Book ~ "The Life And Soul Of The Party" (2009) Mike Gayle

From Goodreads ~ Meet Melissa and Paul: Five years after they split up he's still looking for love in all the wrong places while she wants the one thing she can't have: Paul.

Meet Chris and Vicky: They're so in tune they even brush their teeth in time with each other. So what is Chris doing risking it all for a meaningless affair?

Meet Cooper and Laura: He wants to settle down, she wants to take a grown-up gap year but can their relationship really survive a year apart?

Set across a year of leaving dos, birthday parties and anniversary celebrations The Life and Soul of the Party is a warm, funny and moving tale celebrating love, life and those special moments we've all spent in the kitchen at parties.

I enjoy Gayle's novels and it's been about three years since I last read one.

I liked this one. The style is different in that the chapters are short and snappy and each is written by one of the characters so you get to see how the various characters react to something.

They get together quite often at parties to celebrate something.

Gayle could have tied all the loose ends up at the end and have everyone get what they wanted and live happily ever after. I'm glad he didn't choose to go that route. I was happy with the way it ended.

My only complaint (and it's not really a complaint) is that there are so many characters that at first it was hard to keep them straight. But once I got into it and got to know them, I was fine.

I'd definitely recommend this novel.