But I Smile Anyway…

Today, I am thrilled to be on the blog tour for The Ick by Holly Muculloch.

The Blurb

Girl meets boy. Girl gets the ick. Girl moves on.

Gem has a chronic case of the ick. Luckily for Gem, these icks are actually her intuition in disguise, warding her off of greater red flags which would surely develop later… or that’s Gem’s theory. Her best friend, Shanti, doesn’t buy it. In fact, in her training to become a Clinical Psychologist, Shanti decides to design her graduate study around Gem. To see if the ick is real, she challenges Gem to look past her intuition and date someone for an unimaginable six weeks, all for a fee of £5,000.

And who better to test the hypothesis than Atlas. He eats soup for lunch, wears a gigantic rucksack and winks at the end of cringy jokes – all impossible to look past. But, despite Gem’s best efforts, he’s also, she hates to admit it, quite funny, attentive, and kind (and not to mention extremely good looking). And whilst her gut shouts at her to run away, one date becomes, two, three, four, before she stops counting all together.

Can Gem do the impossible and start falling for Atlas? And what happens when he finds out she’s being paid to date him?

The Ick is a hilarious romance about the judgements we pass, the insecurities we harbour, and those relationships that force us to embrace vulnerability whole-heartedly.

My Review

The Ick by Holly McCulloch
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Can I say that one thing this book didn’t give me was the Ick?
It starts as a mild-mannered story, with Gem, our FMC, who finds it hard to commit because each time she meets a date, something inevitably puts her off, be it food, clothing, or a specific behaviour… also known as The Ick.
She marks down the first date of the book… because he ate soup for lunch!
Gem lives with her best friend, Shanti, who is training to be a clinical psychologist. She thinks there are commitment issues and that these ‘icks’ are more of an unconscious attempt to never say yes.
And so, the central part of the story starts. Gem is signed up for a clinical study for Shanti’s thesis and has to date one person for a long time, despite ‘icks’ to see what happens.
Enter Atlas. – Okay, so he entered earlier. He’s the soup eater. But what a wonderful character! He is that pure, gorgeous specimen, and you know he is just right for Gem. Only, can she get over the ‘ick’?
And the side characters are just as great.
Uncle Mick, who is like a surrogate father figure; Jay, the miserable corner shop owner who despite not uttering a word through the book, has his presence, and Shauna, the attitude-filled young footballer.
I enjoyed reading this book because it goes deeper than the fundamental Ick issue. Gem’s background and her relationship with her mother all contribute to how she is right now.

Author Bio

As the fourth child in a busy household, Holly was often left to entertain herself. She wasn’t cool enough to hang out with her oldest siblings, and she wasn’t a good enough goalie to hang out with her younger sibling. Luckily, she quickly found the world of books and since then, she has never looked back. As a kid, Holly often went to sleep with at least four books underneath her pillow just in case she needed them. And she often did. Books have saved her time and time again.

After a stint working at a literary agency, then a stint working at a big four publisher, and then a stint working as a book buyer, Holly made the terrible decision to become a management consultant. After four years, and still no idea what the job actually entailed, books saved her once again. She wrote her first novel Just Friends (published by Transworld in 2020) when she needed to escape. Her second novel, The Mix-Up followed in 2021.

She is currently working as a freelance editor and writer, and lives in the outskirts of Oxford with her dog, who she lovingly named Schitthead (Ted) after the best TV programme known to man. She is fuelled by baked goods and a need to make people laugh.

If you want to get to know Holly (and Ted) better, follow her over on Instagram (@by.holly.mcculloch) where she mainly shares dog photos and curates memes.