The Ex Factor By Eva Woods

[amazon_link id=”1848454686″ target=”_blank” ][/amazon_link]’The Ex Factor’ is the latest book by Eva Woods.

Modern dating is hard, especially when all you meet are liars, oddballs, men who wear Superman pants and men who live with their mums. So why not date someone who already comes pre-approved? Just because your friend’s ex wasn’t right for her doesn’t mean that he won’t be right for you. That’s Marnie’s new plan for herself and her three best friends, perennially single Helen, recently divorced Rosa and cynical lawyer Ani. Through bad dates and good, the four friends begin to realise that there are advantages to dating pre-screened men…but there can be some serious pitfalls to falling for your friend’s ex.

‘The Ex Factor’ is seen from the perspective of four best friends, Helen, Marnie, Ani and Rosa who have all given up on love. Helen is busy working on her unique dating website, which is aimed for people in relationships, Rosa is trying to get over the heartbreak off her husband going off with the work intern and has to see him everyday at work, whilst Ani, is a divorce lawyer and is unable to get past a second date meanwhile Marnie has returned from years of travelling, full of mystery and intrigue, her friends are dying to hear about her exciting life, but it seems that life is far from glamorous for Marnie, but she’s not letting anyone know about what really happened.

Right from the start, this story was fun, based in London, the four friends are reminiscent of the ladies from ‘Sex And The City’, their fun loving, adventurous, enjoy cocktails and most of all they are looking for their Prince Charming. The concept of sharing exes from their past does make for interesting reading and I found myself wondering how this would effect their friendship, as they all enjoy dates with past partners as they wondered if these exes could potentially be the ones who got away.

The mixture of characters, personalities and fun situations all make for light hearted and entertaining ladies. Each character was unique and relatable with their own issues and I found myself warming to each of them. I loved Helen, a quiet character, she’s content with her quiet life involving routines and spending time with her cat, Mr Fluffypants, but when her old flame from her past reappears, she finds herself struggling with the project even when she meets IT consultant Karl, a man who is helping with her website that is forever being hacked. I particularly loved Rosa, I found myself sympathising with her as she is suddenly thrown into the world of singles, having adjusted to married life and content in finding her happy ever after, it falls apart when her David has an affair. She’s a sweet character, who has to write about the dating project much to bemusement of her handsome boss Jason and bitchy Suzanne. She’s constantly found in ridiculous dramas and is a bit like the Bridget Jones character of the story. Ani is the more sensible and serious of the group, coming from an Indian background, she feels the pressure of being single and throws herself into her job, whilst the instigator of the project, Marnie is quite a mysterious character, her life is far from perfect but she refuses to divulge about her life and where she has been from the past couple of years much to the frustration of her friends.

I really enjoyed this story, I thought it was a fun and refreshing book with plenty of witty one liners and funny situations that made for refreshing reading. A story about friendships and starting over ‘The Ex Factor’ is a great introduction to a new author.

You can buy [amazon_link id=”1848454686″ target=”_blank” ]The Ex Factor from Amazon [/amazon_link] and is available to buy from good bookshops.