The cozy comforts of an English village bookstore open up a world of new possibilities for Evie Starling in this charming new romantic comedy from New York Times bestselling author Samantha Young.
MUCH ADO ABOUT YOU by SAMANTHA YOUNG
Series: Standalone
Publication date: February 2, 2021
Published by: Berkley
Genre: contemporary romance
SYNOPSIS
At thirty-three-years old Evangeline Starling's life in Chicago is missing that special something. And when she's passed over for promotion at work, Evie realizes she needs to make a change. Some time away to regain perspective might be just the thing. In a burst of impulsivity, she plans a holiday in a quaint English village. The holiday package comes with a temporary position at Much Ado About Books, the bookstore located beneath her rental apartment. There's no better dream vacation for the bookish Evie, a life-long Shakespeare lover.
Not only is Evie swept up in running the delightful store as soon as she arrives, she's drawn into the lives, loves and drama of the friendly villagers. Including Roane Robson, the charismatic and sexy farmer who tempts Evie every day with his friendly flirtations. Evie is determined to keep him at bay because a holiday romance can only end in heartbreak, right? But Evie can't deny their connection and longs to trust in her handsome farmer that their whirlwind romance could turn in to the forever kind of love.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Samantha Young is a New York Times, USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author. She's been nominated for several Goodreads Choice Awards. Samantha writes adult contemporary and paranormal romance, YA urban fantasy and YA contemporary fiction and is currently published in 31 countries.
She resides in Scotland.
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Much Ado About You by Samantha YoungMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Evangeline Starling is at a crossroads in her life. She's not quite old enough for the mid-life crisis at thirty-three years old, but she's arrived at a place where she's questioning her choices in her personal and professional life. She's been an editorial assistant at Reel Film for ten years in the hopes of getting promoted to editor. She has a love for the written word that makes her the right fit for the industry. She thought she was working her way towards a fulfilling career, but time and time again she got passed over for her dream job. She finally came to the realization that no matter how long she waited and tried to prove herself to her boss, it was a losing battle. She quit on the spot in a brash, impulsive move, and now must form a new life plan. This is pretty heavy stuff to ditch your career after investing so much of your life into it. I think anyone would feel more than a little lost and overwhelmed.
Evie has a satisfactory personal life, with an amazing best friend named Greer who is always there to support her. However, she feels as if she's behind "schedule" in comparison to her and her other friends who are marrying off and starting families. There's a certain order to things, right? So why can't she seem to get with the program? It's not as if she's not trying to find a partner to spend her life with. She just can't seem to find a man who treats her well or one who's interested in long-term commitment. One of her exes was verbally abusive which did damage to her confidence. Although she is aware of the harm and tries to push negative thoughts out of her head about her body and self worth, sometimes they still creep in.
Most days I was content enough with myself,even had days where I felt sexy.However, maybe I’d feel confident every dayif I were a few inches shorter anda dress size or two smaller. Who knew?Didn’t we all sometimes wish we werethe opposite of what we were?
After leaving her job, she decides that she needs to go away for a while and regroup. A new change of scenery may help her to take stock of what she wants in her life moving forward. A chance to stay in England for a month and run a bookstore falls in her lap. Visit a small English village where she doesn't know anyone and surrounded herself with books? Heck yes. I loved this premise because obviously I'm a book lover and it appeals personally to me as I'm sure it does many other readers. I can picture myself going on this adventure of self-discovery with Evie in such a rich, well-drawn backdrop.
Roane Robson is the village bachelor who's widely loved and respected by the locals. He was a wonderful man who was a perfect counterpart for Evie. What I loved most about him was his personal set of values when it came to women and relationships. In an age where you can find casual hook ups without any effort in apps, it seems like it's getting harder to find people who are serious about having an honest, real relationship built on mutual respect. Men are expected to "play the field" especially if they are an eligible bachelor like Roane. But Roane is a one woman guy who is looking for all or nothing with someone. He wants to build a meaningful relationship and gets a lot of flack for how few women he's dated. He's also very sweet with his dog, and melted my heart in the way that he spoke so gently to his abused cousin. He was just a GOOD guy that any woman would be lucky to be with.
He squeezed my hand, giving me a small smile.“You don’t know me or the future.”“I don’t know the future, agreed.I do know you a little, and I see you a lot.”He understood. I saw it in the way he studied my faceand by the way his hand tightened in mine.“I see you too, Evie.”
That's not to say that he was perfect. Throughout the book it was clear that he was hiding things from Evie, and it's pretty easy to guess (I did), through foreshadowing. Just hints of an uneasy expression here and there in response to things she said. Or him telling her that they needed to talk in a serious tone but never getting a chance to follow through. So you know there's a big conflict coming that is going to tarnish their too-good-to-be-true, fairytale relationship.
She puts him firmly in the friend zone in the beginning despite both of them instantly feeling a natural ease and attraction towards each other. There were no awkward silences or walls put up between them. Unfortunately, she wasn't looking for romance while she was trying to straighten out the mess of her life so she tried to keep things simple. I love the friends to lovers trope because there's always that huge sense of anticipation for when they'll finally cross the line. These two feel so right for one another that you (along with the rest of the tiny town) are waiting with bated breath for the moment.
“You’re not perfect, Evie, rationally I know that.”He let out a long sigh. “But you’re perfect to me.”
Another thing I liked was the small town romance feel of the book that reminded me of her Hart's Boardwalk series. Again, she created a full cast of secondary characters with their own individual stories and intriguing personalities. Evie clicked with the townspeople as if she had lived there her whole life. They embraced her wholeheartedly in return. For someone to feel that total acceptance and that feeling of belonging, it was a very difficult struggle for her to imagine leaving the longer she stayed.
My reasoning for taking a star off my rating was Roane's deception through the entire book. While I could definitely understand his initial decision to hide what were really insignificant things from her, the longer he lied by omission, the more of a betrayal it became. I give him full credit for attempting to come clean, but it broke my heart to see what it did to Evie. It took her so long to admit her feelings for him but she immediately went all in. Then to have that fragile trust broken made the crash and burn more devastating. Let me just say, she reacted harshly and (again) impulsively. Neither was without mistakes, but what they found together was worth the effort. You genuinely feel as if these two were meant to be together. Another thing that kind of bothered me was Greer. She started out so amazing, and I almost dreaded every time Evie would call her because she became so selfish. The way she always yelled at her for not being there with her while she was pregnant and making her feel guilty for considering a new life there grated a bit.
Overall, this was an excellent read. I enjoyed myself thoroughly while reading it and flew through the pages effortlessly. The quaint setting, the slightly angsty romance, and unique cast of characters will be a hit for a wide audience of readers. I highly recommend checking it out! I can only hope that Samantha Young will expand on this world with new books in the future. I'll be first in line to one-click. Can we get a full story for Roan's cousin Caroline? Pretty please?
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