As Good As It Gets? By Fiona Gibson

[amazon_link id=”184756366X” target=”_blank” ][/amazon_link]’As Good As It Gets?’ is Fiona Gibson’s new book.

Charlotte Bristow is worried about her husband Will. With her 16-year-old daughter Rosie newly signed to a top modelling agency, and Will recently out of a job, things are changing in their household. As Will dusts down his old leather trousers and starts partying with their new, fun neighbours, Charlotte begins to wonder what on earth is going on. So when Fraser, Charlotte’s ex – and father of Rosie – suddenly arrives back on the scene, she starts to imagine what might have been.

Fiona Gibson is an author who I met a few years at a Harper Collins event and just like her, her books are heartwarming and fun.

Her latest book comes with one of the prettiest covers that I’ve seen in a while and give her book a fresh and bright feel to it. The story is seen from the perspective of Charlotte, a hardworking mother who is concerned that her marriage has lost its fizz and that she and her husband, Will are just going through the motions of married life. Having recently become redundant, Charlotte knows that Will isn’t happy with life, becoming withdrawn and quiet, the only time he seems to brighten up is when they get new neighbours. Glamorous and bubbly Sabrina with her husband Tommy and their son Zach, Charlotte feels drab in comparison to Sabrina in her job as a marketing consultant from Archie’s, a crisp company. As well as marriage worries, Charlotte now has to worry about Rosie, her sixteen year old daughter who becomes scouted by a modelling agency whilst shopping in Forever 21 and has decided that she wants to meet her biological father, Fraser. A man Charlotte met whilst away Inter-Railing, he was her first true love and abandoned her when she needed him most, when she became pregnant with Rosie, promising to be there but instead having his mother write to Charlotte and finish the relationship.

Even though Charlotte regrets nothing about her life and has two teenage children that provides much entertainment in her life. She often thinks about Fraser and what might have happened if Fraser hasn’t left her and when he suddenly gets in contact with her, these thoughts become more regular particularly when Charlotte finds herself getting tired of Will’s antics and attitude.

Once again Fiona has delivered another that gripped me throughout. I read this book in a day as I was unable to put it down and found myself retiring to bed early, purely for some peace and quiet to finish it. Charlotte is the narrator of the story and I Ioved her. She is the underdog of the story, a hard working mother, who loves her family dearly but her children are at an age where everything she does is embarrassing and my heart went out to her. She was regularly the butt of jokes and taunts, but she always put on a bright smile and never let it get to her. She finds herself battling a conflict of emotions from hurt to guilt when Fraser gets in touch, it’s only natural that she would like to see how he turned out and finally find out his side of the story, but of course she has Will’s feelings to consider and how this will effect their family and his midlife crisis.

Charlotte as the lead characters is immensely likeable, but I thought the children were fabulous and were the reason, I couldn’t put it down particularly Ollie. As a thirteen year old boy, he has an outspoken and innocent curiosity about him, always there to say the wrong thing at the most inappropriate times, he added an injection of humour to this poignant family story.

A charming and relatable story from the very beginning, ‘As Good As It Gets?’ is a deliciously warm and fun story filled with likeable characters that made the book impossible to put down.

You can pre-order[amazon_link id=”184756366X” target=”_blank” ] As Good As It Gets? from Amazon [/amazon_link]and will be available to buy from good bookshops from 26th February 2015.