This review is part of Rom-Com-a-Thon! (stay tuned through the month for even more romantic comedy reviews!) Did this British rom com about meet cutes do it for me? Check out my review of Would Like To Meet below!
Would Like to Meet by Rachel Winters. To be published on December 3, 2019 by G.P. Putnam. Thanks to the publisher for providing an advance copy for review.
Synopsis: After seven years as an assistant, Evie Summers is ready to finally get the promotion she deserves. But now Evie will lose her job unless she can convince the agency’s biggest and most arrogant client, Ezra Chester, to finish writing the script for a Hollywood romantic comedy. The catch? Ezra is suffering from writer’s block–and he’ll only put pen to paper if singleton Evie can prove to him that you can fall in love like they do in the movies. With the future of the agency in jeopardy, Evie embarks on a mission to meet a man the way Sally met Harry or Hugh Grant met Julia Roberts.
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Review: Would Like To Meet
I’m going to start putting a disclaimer on all my romance reviews that says romance is so reader-specific. I hope my reviews will help you decide whether a book will melt your heart …. or not.
What I Loved About Would Like to Meet
Would Like to Meet is an homage to the romantic comedy. Classic rom com films like Sleepless in Seattle and Notting Hill are referred to throughout the book. They’re analyzed and categorized, even used for chapter titles. I absolutely loved this fun aspect of the story.
The plot focuses mainly on the “meet cute,” a rom com staple. The success of the agency that employs main character Evie is dependent upon a fickle and cynical screenwriter turning in a romantic comedy script. Evie has to convince him that the meet cute can actually work. So she sets up a lot of them and sends him reports.
All that sounds really good, I think.
What I Liked Less About the Book
There was a LOT going on in Would Like to Meet – so much that I think it detracted from the reason I was reading: the romance. There’s a screenwriting element, in which each scene is introduced with stage directions. There’s a subplot about Evie’s friend group and a wedding. There’s a bunch of meet cutes, one of which (I hoped) was with the eventual love interest. But Evie spent so much time with the arrogant screenwriter that the romance was really, really, really slow. All this spending time together also got me worried that the arrogant screenwriter was going to turn into the love interest.
Evie was shy and awkward, which I appreciate in a character. But the romance was so tentative that (as mentioned above) I wasn’t even 100% positive that the guy I was rooting for would be the love interest. And the romance between them was all at the very, very end and (for me) overshadowed by the wedding subplot.
I like a more focused story and so for me, this book needed some streamlining. But it definitely did have its charms. So if you are fine with a very slow paced romance and if you love wacky, slapstick humor (like vomiting scenes, being stuck in a bathroom stall, crashing into tables of food) then I would definitely try this. (Interestingly, it reminded me a lot of Bridget Jones Diary, with the hapless heroine, the jerky Hugh Grant character, and the friend group.)
If you like a romantic pairing that crackles on the page, sexual tension, a lot of interaction between the couple, this rom com might not be for you.
Tell me in comments about a favorite rom com book you’ve read recently!
Find all my romantic comedy reviews on my Rom-Com-a-Thon page!
I think it sounds like it would be fun to read but I can see how the subplots might over shadow the romance. Might have to give it a go.
Definitely try it. I prefer books (and romances) that are more streamlined, focusing mainly on the couple. If you don’t mind all the side stuff, go for it!
I enjoyed this book. I see where some streamlining could have occurred, but I still had fun with this bunch. I was a fan of the love interest, the kid added an extra bit of cuteness to the story, and her friends and family were great too.
The love interest was great – I just wish we’d been able to get to know him better before the end of the book. And I also loved Evie’s relationship with the daughter!
haven’t heard of this one before – great review!