This is quite a lovely age-gap romance.
28-year-old Joey Moore is a French-to-English translator by
profession and a heart-on-sleeve romantic by nature despite not so great
romantic experiences. 42-years-old Kendall O’Hara is a vet with carefully
constructed shields against heartbreak after poor past experiences.
After an epic disaster of an engagement party from which her
girlfriend turned tail and ran never to be seen again, Joey moves city with her
dog, Ozzy Pawsbourne, Prince of Barkness, in tow. When The Prince chews up
Joey’s secret unmentionables she rushes him to the closest vet who just happens
to be Kendall O’Hara, the weird lady Joey had seen in the laundromat talking to
her bag. Also the lady’s whose laundry Joey had taken away by mistake.
An invite from Kendall for Joey to a soirée with Kendall’s
friends takes them into an acquaintanceship zone from where they progress into
partners-in-each other’s-adventures-bucket-list and then more.
The book began with all the markings of a romcom: lighthearted,
funny with some awesome turns of phrase, non-sequiturs and one liners. Then,
somewhere along the way, first discernible in a scene between Kendall and her bestie,
it turned serious. The writing remained strong throughout but the sudden turn
in the tone was somewhat disconcerting. We’d have much preferred it if the
whole book had retained the lighthearted tone that it had started off with.
Joey and Kendall are both likeable characters. They mesh
superbly together but if felt more like a close-friend zone than sizzling
attraction and chemistry zone. But still they work well together.
On the whole, this is an easy, fluid read.
⭐⭐⭐☆
