Lovestruck: The most fun rom com of 2023 – get ready for romance with a twist!

Product Information

This week, we're hearing from Laura Jane Williams, whose debut novel Our Stop was an international hit. Her work has been translated into 11 languages in 17 countries. Unfortunately I couldn’t make it past the first 2 chapters, I’m extremely disappointed but I don’t necessarily think it was the authors fault at all, I just couldn’t get into the writing style and that’s more of a me problem than anything else! If you are looking for a feel good summer read that doesn’t stretch your imagination too far on the beach, this might well be what you’re after, it sadly just didn’t work for me. I’ll be honest, it did take me until halfway through the book to realise each chapter worked in this way but I’m not sure if that can be blamed on the author or my tired mind! I can't remember the last time a book made me forget I had a phone. Pure escapist fiction!' Stacey Halls

Laura Jane Williams - Penguin Books UK Laura Jane Williams - Penguin Books UK

When Becca convinces her friends to join her in performing a manifestation ritual, she declares to whoever might be in charge of such things that a year from now, she will be married to her one true love. She even goes as far as to hold a manifestation ceremony for him - and when she receives a text from her ex five minutes later, she knows it's a sign. I love books and films like this where you get to see both of the what ifs play out. I find it really interesting and also quite scary that even the smallest decision can impact the way the rest of your life turns out. But then there’s also fate. Does everything happen for a reason? If it’s meant to be, will it happen anyway? Regardless of what decisions you make. This book definitely inspired some serious existential thinking!! What a fabulous book! I love everything about romances so was chuffed to be given an arc for this from Net Galley!

Becca Calloway is a hopeless romantic. She's also achingly single - and the first person to admit she could use a little help. It had me totally gripped!' Beth O'Leary'An absolute delight!' Emily Henry'Perceptive, funny and ultimately hopeful - the perfect tonic' Sophie Cousens'I can't remember the last time a book made me forget I had a phone. I just couldn't get into it! The 'sliding doors' theme is something I LOVE and I'm always thinking about it in my own life, but even that didn't 'save' the book for me. I wasn't cheering for the protagonist, and i certainly wasn't cheering on the relationships - that felt very problematic at times. Becca is a hairstylist in her own salon in her mid thirties and she’s finally ready to settle down and find Mr Right. After a manifestation session in the salon she chooses to manifest the love of her life and not long after she gets a text from her ex. Is this a sign? I can't remember the last time a book made me forget I had a phone. Pure escapist fiction!' Stacey Halls Read more Look Inside Details

Lovestruck : The most fun rom com of 2023 - get ready for Lovestruck : The most fun rom com of 2023 - get ready for

Welcome to 'The books that shaped me' - a Good Housekeeping series in which authors talk us through the reads that stand out for them. I loved the ending and was willing Becca to make the right decision and I even shed a few tears towards the end as I was so invested in her making the right choice.Laura Jane Williams (she/her) is known as the queen of the meet-cute. She is the author of six novels and a novella. Like this article? Sign up to our newsletter to get more articles like this delivered straight to your inbox.

Lovestruck | Laura Jane Williams | 9781529159851 | NetGalley

By the end, I felt so invested in every single character as LJW made each of them feel so real. The way they interacted and the things they would say felt realistic and relatable. Laura Jane Williams (she/her) is known as the queen of the meet-cute. She is the author of seven novels and a novella.Fireworks are great, big laughs and huge passions – but day in and day out, it’s nice to rub alongside somebody comfortably. A lot of life is just sitting beside somebody else, after all. Sitting on the sofa. On a plane somewhere. Being side by side when you drive in the car.’ Also it’s set in Kings Heath and the surrounding areas! Which meant I could picture it so well having grown up not far from there! I absolutely loved this book! It was my first Laura Jane Williams book and it will not be my last. I loved the two timelines, especially the cheeky little crossovers between them. The characters were so well written, it’s one of the very few romcom books where it wasn’t immediately obvious who I was supposed to root for! Zadie Smith’s On Beauty is my favourite book of all time. I read it when I was twenty years old and trying to find my place in the world, just like the characters are – even the middle-aged ones. It felt like a guide, somehow. There’s a scene where three siblings on the verge of adulthood bump into each other in the street and go for coffee together for the first time, and how she writes about them realising they exist as family outside of their parents’ watchful eye is just… perfection. I re-read it every few years. It’s a signed copy, actually – I saw her speak at Swiss Cottage library and afterwards she told me she liked my shirt. If you’ve seen how well she dresses, you’ll understand my glee at that anecdote.

Lovestruck by Laura Jane Williams | Goodreads Lovestruck by Laura Jane Williams | Goodreads

Beth O’Leary’s The Flatshare was such a game-changer for contemporary women’s fiction. It’s heart-warming but realistic, a well-plotted romp that you want to savour. The idea of two people sharing a flat without ever meeting is brilliant, and the way she writes about them getting to know each other through “post-its” in the kitchen is gorgeous. I love that “up-lit” – uplifting literature – is getting its own genre now. It’s amazing to have room for joy in storytelling, especially when the real world can sometimes be so bleak.Becca is a hairstylist and salon owner in her mid-thirties, worried that her time will pass. A timely event at the salon includes a session with a woman who encourages manifestations. Laura Jane Williams has a magic touch when it comes to writing characters that feel like real people. They don’t shy away from their flaws, they face them and come out stronger in the end. Her heroes are also typically good-hearted guys with more positive than negative traits – perfect for her heroines who have an admirable way of expressing emotion without settling for anything less than love (in all its forms). It’s another shining example where Williams proves why she is one amazing author. I loved Jai Li in particular in this book.