The Great Escape by Fiona Gibson.

This was such a fabulous book.  I couldn't put it down, and enjoyed every minute of it.  Totally brilliant chick-lit escapism.

We meet three friends who go away together for the weekend, to enjoy a long needed catch up and celebrate a hen weekend.  Straight away I fell in love with the main characters Hannah, Sadie and Lou. They are all so normal that it's really easy to relate to their situations. They share a really strong bond and I found myself wishing I could go away for a catch-up with my friends just like they're doing.

Despite each of the characters having their own problems to deal with they all wanted to best for each other and the story was full of optimism and positivity, and the belief that it really is easy to change a bad situation and make it into something better.  I was really inspired by the characters, and its always so comforting to know other poeple have the same insecurities as you.

I really felt I bonded with each character, despite some of their lives being a little different to mine, and enjoyed reading about their individual and collective journeys. It was fun and laughter all the way, and had me laughing out loud in places.

The settings in this book are wonderful too; I'm finding myself drawn towards the idea of a weekend away in Glasgow now!

The back page blurb:

Hannah’s getting married… and has serious pre-wedding jitters. She adores Ryan but can’t figure out how to fit into his grown-up, family-sized life. There’s that fridge, for starters. That, too, is family-sized, with a gadget on the front that spits ice in her face. More alarming still are Ryan’s children, Daisy, 10 and Josh, 13, who clearly don’t relish the prospect of Hannah, a free-spirited greetings card illustrator, becoming their step-mum.

So she fires off invitations to a hen weekend – just the ticket to get her into the marrying mood. Trouble is…

New mum Sadie is leaving her twin babies for the very first time with their terrified dad…

Lou is unaware that her long-term man Spike is desperate to bundle her onto that Glasgow-bound train so he can hot-foot it round to see his secret fling Miranda…

And, unbeknown to the girls, Johnny, their sexy upstairs neighbour from their art college days, is still frequenting those haunts, desperately in need of a little magic to happen.

Title: The Great Escape
Author: Fiona Gibson