Hilarious, relatable and so engaging! I love the way Lucy Vine writes, it feels like we're being given a tiny glimpse into her head.

Fantastic read that had me giggling plenty. Lucy Vine is a wonderful and humorous writer and Ellie was an absolute delight to read about.

Hot Mess was a brilliant read - addictive, page turning and hilarious, Lucy Vine is a writer to watch. Thanks to the publisher for the opportunity to read and review.

It has been a long time since I have read a new adult book that has had me clutching my sides giggling but that was exactly my response to Lucy Vine’s Hot Mess. It is the story of soon-to-be-thirty Ellie who is dealing with the rules and expectations put on women by society and perpetuated by the people around them. And it is bloody brilliant.

It would be remiss of me to not say that Hot Mess did make me think of Fleabag meets My Dad Wrote a Porno. It has the same tone and a weirdly similar set up but since I also loved Fleabag I don’t see this as a bad thing and I think this was released first but just so there are no surprises I felt I should include it.

Ellie is the perfect heroine. Yes, she acts on her own terms later rather than sooner but she is a modern day heroine and I seriously wish that she had her own series of books rather than just a stand-alone novel.

Hot Mess by Lucy Vine is available now.

For more information regarding Lucy Vine (@Lecv) please visit her Twitter page.

For more information regarding Orion (@orionbooks) please visit www.orion.co.uk.

Devoured this. Laughed incessantly. Annoyed the people I was on holiday with. Sent them links to buy and they have laughed so hard they cried too. Can't wait for the next one! Also great campaign - she was a fab guest on lots of the podcasts I listen to

3.5 stars

This book was ok but not really my cup of tea. I did enjoy reading about the funny dating disasters though. Ellie was a bit whiny & I couldn't stand Jenny, I wanted to punch her in the face. I found myself skipping the chapters of her dad's book too. Think this book is marmite!

Hot Mess is chick lit at its best, it made me laugh, smile and I wanted to keep reading and not put it down.

This is one of my favourite summer reads from this year, it follows Ellie through her relationship ups and downs and contains many comical moments along her journey of self discovery. Perfect book to take on your summer holiday or when you fancy something light and upbeat.

It was a funny, laugh out loud book about Eleanor and her struggle to find love. It highlights the ups and downs of modern day dating and the pressure felt to fall in love with 'Mr Right'. It does have parallels to Bridget Jones but lacks doesn't really match it. It is fun to read and keeps you hooked, the only bit I was unsure of was the story that her father is writing that is quoted too much and didn't really work in my opinion (I didn't find it funny! was it just me)...
I feel that it would be worth watching for her next book to see if she can improve on it because the writing style was very sharp and witty. Some of the supporting characters where great and I really wanted her to find love (or peace and happiness if not!)

Next on the agenda we have Hot Mess* from columnist and writer Lucy Vine. Ellie is an artist (or at least, she wants to be), struggling with love, navigating grown-up friendships, and living in a flatshare with a girl she never sees and a guy with a revolving door of women. Having gone through a break-up with her long term partner and the recent death of her mother (as well as having to deal with her lonely father and distant sister living across the pond), this book, however funny and easy-to-read, does deal with some serious topics. It presents a realistic picture of what life in early adulthood is like, as you start to realise you don't really get any more control over your life like you thought you would when you were a teenager. Things are still grossly unfair and you just have to get on with it. I really, really enjoyed this book. I liked the focus on one single character rather than a selection, and Ellie's sense of humour made the book deliciously readable. Her character seemed real, like someone I would know in my day-to-day life, and I think that's hugely what the appeal of this genre of books is. There's a sense of comfort in knowing you're not the only one feeling a tad disappointed by adulthood.

The info about this book states that it features Bridget Jones meets Carrie Bradshaw and I really couldn't have put it better myself! Those are weighty words and hard to live up to especially when they are two of my favourite characters of all time, but Ellie really is a combo of the two. She is a character who is very easy to relate to. She won't be everyone's cup of tea, she's like that friend that you can see making some mistakes but you have tried and tried to keep them on the right path and you've just kind of given up and let them do their won thing now, a little on the annoying side! But actually she is a lot like us all!

I would say that this is a book of two halves. The first half of the book is very much pure comedy with Ellie getting herself into situations, quite a few of those involving her hilarious family mishaps or her disastrous tinder dates. The second half of the book takes a turn for the slightly more serious, but still with some serious laughs in there. It centres around Ellie sorting herself out and doing just a little bit of soul searching. The chapters of the book are also interwoven with emails from Ellie's Dad to Ellie and her sister with updates and the latest extract from the erotic novel he is writing. You know these sections are pure comedy gold, but I just love the way her Dad writes his emails, he is just such a typical Dad!

