This is a light hearted, easy read that had me laughing out loud in places. It was quick to read and enjoyable, although I probably liked the main character's friends more than I liked her - Elissa made me want to give her a shake and tell her to pull herself together!! The older characters were also well written, although I did feel as though Annie's family history could have been explored a bit more, it seemed like an aside that I didn't really get a satisfactory explanation for.
Overall, I enjoyed it and would look out for more by this author. With a release date in May I can see it being a popular holiday read!

The book felt like it dragged I couldn't get through it

*******netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.******

Elissa is a young woman who, on the face of it, has her life figured out. She lives with her boyfriend and has a cool internship with a dating application, in the hip part of London. Pretty early on, though, all of that changes and she finds herself without a job, home or boyfriend in one fell swoop – unless she can come up with the perfect idea.

I enjoyed this book, overall, but honestly, I don’t think it’s aimed at me. I’m about ten years too old and far too sensible to relate to Elissa, who takes about four chapters to realise that living somewhere beautiful rent free is a good idea and a great opportunity, even if it does mean living with an elderly woman. With little social life and no cash, it’s not like she’s cramping her style.

Her friendships are written well, and I can see Suki and Maggie quite clearly – they temper Elissa’s daft decisions and make her ‘real’ and human. They obviously care about her, which makes the reader care too.

It might be because I read this quite quickly, but I found the routine was quite repetitive – Elissa always seems to be going to work or coming from work. I wanted to see more of her actual life, told in real time – her birthday night out, for example. We had some flashbacks but nothing much from the night itself.

The love interest(s) were a good narrative, but honestly, I felt that it would have been a better message without the main guy. Elissa is badass enough without a guy to complete her, and I hoped she’d come to that conclusion in the course of the novel. Again, that might be just because I’m old and I’ve seen this before!

Recommended for a light beach read, will definitely cause a hankering for Mexican food. As always, thanks to Netgalley and HarperCollins UK for the ARC.

Overall - 3.9/5
Story - 3.5/5
Writing - 5/5
Character - 3.5/5
Memorability - 3.5/5
Enjoyment - 4/5

Just to be nice and transparent, Abi is a good friend of mine. That being said I really enjoyed this tale of love, loss and reconciliation. Since having a baby I'm finding I only really have the head space to enjoy light, heartwarming stories and The Lonely Fajita is just that.

Abi is a fantastic writer. I felt she captured millennial London perfectly, whilst not alienating (I'm just about a millennial apparently!) older readers. She's also incredibly witty and I loved her main character of Elissa. She was perfectly flawed, yet caring, car crash, yet driven. She felt very real. I'd love to read a book from Annie's POV, and also - live with her.

This is a lovely cross-generation story, which I'd happily have read 100 more pages of and I can highly recommend.

This book was a funny, heartwarming read about unlikely friendships and the challenges of adulting and growing up. I could relate to Elissa in so many ways - the housing troubles, having a job she didn't like, and feeling lonely and lost in life -, and I was rooting for her hapiness till the end.⁠
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Overall, it's a light book you'll probably read in a few days, and a good palate cleanser if you just finished something darker, heavier, or more complex.⁠

What can I say, i liked the book espically Annie as a character. However, the MC was a little bit frustrating to read extremely low self esteem but also self centred makes for a troubled person. I don't know why her friends are friends with her i would run for the hills shes not there for them but wants them to be there for her.

However, i love the cover design and title i thought i was pretty clever.

Review left on goodreads and instagram.

This book had me in stitches from the beginning!

No money, no boyfriend, nowhere to live and no job prospects forces Elissa to think outside the box and finds herself applying to be a live in companion to Annie; stubborn, proud and independent.

I felt so many times throughout this book that I was in the room with Elissa such was the depth, warmth, intrigue and hilarity within this refreshing story that include characters that span across three generations.

Every situation and drama felt so plausible and relatable and I feel the author really knew her characters inside out, giving each of them such different personalities that worked so well in this novel.

Elissa is a 'can do' kind of girl that gets her into tricky situations as well as getting her out of them. The relationship between herself and Annie goes through almost every state of emotion and yet still comes out the other end and it is filled with surprises along the way.

