Book ~ "Is She Really Going Out With Him?" (2024) Sophie Cousens

From Goodreads ~ Columnist Anna Appleby has left her love life behind after a painful divorce. Who needs a man when she has two kids, a cat and uncontested control of the TV remote? Besides, she’d rather be single than subject herself to the hell of online dating. But her office rival is vying for her column and no column means no stable source of income. In a desperate attempt to keep her job, Anna finds herself pitching a unique angle: seven dates, all found offline, chosen by her children.

From awkward encounters to unexpected connections, Anna gamely begins to put herself out there, asking out waiters, the mailman and even her celebrity crush. But when a romantic connection appears where she least expected it, will she be brave enough to take another chance on love?

Anna is 38, divorced with two kids. She works as a columnist at an online publication which is struggling. In an effort to keep it alive, the owner brings in an investor who wants it rejuvenated. Though a good writer, Anna needs to kick it up a notch if she wants to keep her column (and her income) especially since Will, another columnist, seems to have his eye on her space.

So Anna embarks on a journey to date men who her children choose for her and this will be the content for her columns ... she goes out with a younger waiter, her mailman and even tries speed dating. It's decided that Will will write a similar column but about his online dating experiences. When the book starts, Anna doesn't like Will and finds him arrogant but as they start working together, she gets to know him better and finds that he's not the jerk she thought he was.

I thought this story was okay ... it was light and predictable. It's written in first person perspective in Anna's voice. Not a big surprise that Anna does fall for someone ... it happens very quickly, though, and there's a happy ending for all. As a head's up, there is swearing and adult activity.

Book ~ "Before I Do" (2022) Sophie Cousens

From Goodreads ~ What would you do if 'the one that got away' turned up the night before your wedding?

Head-in-the-stars Audrey is about to marry down-to-earth Josh. Though they are polar opposites, they have a healthy, stable relationship; Josh is just what Audrey needs. But romance should be unpredictable and full of fireworks, and as the big day approaches, Audrey's found herself wondering if Josh really is The One.

So, when Josh's sister shows up to the rehearsal dinner with Fred, Audrey's What If? guy - the man she met six years ago and had one amazing day with - Audrey finds herself torn. Surely Fred's appearance the night before she is due to get married can't be a coincidence. And when everything that could go wrong with the wedding starts to go wrong, Audrey has to ask herself: Is fate trying to stop her from making a huge mistake? Or does destiny just have a really twisty sense of humour?

Six years ago Audrey randomly met Fred. She loved that he was a free spirit and they had a fun day together and made plans to meet the next day. Though Audrey waited, Fred never showed up and she never heard from him or saw him again. Because of the time they had together, even after she stopped looking for him, he always held a special spot in her heart.

Over the years, Audrey is trying to find herself and figure out what she wants to do with her life with lots of starts and stops. Along the way, she has encounters with Josh, who is a friend of one of her roommates. They eventually go out on a date, fall in love and get engaged. But Fred is always in the back of her mind (and their photo booth pictures are still in her wallet). 

On the day of the wedding, anything that can go wrong does ... including Fred showing up as the plus-one of Josh's sister. It all makes Audrey wonder if they are all signs that she shouldn't be marrying Josh after all.

I thought this story was okay, though the ending was cheesy. It is written in third person perspective with the focus on Audrey. It bounces back and forth and back and forth in time from the day of the wedding to when Audrey and Fred met to Audrey and Josh's developing relationship to after the wedding but the chapters are marked (and I was okay with this). In addition to Fred's surprise appearance at her wedding, there was lots going on around Audrey including her mother who was on her fifth husband, her best friend who had recently given birth to twins, past questionable behavior of an almost stepfather, Josh's grandmother who predicted doom and more.

Book ~ "The Good Part" (2023) Sophie Cousens

From Goodreads ~ At twenty-six, Lucy Young is tired. Tired of fetching coffees for senior TV producers, tired of going on disastrous dates, and definitely tired of living in a damp flat share with flatmates who never buy toilet roll. She could quit her job for a better living but she's not ready to give up on her dreams. Not just yet. 

After another diabolical date lands her in a sudden storm and no money for bus fare, Lucy finds herself seeking shelter in a tiny shop, where she stumbles upon a curious wishing machine. Pushing her last coin into the slot, Lucy closes her eyes and wishes with everything she's got: Please, let me skip to the good part of my life.

When she wakes the next morning to a handsome man, a ring on her finger, a high-powered job and storybook perfect little boy and baby girl, Lucy can't believe this is real - especially when she looks in the mirror and staring back is her own forty-something face. Has she really skipped ahead to the future she's always wanted or has she simply forgotten a huge chunk of her life? And as Lucy begins to embrace this new life and new relationships, she'll have to ask herself: Can she go back and if so, does she want to?

Lucy is 26 and is excited that she has just been promoted to junior researcher ... but it seems like she's still expected to do the same chores. She shares an apartment with three others (one of them is her best friend who is moving out). The ceiling in her bedroom is always leaking, there's never any toilet paper and one of her roommates puts weird things in the bathtub. She's tired of living paycheque to paycheque so when she comes across a strange machine in a convenience store, she makes a wish that she'd like to jump ahead to "the good part".

