life and her attempts to keep her job.

The characters are all a little flat and never manage to fully inhabit their pages somehow.  Abi in particular does at least grow through the course of the tale but I always felt like there was something missing, some detail of her character that was being held back and I never did find out what it was.  When she meets her "bicycle-man" (see, I can't even remember his name) he is everything that is perfect about a partner without ever really seeming to have his own personality and Joseph is, ultimately, just a name of the page.

All that said, it is an enjoyable enough read if you don't want anything particularly challenging.  I read this whilst on holiday and it was perfect for that - pick it up, browse through a couple of chapters in a leisurely manner and then put it back down again.  No urgency to read one more chapter and no real investment in the characters - light, frothy fluff which is all you really need sometimes.