The Expat Diaries: Misfortune Cookie (Single in the City) Paperback – February 5, 2014

Would you travel 6,000 miles, halfway around the world to be in the same city as your boyfriend? That's exactly what Hannah does in Michele Gorman's second novel, Misfortune Cookie - the sequel to Single in the City.The idea sounded great. It was supposed to be exciting and romantic. However, things aren't going quite as planned. Instead of exploring Hong Kong with her boyfriend, Sam, Hannah is stuck in the foreign city alone while Sam is away on business more times than not.Things start looking brighter when her best friend, Stacy, decides to move and join her. Together, Hannah and Stacy explore Hong Kong and immerse themselves in the culture with funny mishaps along the way that Gorman illustrates with clever wit and humor. Ultimately, Hannah learns a lot about herself and has to decide what she wants out of life and love.While reading Single in the City isn't necessary to enjoy Misfortune Cookie, readers who have will most definitely have more insight into Hannah and circumstances surrounding her latest adventure.

Michele's writing is laugh out loud funny, with a lovably flawed main character.This book:1) kept me up into the wee hours of the morning so I could finish.2) had me craving Chinese food, guess what I ordered for lunch today.3) transferring $2.99 from savings to checking so I can get the last book in the series and finish it tonight!4) Sharing it on Facebook to tell friends who want a light, funny read, this is the cookie!5) Highlighting the parts I found funny on my kindle, bringing it work, and reading the laugh out loud parts to my co-workers!

3.5 starsIn this sequel to Single in the City, Hannah has moved to Hong Kong for her new boyfriend Sam. It is questionable to Hannah's friends and family whether Sam asked her to move WITH him or simply suggested she might want to move there as well, but Hannah is head over heels in love with Sam and is convinced they are a match made in Heaven. So, Hannah packs up and moves to Hong Kong almost as spontaneously as she moved from the states to London the year before. But this time, her bestie Stacey will be her roommate and, thanks to some good luck, she's landed herself a job as a buyer's assistant with a terrific boss. Hannah's life in Hong Kong would be perfect if it is wasn't for the small inconvenience of Sam's job - it has him traveling and not actually living in Hong Kong after all. They only manage to see each other every few weeks, sometimes months, for a couple of days. And even when they are together, while the sparks still fly between the sheets, Sam seems to be slightly more interested in his career and perhaps his female boss than he is in developing his relationship with Hannah.I really did enjoy this book, however, I liked Single in the City better and since I gave that 4 stars, I feel as if I should give Misfortune Cookie 3.5. The sequel just didn't hold my attention the way the original did - there was too much description of Hong Kong which some readers love, but I prefer the action which was a bit slow at times. Hannah is a great main character and I loved all of the secondary characters, including Sam. Even when I was angry at him, I still gave him the benefit of the doubt and hoped he would do the right thing by Hannah. I also really enjoyed the character development of Hannah as she finally learned to stand up for herself and what she wanted/needed/deserved. It was refreshing watching her come into her own. Since the ending was not completely satisfying, I do hope a third installment is in the making!PS - I love the covers of both of these books. So pretty!

Oh Hannah how I love you! Hannah is one of my favorite leading ladies. She makes me laugh non-stop. She is clumsy, awkward at times and just generally like me. This is the second book where Hannah follows her boyfriend from London to Hong Kong. Sam doesn't ask her to move, but she does. Might be a bit easier that when she just up and moved from the US to London, not knowing anyone there, or even having a job lined up.Once again Hannah didn't get a work permit but she stumbled upon the perfect job. A fashion designer's assistant assistant. Can Hannah keep from fowling up this one? When she moves to Hong Kong in the hopes of moving in with, falling in love with and marrying Sam, her dreams come crashing down on her when he tells her that he will be on location at another job, but will be able to visit every so often.The only thing that cushions that blow is the fact that Hannah's best friend from the States, Stacy, is coming to Hong Kong too to work and therefore Hannnah now has an ally in Hong Kong.Hannah learns a lot about herself, life and what she is all about while in Hong Kong. In fact it looks like Hong Kong was the best move ever for her. Things are great with Sam, or are they?Read this book. You DON'T want to miss out. I am telling you, Michele is so awesome at writing. It went way too quick and I am sad. I need another Hannah fix SOON! Michele really leaves you dangling on this one with so many questions!!!

I enjoyed  Single in the City (Single in the City Series Book 1)  and was looking forward to reading "Misfortune Cookie". Surprisingly, Hannah became one of my favourite leading ladies in the chick lit world (granted, I do not indulge myself in chick lit often, but when I do I go all the way). She is hilariously honest and some of the remarks she makes make me, on a rare occasion, grasp for air - they are truthful and brave observations of the modern world and its dating/love rules. Plus it was quite interesting to read about expat in Hong Kong, the city itself was a real profound character in the book.I could see our heroine Hannah annoying a number of people with her exploits - she could be perceived as self-obsessed and whiny. But never for a moment she annoyed and/or irritated me. I rooted for her all the way, even though the premise of her "special" relationship with her boyfriend was never really clear to me - why would one do that/agree to that?"Misfortune Cookie" was self-published - that explains a number of typos etc. in the text, but Michele Gorman's language is engaging and swift-moving, the book has a lovely pace. I really enjoyed it. Cannot wait to finish this trilogy! Single in the City (Single in the City Series Book 1)

This is one of those books that you want to forge ahead with because you want to know what happens, but you want to ration it because you don't want it to end - however, curiosity got the better of me. If you've already read Single in the CIty, you feel like you're privileged above the other characters (you feel like you're in there among them) because most are either just joining Hannah's circle, or are rejoining her in new and different circumstances, whereas you'll feel like you've made this journey with her. It keeps up the momentum of SITC but takes Hannah, her career and her relationships in different and unexpected directions. There are no stereotypes or cliches and there are many unexpected twists, turns and potholes! Nailbiting isn't normally a word I'd use to describe chick-lit - but it works with Hannah!

I know many people gave this a four or five star rating, but for me it was just an okay read. It's a great holiday, sitting by the pool story and like so many of this style, I tend to read in between heavier books to lighten the load. I wouldn't not recommend this book, just wouldn't enthuse about it as much. That said, it is well written, it's witty in places, I liked the line, 'You can't polish turd but you can roll it in glitter' (I hope I quoted from the right book) and I liked mother who popped up via text message from time to time.

I enjoyed these books as a fun bedtime read

Really liked this book. Loved the Hong Kong setting, it felt really exotic and I liked learning about life somewhere else. I really want to go and live there now! Good story with Sam, with tension building up throughout and some great characters! Looking forward to reading the next instalment of Hannah's adventures.