By Zoë Folbigg
Available now (read for free with Prime Reading)
(5 / 5)
Charlotte “Charlie” Brown is a professional makeup artist in London. She hasn’t seen her boyfriend, Harry, for 6 months, so she’s taking some off to visit him in New York City. She arrives just days before Christmas, but Harry isn’t there to greet her at the airport and isn’t answering his phone. Where could he be? And where does Charlie go from here?
This book was a great December read since maybe half of it takes place around Christmas and New Year’s. The story has a lot of depth to it and was very immersive – it was very hard to put this one down. I loved the settings of New York and London – it felt like a bit of an adventure exploring these places with the characters, especially when I recognized a few places from my own travels.
I really enjoyed the main character, Charlie. She is accomplished and hardworking, but she also has some self-doubts and ghosts from her past that she needs to resolve. Along the way she befriends Pete, another likable character who helps show her around New York City. These characters are joined by a diverse cast of side characters that were interesting and had their own stories.
I thought the style of writing was interesting in this book. It follows Charlie, but internal thoughts and feelings are shared from the characters that are around her too. I don’t usually see a narrative like this, but it really worked in this book, giving additional insight and even a sense of mystery since we obviously don’t know the whole backstory yet. I would love to read some more books by this author.
Thank you to Boldwood Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read a free review copy of this book. All opinions expressed in my review are completely my own.