This story was so good I had to cancel a lunch date to finish it!

A quick, fun read, showing the importance of friendship not just with one's peer group, but throughout the generations.

Very good read. I really liked Elissa, she was a very likeable and relatable lead character and watching her grow into herself and find her way was very enjoyable. Her friendships were a highlight of the book and secondary character had a wonderful distinct personality. Annie was a great as were Suki and Maggie. The writing style was also really good and it was easy to get wrapped into the world created by the author. I would definitely recommend.

A beautiful story about the journey of life and finding our place in it!

Elissa is coming off one of the worst times of her life when a strange opportunity presents itself! Unsure at first she decides to go for it and in the process discovers how strong, smart and beautiful she truly is! Of course she has some help from amazing friends like Suki and Annie! I love that this is a story about the relationship we have with ourselves and those around us! Elissa could’ve just thrown the towel in and given up but she kept going and kept finding ways to land on her two feet! She started taking Chances and learned just how beautiful life truly is!

3* Not as funny as the blurb would have you believe, but with an unexpectedly sweet ending.

Maybe I'm the wrong age to be reading this book, seeing I've got a son who's only a year older than Elissa, and who's got his feet firmly on the ground, his head in the game of life and who doesn't spend so much time thinking to himself in the 'clearly because this is a book' way. There wasn't one time where I LOL'd, and I found myself wondering how any 26yo who's had a decent education, who comes from the background that Elissa does, would allow herself to be in this situation.

On the plus side, unlike a lot of what I'm reading about, Elissa doesn't have an iota of Me, Me, Me and once her bestie Marcie comes to her in her hour of need, she manages to turn things around - with the help of Annie, whose life and plans changed when she met her Arthur. This part of the tale I did quite like, but more so because of Annie, who at 83yo, had so much life in her.

Overall, it is a hyped-up book but it's not a funny one; it's quite sad that Elissa is as downtrodden as she appears to be.

ARC courtesy of Harper Collins UK, One More Chapter and NetGalley, for my reading pleasure.

This was such a funny read! Just what I was looking for.

Elissa thinks she can’t do anything right; she doesn’t have a decent wage, because she’s been working as an intern at a matching app company, therefore, she can’t afford paying the rent at her boyfriend’s place, not even buy some “real” food. At work, things aren’t going well at all. Let’s say the environment isn’t the most appropriate. Her boss is a real pain in the arse, some of her workmates only say and do things to please their boss, and her current situation as an intern doesn’t seem to change at all.

Moreover, her boyfriend isn’t exactly the “boyfriend of the year”. He isn’t supportive nor quite communicative. So when they are asked -by the landlord’s daughter and roommate- to look for another place to live in, he doesn’t even bother to talk about it, and just carry on with his planned trip to Las Vegas to spend the weekend with his friends.

Suddenly, Elissa thinks she’s found the solution: ElderCare, a charity who looks for people to live with elder people as their companions. So Elissa soon meets Annie, and start living with her and finding a real home again. No more ramen or tortellini for two (one portion for supper and the other for next day’s lunch). Annie is quite a character! And they couldn’t have met in a better time.

An enjoyable read.
Elissa is newly single, needs a new place to live, and is having trouble at work. When she moves in with Annie, it is supposed to be Elissa offering the help, but Annie ends up helping her out in so many ways too.

I flew through this book in about 5 hours. I loved it and I loved the whole idea of the book, as well as the characters and plot.

I thought that Elissa was a really relatable character and I liked that she was written realistically. I loved her friends and their friendship.

I loved that the storyline wasn’t cliched. Elissa didn’t make annoying or stupid decisions that make you want to shake a character. She’s likeable and really enjoyable to read.

As for secondary characters, Annie, Maggie and Suki were great to read and all had different personalities that added to the story.

This is a quick, easy and enjoyable read that put a smile on my face! I’d recommend to anyone who enjoyed contemporary fiction written by the likes of Ali Pantony, Lindsey Kelk & Beth O’Leary 😊