Love Story by Lindsey Kelk

A note on the audiobook: Kristin Atherton is one of my favourite narrators, her incredible performances always elevate the reading experience for me. She was the perfect choice for this book.

I couldn’t resist picking this one up. The cover, the description and the author’s stellar reputation drew me in immediately. However, I was trepidatious as this book’s main character is an author. I tend to avoid romances centred around authors and publishing because it can feel like the author is breaking the fourth wall and not in a cute way. The fact that it’s set in England also means all the specific references may hit too close to home.

This is important to note because I didn’t feel that way at all while reading Love Story.

With skill hitherto unmatched, Kelk managed to not ONCE give me the heebies. Even with talk of various British authors, bookshop chains and BookTok. It never once felt like a memoir in disguise, but rather a book perfectly written for English romance readers.

I loved Sophie’s chaotic family and friends; they all had such unique voices and made the story so rich. Paired with quintessential English (borderline-farcical) humour, we really got to know Sophie as a person living in the world and not just the protagonist for this story.

Even with Sophie butting in every now and then with, ‘if I had to write this scene, I would say…’, the romance was perfect. It was realistic yet swoon-worthy, and just the right amount of self- aware to make us romance readers feel seen (who hasn’t looked at their partner and thought ‘you were definitely written by a woman’?).

All in all, Love Story is a romance book that is a love letter to romance books without a shred of pretention. A really comforting, well balanced story with heaps of heart and humour. Sophie would love this comparison, but if you love classic English movies like Bridget Jones’ Diary (particularly the ridiculous fight between Mark Darcy and Daniel Cleaver) then you’ll love this.

 Thank you so much to Harper Collins Audio and Netgalley for this audiobook arc!