Much Ado About You by Samantha Young

In the acknowledgement of this book Samantha Young says two things that really stood out to me.

One: There really was an ad for rental apartment with the Bookstore below, which you got to run. Honestly I'm not sure why she isn't there right now. (Maybe she is, writing books in between customers). This literally sounds like the best getaway I have ever heard of. I would be so good at this!

Two: Samantha Young said that she wrote a cozy place for us to escape to and that is exactly the book I read. As I finished it, I felt like I was floating on a soft, lovely pillow of contentment and love. It was escapism in the best way. (I immediately need to visit some small towns in northern England.)

I would say that Evie's reservations about people, though understandable based on her history, were a bit out of proportion, adding melodrama in places that I didn't really need it. But overall I liked her as a lead.

Roan is somehow both a cinnamon roll and a spicy nugget of masculinity. A more-cinnamon-then-icing man. He came through so clearly as an openly emotionally available person, who is not interested in casual relationships. (A rarity for modern men, and an absolute breath of fresh air in the genre)

I was a huge fan of the conversations on everyday privilege and having perspective, on trust issues that don't go away in a day or even in one promise, complex relationships that can fester and warp if not attended to and maintained.

Samantha Young's characters tend to stay with me for a very long time and I expect that Evie and Roan are no different.

Read this if you like a cuppa by the fire with a giant dog snoring by the fireplace, a book in your lap, and a gentle man by your side. Or if you want to imagine yourself there. - Sky