“And Liv thought about how love meant showing someone everything – every awkward, shameful, hidden part of yourself – and the sublime grace and freedom in having those parts accepted, and cherished. How that was, ultimately, the secret to being loved, and loving others. Seeing, and being seen.”
OMG you guys, this book!!! If you are a fan of Love Actually, you are gonna love this one.
Liv Goldenhorn, owner of In Love In New York, a boutique wedding planning service has just lost her husband Eliot. As if that wasn’t bad enough, young Savannah Shipley shows up at her door claiming to be Eliot’s girlfriend and the new half-owner of her company. Wait, what? That’s right, her late husband willed half their company to his secret girlfriend just two weeks before he died. As Liv and Savannah uncover the details, they will have to decide if they can pull it together and carry on with the business.
Although this story starts with Liv and Savannah, there is a whole colourful cast of characters and many romantic plotlines to get into. The story is really held together by the business In Love In New York with each character being tied to the company somehow. The florists Gorman and Henry, the musician Darlene and DJ Zach, the sexy chef Sam, and a server Zia. These stories are all woven together into a Love Actually style tale that I found thoroughly satisfying. There are secrets, mysteries, celebrities and ordinary people just living their lives.
I loved Liv’s character. Smart and quirky she is intensely likable and relatable (to me anyway). I was a little worried for the first bit that Savannah would grate my nerves but hang in there, before long you will be loving on her too. It is fun to watch Savannah grow up and grow into her own throughout the book, all against a glorious backdrop of New York.
One of the things I liked best about this book was the diversity of characters and relationship styles. From casual to open to monogamous and everything in between it is refreshing not to be served a singular narrative. I love when books reflect more of what I actually see in the world. There is more out there than cis-gendered straight relationships and Georgia Clark has nailed it with this celebration of love in all its forms. This book features characters that are gay, trans, cis-gendered and straight and even someone who might be gay but isn’t quite sure. It’s like a portrait of New York itself – multi-faceted, layered and beautiful. I couldn’t put it down.
Run, don’t walk and buy this book!
I received this book for free from Simon & Schuster Canada (thanks!)Â in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
