A chance meeting between Hadley and Oliver, after Hadley misses her flight by four minutes, leads to the beginnings of an enchanting romance. Even though the story takes place in twenty-four hours, this isn't "insta-love." There is a slow natural progression from conversation to flirting to connecting on a romantic level. We still don't know what's going to happen to these two at the end of the book, but we are hopeful, of course.
Hadley is going to London to attend her father's marriage -- to a woman she's never met. I loved how these two love stories tied together. Hadley has a great deal of understandable anger towards her father for leaving her mother and falling in love with another woman. The conversation that Hadley and her father have towards the end of the book is my favorite scene.
"I mean, I only knew him for a few hours. It's ridiculous. It makes no sense."
Dad smiles, then reaches up to straighten his crooked bow tie. "That's the way these things work, kiddo," he says. "Love isn't supposed to make sense. It's completely illogical." (193-194)
And there, we have not only Hadley's story, but her dad's story too. How can she not come to a better understanding of what her father went through, when she has just experienced "love at first sight."
This book is magical. Anyone who is any kind of romantic at all will love this story. It's all good. The characters, the pace, the setting--I'm not going to go into details, but you won't be disappointed. Can't wait to start handing this out to my teens!
Published by Little, Brown & Co., Jan. 2, 2012
Copy obtained from the library
236 pages (qualifies for my "Books You Can Read in a Day Challenge!")
Rating: 5/5
I've been purposely trying to avoid reviews of this because I am so anxious to read it myself - completely fresh, having my own reaction, because I know I will just love it. BUT, I'm glad to see it's getting the support I think (prior to reading it) that it deserves. Glad you liked it!
ReplyDeleteInteresting, I've read a few mixed reviews about this one. It definitely is quite hyped and I'm curious to see how this one circulates at my library. So far it's only been checked out once.
ReplyDeleteGreat review Annette - I just received my copy of this one today and I'm looking forward to reading it!
ReplyDeleteKat @ The Aussie Zombie
What a wonderful review!! I especially loved the quote you picked "Love isn't supposed to make sense. It's completely illogical."... I really want to read this book, your review definitely makes me want to start right now.
ReplyDeleteI just finished this book yesterday and I love it so much! It's so amazing because it tackles a lot of things in a time frame of 24 hours! Definitely my favorite book of 2012!
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