Misfortune Cookie

Title:  Misfortune Cookie
Author:  Michele Gorman
Publisher:  Amazon Digital Services
Medium:  Kindle

Goodreads Synopsis:
Would you move 6,000 miles to be with the love of your life?
Hannah did. Unfortunately her plan isn't going terribly well. What was supposed to be a move to Hong Kong to start a wonderful new life with Sam is turning into a move to Hong Kong to spend occasional weekends with Sam, when he can get away from an unanticipated work assignment on the opposite side of the South China Sea. Still, she's optimistic, if woefully unprepared for the intricacies of Hong Kong. Stumbling through the alien city, which she loves, she starts to build a life for herself. Things definitely look up when she finds a great boss to work for, and her best friend Stacy moves to the city too. But alarm bells ring as Sam seems to be getting a bit too cozy with his boss. And when things start going wrong at work, Hannah can't help but wonder if she's made the biggest mistake of her life.

I think there are times in our adult, grown up lives where we don't want to remember that we had ever been desperately in love like with someone who didn't like love us back as much.  I really think like hurts a little more than love sometimes, because once you get over the fact that he never really liked you as much as you loved him, that you realize it never was love at all.  Then when you do find true, real love, you realize how dumb you were and kick yourself in the rump for wasting time on such a loser in the first place.  But was it really a waste of time?  Maybe not.  Life starts out being a series of lessons, some more painful than others, some harder to learn than other, but lessons that end up benefiting us whether we want it to at the time or not.  Reflection certainly has given me lessons that I learned a long time ago that I use today.

Misfortune Cookie was a book about life's lessons.  Hannah, being the perfect poster child for me to get back into dart throwing, was the young lady who really needed to learn some life lessons.  I will admit that while I could totally relate to many of her feelings and irrationalities, I didn't like her until toward the end of the book, and I fell in love with her, because she finally grew up!!!

I love that Misfortune Cookie was set in Hong Kong.  Gorman painted me the perfect picture of what life was like for Hannah after moving from London to Hong Kong to follow a boy.  I had a feel for what a city I honestly know nothing about was like to live in, and there was even a little bit of history set into her book.  

Hannah was real.  She could be any young woman who falls hard for a guy.  She had the same feelings, the same worries, the same fears, and made the same silly decisions.  Gorman did an excellent job of bringing a character to life, someone that most of us can relate to in some way, and she tied her up nicely and neatly with a bow into an enjoyable book that kept me entertained this past week.

When I start any book to review, I stay away from Amazon, Goodreads, and usually the author's blog or website, because I don't want to know anything about what anyone else thinks of the books I'm reading until after I read them.  I think this is fair to myself and very fair to the author, because even though I'm not easily influenced by what other people think, I want to give each book the most fair review that I can.  This may not be the best idea, especially when it comes to the author's website or blog.  In preparing for this blog post, I found out that Misfortune Cookie is a sequel.

Misfortune Cookie is a sequel to a book called Single in the City.  So, for those of ya'll who are going to get this book today, why don't you go ahead and pick up both books?  You won't be disappointed by Gorman's writing style, and you'll get to enjoy some more of Hanna's crazy and exciting life!

Michele Gorman