Lobsters by Tom Ellen and Lucy Ivison

Sam and Hannah only have the holidays to find 'The One'. Their lobster. But instead of being epic, their summer is looking awkward. They must navigate social misunderstandings, the plotting of well-meaning friends, and their own fears of being virgins for ever to find happiness. But fate is at work to bring them together. And in the end, it all boils down to love.

This was an absolutely adorable and hilarious rom-com of a book. It perfectly described teenage life and the pressure of university alongside the normal stuff of friends and love life. It was written split between Sam and Hannah as they meet, drift apart and are thrown back together again. I loved seeing their lives intersect and how they each handled their encounters.

Now speaking of teen life, I couldn't quite believe how much the guys only cared about hooking up - boys can't really be like that or have I just been lucky to avoid it? As for the girls, Hannah and her gang were much as my friends and I were in sixth form; absolutely mental, tight-knit and talked/worried about everything from the next night out to adulthood. However I did have a slight issue with Stella. I knew girls like her, used to getting what they wanted, not knowing how to handle rejection or indeed proper boy trouble, and it's always difficult to read about because on the one hand, you want the heroine to ditch the bad friend but you can see that she's not always a bad friend. In the end, I'm glad they made peace with each other, Hannah and Stella, because fighting over boys is never a good enough reason to lose a great friend.

The whole thing of finding a great guy/girl to lose your virginity to was equal parts sweet and funny; for many people it is a big deal, to give yourself over to someone else completely and to hunt that down, for whatever reason - to get it over with or to enjoy it - will always be an adventure in love and find out more about yourself and your limits, as it were. It was a joy to read, made me laugh out loud - which is awkward on a busy train - and made my heart clench. A perfect summer contemporary with adorable characters and a heart warming story. 

Published 5th June 2014 by Chicken House.