When Lucy wakes up the next day, she is in a strange bed in a strange bedroom with a strange man. She discovers she has jumped ahead 16 years and is now 42 and married to Sam, is the mother of Felix and Amy and has her dream job. But she can't remember the last 16 years and Felix thinks she is an alien who has replaced his mummy. As Lucy tries to catch up to her new time, she finds out about what's happened over the last 16 years, the good and the bad, with her family and friends helping her along the way. In the meantime, she searches for the "time machine" that has sent her into the future.

I find time travel stories interesting and liked this one. It's written in first person perspective in Lucy's voice. As I was reading this book, I didn't know whether Lucy had indeed travelled to the future, did she have amnesia (as everyone suspected) or was it all a dream ... you find out in the end. As a head's up, there is swearing.

Book ~ "This Time Next Year" (2020) Sophie Cousens

From Goodreads ~ Down-to-earth baker Minnie Cooper knows two things with great certainty: that her New Year’s birthday has always been unlucky and that it’s all because of Quinn Hamilton, a man she’s never met. 

Minnie and Quinn were born at the same hospital just after midnight on New Year’s Day thirty years before, and not only did he edge her out by mere minutes to win the cash prize for being the first baby born in London in 1990 but he stole the name she was meant to have as well. With luck like that, it’s no wonder each of her birthdays has been more of a disaster than the one before.

When Minnie unexpectedly runs into Quinn at a New Year’s party on their mutual thirtieth birthday, she sees only more evidence that fortune has continued to favor him. The handsome, charming business owner truly seems to have it all - including the perfect girlfriend. But if Quinn and Minnie are from different worlds, why do they keep bumping into each other? And why is it that each frustrating interaction somehow seems to leave them both hoping for more?

It's New Year's Eve 1989 and Connie and Tara are both in labour at the hospital.  Tara is having a hard time so Connie talks her through it, including telling Tara that she plans on naming her child Quinn, regardless whether it's a girl or boy.  Tara delivers first and not only does she name her son Quinn but she also wins a cash prize of having the first baby born in London in 1990.  Not only is Connie pissed that Tara stole her name (she named her daughter Minnie) but she's also mad that Tara won the money and doesn't need it ... and over the years, she lets everyone know how much it bothers her.

Years later Minnie and Quinn meet at a posh New Year's Eve party and they will both turn 30 the next day.  Growing up, Minnie always hated New Year's Eve and felt her birthday day was jinxed so avoided it.  She is running a pie making business with her best friend, which isn't going so well.  Quinn, on the other hand, seems to have it all ... looks, a great job and wealth and Minnie's original name.  Circumstances throw them together and they end up becoming friends and Minnie discovers Quinn's life isn't as idyllic as she thought.

This was a cute story and I liked it.  It is written in third person perspective, mainly in Minnie and Quinn's voices.  There were some quirky side characters.  The chapters jump around from the past to the present (they are labeled) usually around New Year's Eve.  As a head's up, there is swearing.

Book ~ "Just Haven't Met You Yet" (2021) Sophie Cousens

From Goodreads ~ Laura's business trip to the Channel Islands isn't exactly off to a great start. After unceremoniously dumping everything in her bag in front of the most attractive man she's ever seen in real life, she arrives at her hotel only to realize she's grabbed the wrong suitcase from the airport. Her only consolation? The irresistibly appealing contents of the case: a copy of her favorite book; piano music; and a rugged, heavy knit fisherman sweater only a Ryan Gosling lookalike could pull off. The owner of this suitcase is Laura's dream man - she's sure of it. Now, all she has to do is find him.

The mix-up seems written in the stars. After all, what are the odds that she'd find The One on the same remote island where her mom and dad had first fallen in love, especially as she sets out to write an article about their epic romance? 

Commissioning surly cab driver Ted to ferry her around seems like her best bet in both tracking down the mystery suitcase owner and retracing her parents' footsteps. And if beneath Ted's gruffness lies a wit that makes their cab rides strangely entertaining, so much the better. But as Laura's long-lost luggage soulmate proves difficult to find - and as she realizes that the love story she's held on a pedestal all her life might not have been that perfect - she'll have to rethink her whole outlook on love to discover what she really wants.

Laura writes "meet cute" stories for a lifestyle magazine and has a temperamental boss.  With her mother's recent passing, she decides to write about how her parents met and fell in love in the Channel Islands and convinces her boss to let her do it.  

Before she even gets on the plane, everything starts going wrong ... she's not allowed to take her suitcase on the plane so has to check it. The contents of her purse, including about 100 tampons, fall out and a cute nice man helps her pick them up. When she gets to the Channel Islands, she grabs her suitcase and heads to her hotel. There she discovers she had grabbed the wrong suitcase but judging by its contents, the owner is the man of her dreams and she sets out to meet him so they can live happily ever after.  Really?!

In the meantime, she still has a story to write so hires a local cabby to take her around so she can recreate the pictures of her parents.  He has issues of his own but they eventually forge a friendship.

I thought this story was okay ... I was expecting light and fluffy and for the most part, that's what I got.  Everything happens over a weekend (!!).  It was written in first person in Laura's voice.  Considering she was 30ish, I wasn't buying that she was that immature to assume that from the contents of a suitcase, this was the man she was going to marry. When Laura did meet the owner of the suitcase, he was just too good to be true (I found him to be too annoyingly nice to be believable).  I did find the backstory of Laura's parents' love story interesting and how that all worked out was a nice surprise. As a head's up, there is swearing.