Café owner Sally has a spare room after her sister Amy moves in with her boyfriend. So a friend asks for a favour for a friend which sees Harry move in. He has vacated his own place after his girlfriend cheated on him with her boss and then refused to move out of his home.
Sally loves her romcom movies and tries to introduce her new flatmate to her favourite movies. After they jokingly film themselves doing the Dirty Dancing lift and it goes viral on Tiktok, they decide to re-enact more iconic romcom scenes.
This has to come close to being my favourite book title of the year. It was a cheery read about a hopeless romantic and a guy who doesn’t think he’s capable of love, with plenty of nostalgia thrown in for romcom lovers.
Anna broke up with her cheating boyfriend Miles so lost her chef job at his restaurant. She sees an ad to work at a Lake Como castle and think it’d be her perfect opportunity to start over again.
Only problem is the owners stipulate that they are only seeking couples to take on the positions. So Anna convinces her next-door neighbour Jake to apply with her. The former firefighter, who has just been released from prison so is doing handyman odd jobs, could also do with starting over.
With its cutting banter and sexual chemistry, this story utilises a common trope of fake partners to lovers but I didn’t really buy their relationship. It also disappointingly didn’t take advantage of its beautiful Italian setting, probably because Anna was too busy making lists and Jake was down the pub.
Brianna Worthington comes from money but she's determined not to be another spoilt, rich girl. She wants to do something worthwhile, not depend on her family's name and fortune.
So when she meets the lady who runs Medic SOS, a charity delivering immediate medical help in areas hit by natural disasters, she agrees to immediately fly out to an earthquake-hit zone in South America.
Mitch McBride, lead doctor for Medic SOS, has been told of Brianna's arrival and expects a pampered princess, something he doesn't have time for. So before he's given her a chance he's already written her off. But despite the absence of hot showers or four-poster beds, Brianna's determined to get stuck in, even if she's not exactly cut out for it and Mitch has to begrudgingly accept that perhaps there's more to this society girl than meets the eye.
This was a really nice treat of a novel, entertaining and easy to read. I enjoyed the various settings in the book, including the Medic SOS camp, although that's only a relatively short part of the story, as well as the London high society. The relationship between Brianna and Mitch is compelling and I was intrigued by the lead man who is uncompromisingly stubborn and difficult.
Freeman certainly offers a different type of romance here. The narrative does jump occasionally and at times I would have liked to have seen what happened in the intervening periods, but generally it's a charming, effortless read. (JC)
