“Blinking against the bright sky, I wondered for a moment if the car had hit me, killed me, and now I was in heaven.
Because the most beautiful man I’d ever seen was staring down at me.”
Much Ado About You by Samantha Young is a book full of romantic chemistry, small-town charm, and characters that will melt your heart.
Evie Starling is not having a good week. First, she gets stood up by a guy she met online, and then she gets passed over for a promotion at work, which leads her to quit her job. Realizing that she needs to escape the city before she starts wallowing in self-pity, she books a dream vacation running a little bookshop called Much Ado About Books, located in a quaint English village. Evie quickly falls in love with the little bookshop and finds herself becoming fast friends with the villagers. This includes the sexy farmer Roan Robson who Evie thinks is far too good-looking and perfect for his own good (the man does not have any flaws!). Evie is determined not to start a holiday romance since there is no way the relationship would last, and she is not up for the heartbreak that would occur when she has to leave. However, the more time she spends with Roane, the more she realizes that they have an amazing connection and being with him makes her happy. Will Evie take a chance with her heart and see where this relationship will go with Roane?
This book is adorable, charming, and addicting; I just couldn’t put it down! There is so much to love; the characters are delightful, the village is beautiful, and the story is the stuff rom-com fans dream of. This book has that city-girl falls in love with farm-boy feel to it, and it was endearing to watch Evie interact with Roane and the villagers. I could really connect with Evie (as a 30 something-year-old woman) and this need to escape societal pressures about having to be married and having children by a certain age. That pressure can make it hard to figure out if you want to be in a relationship with someone because you want to or because you feel like you have to. It was nice to see how Evie deals with those pressures and finds her own way to live her life. There are no words to describe my love for Roane; he is the perfect book boyfriend in my eyes. He is sweet, kind, tall, sexy and takes Evie to an old bookstore because he knows how much she loves books! Oh, and to top all that fabulousness, he has the world’s cutest dog, Shadow, who is always getting into mischief.
This book is not just all love and fluffy stuff; it does talk about some serious issues like alcoholism and abuse. I like how Samantha dealt with these issues in her book, and I love that she includes this element of hope when talking about them.
Be prepared to fall in love with Much Ado About You, a book that will charm your socks off and leave you feeling oh so happy.
If you are interested in more books that take place in bookshops, check out our list Love Between the Stacks
