Wedding photographer Harriet Hatley doesn’t believe in romance, which is why she has to break up with her boyfriend after he proposes. Suddenly single, Harriet rents a room from Cal Clarke who turns out to be the runaway groom from a wedding Harriet was hired for. As Harriet and Cal slowly become friends, a figure from Harriet’s past reappears who could cause everything in Harriet’s life to tumble down.
I didn’t like this book as much as I’ve enjoyed other books by Mhairi McFarlane. For one, it almost felt like I was reading two different books – the plot seemed very disjointed as the first half of the book was about Harriet breaking up with her boyfriend and then the second half abruptly pivoted to a completely different storyline. I almost felt like I missed something with the second storyline and I went back to the beginning to see if I overlooked some foreshadowing or clues and I felt like there was nothing.
Also, I have some questions about how this book is marketed. From the cover and description, you’d think this is a rom-com but I found it to be actually very serious and deals with some pretty weighty issues that I was not expecting. I’m not even sure I laughed at anything in the book, although this may be because I am not British and there seemed to be a lot of British humor.
Speaking of rom-com, the romance is not the focus of this book and I hesitate to even call this book a romance. It’s more of an adult, women’s fiction book. I did like the focus on Harriet’s growth and development as a character. I loved the scenes with her friend Lorna and the other friendships she forms towards the end of the book.
I was disappointed that there were not more scenes with Harriet and Cal together (another thing I thought I would be getting based on the description). I felt like they spent no time together so although I knew it was coming, I was genuinely confused when they fell for one another. In my opinion, this book suffered from a severe lack of romance.
Not my favorite book by this author, but still a good read and a solid 3 stars from me.
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