Review - - Would Like to Meet

PJ, here. We all make mistakes. Recently, I made one when I accidentally assigned this book to be reviewed by Hellie after already receiving a review of the same title from Maria a few months ago. I blame my mistake on the fact that I was knee-deep in packing when the error occurred. Of course, it could also be due to the fact that I'm old but I reserve the right to pick my excuses so I'm discarding that one and sticking with the packing. ;-) My amazing Dish team members were very understanding and so, today I bring you not one, but two reviews of the debut novel, Would Like to Meet by Rachel Winters. Enjoy!

Would Like to Meet

by Rachel Winters

Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons

Release Date: December 3, 2019

Reviewed by Maria

  

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? Arrogant Ezra thinks rom-coms are unrealistic--and he'll only put pen to paper if Evie proves to 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 the adorable father-daughter duo who keep witnessing her humiliations, Evie is determined to show Ezra 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?

Maria says...

Rachel Winters has taken rom-com to another level. Her debut novel features a creative, smart heroine, Evie Summers, who in order to save her agency, and thereby her job must convince an Oscar winning screenwriter he has what it takes to write a romantic comedy.

In addition to being a wonderfully descriptive book that puts the reader right into the crazy world of a British film agency, she is also dead funny. Seriously. There are sections in this novel that are laugh out loud funny. I don’t mean lol, I mean I guffawed.

It was almost as if I were watching a movie instead of reading a novel, complete with a unique set of “Bridget Jones-esque” best friends who pop off the page and take you on a delicious journey as you flip from one scene to the next.

The plot relies on the fact that the heroine doesn’t know she’s being duped, and while I wasn't 100% convinced of that through line, the author gives the reader such an amazing, curl your toes, rom-com ending, I went along with it. The story will take you to a happily-ever-after-ville, with all the wonderful 'will-they, or won't-they' in between.

This is without a doubt a book that begs to be curled up with in your favorite chair, with a cast of characters that will live with you long after you’ve read the last page. It's a fun contemporary romance destined to be on my keeper shelf.

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Would Like to Meet

by Rachel Winters

Publisher: Putnam/Random House

Release Date: December 3, 2019

Reviewed by Hellie 

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?

Hellie’s Heeds:

Imagine you’re me and you were around the last time Chick Lit was popular; and imagine you’re me and you’ve seen, owned, and/or randomly quoted every rom-com movie as if they’re roadmaps to love. You can see why I am such a fan of this book. This book is the love letter for all the lovers of rom-coms and are unashamed to say so. You’ll laugh at each of the meet-cutes that comprise the novel--because the entire book is based on the heroine reliving every meet-cute ever written--and enjoy how horrible they actually go. In the movies, meet-cutes are actually cute. In Rachel Winters’ book, they’re the stuff that make you notorious at the local coffee shop. 

Now this is not to say you need to go and watch every rom-com ever made to get the jokes. By no means. The book is a stand alone and if you had never seen a rom-com before, you’d simply think this girl has some awful luck. But if you have seen a rom-com or two in your time, it will make the experience that much more enjoyable, as if you too are in on the joke. 

It’s action-packed and light on sexual tension (since there are possibilities for more than one love interest), but it was a quick read and I could not put it down. I didn’t notice I was missing love scenes--if anything, it reminded me of the chick-lit books of old I really enjoyed. So...it’s very rated PG-13, even with the erotic book club fiasco and the roommate who has a different sex partner every night. 

Since there are a couple of possibilities as far as the love interest goes, I am loathe to explain too much more, except that the author picked the right hero. There was a time or three where I was panicked it was going in one direction, but eventually it came around to the right Happily Ever After. This book is going immediately on my keeper shelf next to the Bromance, and it’s going on my list this year as best books of 2019. I’m also adding Rachel Winters to authors to watch. Enjoy!