Rachel Winters
December 3, 2019
G.P. Putnam’s Sons
Blurb: Can you fall in love like they do in the movies?
It’s Evie Summers’s job to find out. Because if she can’t convince her film agency’s biggest client, Ezra Chester, to write the romantic-comedy screenplay he owes producers, her career will be over. The catch? He thinks rom-coms are unrealistic–and he’ll only put pen to paper if Evie shows him that it’s possible to meet a man in real life the way it happens on the big screen.
Cynical Evie might not believe in happily ever after, but she’ll do what it takes to save the job that’s been her lifeline . . . even if it means reenacting iconic rom-com scenes in public. Spilling orange juice on a cute stranger? No problem. Leaving her number in books all over London to see who calls? Done. With a little help from her well-meaning friends–and Ben and Anette, the adorable father-daughter duo who keep witnessing her humiliations–Evie is determined to prove she can meet a man the way Sally met Harry. But can a workaholic who’s given up on love find a meet-cute of her very own?
A rom-com written well is my favorite type of book. What’s not to love about two people falling in love while you laugh at the slapstick, the awkward misunderstandings, and the unbearably humiliating experiences they have? Maybe that last bit sounds a bit sadistic, but I think, if you’re a fan of genre, you know what I mean.
Rachel Winters’ Would Like to Meet is just that kind of rom-com. Winters’ definitely knows her rom-coms as she integrates many of them and their meet cutes into the life of Evie Summers, the long suffering assistant to screenwriting agent Monty.
Evie is very likable and the reader feels a lot of empathy for this woman who works hard but is constantly undervalued and taken advantage of. But Evie comes into her own while forcing screenwriter, Ezra Chester, to actually do the work he was paid to do.
During one of her meet-cutes, she befriends Ben and his daughter Annette who hang out in the same coffee shop she does and who’ve also witnessed the sad outcomes of a couple of failed meet-cutes.
While I thought I knew the likely outcome for Evie, Winters wrote the novel in such a way that kept you guessing. A good tactic for a genre that can often be without surprises.
Like any good rom-com, Would Like to Meet move deftly from hilarious moments to those that bring feel-good tears to your eyes to ones that make you cry. When you are so absorbed in a novel that you feel all of those emotions, you know it’s a good book.
While I’ve read a number of Christmas romances this season, this one is one of the best even though it doesn’t bill itself as a Christmas romance. There is a brief mention of the holidays.
If you’re in need of a funny, feel-good rom-com, love British humor and intelligent writing, read Would Like to Meet. It may just be what you need.
I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Purchase from Amazon: Would Like to Meet
rating:
4 butterflies and a ladybug out of 5 butterflies
Excellent review! I just finished this a few days ago and thought it was cute. Rom coms aren’t my thing, but I’ve been lucky this last few months. Glad you enjoyed this too. ☺️
Oh, I’ll have to check out what other one you’ve been lucky with. I much prefer rom-coms to any other romance. Although I do love paranormals, but they’ve got to have a little fun to them too.