eBook Review: The Park Bench Test by Sarah Lefebve

"How do you know when you’ve found Mr Right?

Aspiring journalist Becky Harper loves her boyfriend Alex, but she doesn’t think he’s Mr Right.

Her best friend Emma doesn’t believe in Mr Right – she’s just looking for a man who will stick around longer than her dad did.

Katie has found her Mr Right and is planning her September wedding with her two best friends.

Debut author Sarah Lefebve asked her own friends and family how they knew they had found the elusive Mr Right and then turned their honest – and often surprising – answers into this charming, emotional and downright funny romance about three friends and their search for Mr Right – if he even exists that is…"

Rating: 5/5

You can buy The Park Bench Test as an eBook.

When I got this book from the lovely people at Harper Impulse via Netgalley, I was very intrigued about it. I hadn't read much about it so didn't really know what the title was all about and was curious to find out! I really love that although they are eBooks, Harper Impulse put a lot into the design of their eBook covers - for an eBook, people are undoubtedly going to be attracted by a gorgeous cover on their computer screen when they're looking to buy a book, so they certainly have the edge here. I love the cover for Sarah Lefebve's debut novel, it's eye catching and I really love the cover scheme, it works really well.

Becky is a little shaken when her best friend Katie gets engaged to her Mr Right, and it makes her start to question her own relationship with her boyfriend Alex, and whether he really is her Mr Right. When Alex finally gets around to proposing, Becky surprisingly declines and decides she has to try and find the man she is sure will be Mr Right. As well as that, Becky's trying out a new job as a journalist and she realises she can put this new job together with finding her own Mr Right. Becky starts afresh, determined to make her new career work for her and is sure she can find love again too... nothing like a bit of optimism hey?!

I really liked the eBook from the beginning. I liked Becky straight away, she was a bit chaotic and a bit crazy but I liked her determination to make things work out for the best. I did feel sorry for her boyfriend Alex when she seemingly ended their relationship out of the blue, but Becky was sure she could find someone she would be sure was Mr Right. Her friendship with Katie and other best friend Emma were nice to read, the girls were really close and I particularly enjoyed the anecdotes of them shopping for Katie's wedding dress, they made me smile!

The way Lefebve brings up the storyline of Becky searching for Mr Right and tying into her new job was clever. It allowed for a different way of story-telling, with fun little interview inserts along the away as Becky tries to find out from her nearest and dearest what made them sure they'd found Mr (or Mrs) Right. Some of the stories were funny, others touching and very sweet, and I really enjoyed reading them. I was hopeful that poor Becky would find her own Mr Right by the end, she certainly deserved it after working so hard! I really like the inclusion of new male character James, he seemed so perfect in a number of ways but also seem real, and I liked that about him.

I really enjoyed Lefebve's writing, and the twists and turns as you're reading made it all the more enjoyable. The ending itself was perfect, I hadn't anticipated some of the things that had happened so it made for a wonderful ending in my opinion, exactly as it should be. Becky is funny, her extra job to earn some more money on the side, working at a paint your own ceramics chop, leant itself to a lot of funny anecdotes, and ultimately there's a fantastic love story inside to. This is a very strong debut novel. Lefebve has a great writing voice, allowing her readers to care about the characters and the story, and I whizzed through it in just a few evenings. I look forward to more from Sarah Lefebve, and Harper Impulse need to keep bringing out these brilliant eBooks, they haven't gone wrong for me yet! I highly recommend The Park Bench Test, give it a go!