This books covers having a horrible flat with questionable flat mates, what happens when you feel like everyone around you is changing but you deny to believe that you are changing too. When you don't really know what you want to do with your life or who you want to do it with, and just how embarrassing family can be. If you've been in any of these situations and/or you've ever been a little bit drunk or reckless with your credit card then you are going to love this book. It made me laugh out loud, I could see myself and my friends in the characters and it was fast-paced and very very relevant. Definitely another one to add to your TBR this summer!

Approaching thirty, single, stuck-in-a-rut job...Ellie Knight is the "hot mess" in question.
Hailed as the new Bridget Jones almost made me not want to read this (never quite got it), but I'm glad I gave it a chance.
It's funny (for the most part) and there's something likeable about Ellie, even though she seems stuck in between teen and adult mode.
Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my thoughts.

Ellie is almost thirty, lives in a “shithole” (in her own words) flat, works for a design publishing company while dreaming of becoming an artist, but what everyone around her worries about is her being single. After her friends force her to join Tinder she goes on a string of disastrous dates while looking for the MWCBTO (Man Who Could Be The One). But what nobody, and for a while even Ellie, doesn’t seems to consider is that Ellie actually likes being single and doesn’t need a man in her life to be happy. Full of comedy and entertaining scenes, this novel has also it’s emotional moments as Ellie is still trying to get over her mother’s death the year before which affected her more than she thinks.

Ellie is flawed, relatable, and funny and I just loved her. She is surrounded by a cast of colorful and hilarious characters: from her best friend Sophie who is still adapting to motherhood and can’t bear to see Ellie without a man to her retired father who spends his days watching soap operas and writing his own version of Fifty Shades of Grey (it’s called 75 Hues of Tony); from her mature and very smart 6-year-old niece Millie to her friend and colleague Maddie who dreams of being single after being with the same guy since she was 15; from her irascible sister Jenny to her hot flatmate Josh. A refreshing, sharp and honest account of a twenty-something in London, this is a must-read that it will make you laugh out loud all the way through.

Any book claiming to be ‘Bridget Jones for a new generation’ will pull me in. As much as I think Bridget remains relevant, certain parts of her story (like being able to afford a non-sharing flat in London Bridge on a publishing salary…) no longer ring true. Ellie Knight is a single woman for the modern world. She hates her job, feels her friends are losing interest in her as they couple up and have children, has some incredibly weird flatmates (including one she’s never actually seen) and finds herself fighting the ever-growing black mould present in every London flat. On top of that, she’s tackling horrid Tinder dates, despite being perfectly happy living the single life.

Unlike Bridget, Ellie makes an active choice to be single, but she’s constantly conflicted about that choice. Her friends and family are certain she can’t truly be happy alone and push her into relationships and dating, sometimes living vicariously through her.

Hot Mess isn’t quite equivalent to Helen Fielding, but I could definitely relate to Ellie and had to reach for the tissues when she talked about her relationship with her mum who passed away. Despite a few tears, I also laughed out loud at points and enjoyed the contrast of Ellie’s dates and her Dad’s love life as he re-entered the dating scene and discovered cocktails for the first time.

My only issue with the book was the inclusion of emails from Ellie’s Dad, containing extracts of his poorly written ‘erotic’ novel. I didn’t find it funny and had to persevere through those sections. They didn’t really add anything and felt like a waste of space in the novel. Thankfully they stopped halfway through and the second half of the book definitely improved without them!

Hot Mess is a realistic romcom that will have you laughing out loud. It is released in paperback on 13 July, but is available as an ebook now for a mere 99p. A fun summer read for your Kindle, perhaps?

I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Such a funny and enjoyable story, Is it bad that I saw a lot of myself in this story!?

I really enjoyed this! It's funny and great on the awful world of dating in your 20s/30s. Would recommend this as an entertaining beach read.

I need not stop laughing throughout this book! In what could easily just be a series of comedy sketches, you realise is someone's actual life! The brilliant but not "together" Ellie is approaching 30 and not feeling great with no boyfriend, a job she hates and a room in a house she calls "The Shit Hole".
So incredibly relatable, from the way she chooses "distraction items" as part of her late night shopping, to choosing what to shave, Lucy Vine has captured the voice of a generation of single women living in London who want everything, everywhere at the same time and then kick themselves when they don't have it.
The ending is incredible too, as rather than her ending up with Sexy Poldark (which I wanted to happen so badly!) she didn't. She was happy being single and I applaud her! Fantastic way to say you're OK to be exactly what you want to be.
Adored and want everyone to read this!

Thanks for sending me a copy of this. I requested the download after I missed the kitchen drop on Valentine's Day. I can totally understand the comparison with a modern Bridget Jones and enjoyed living vicariously through Ellie!