Review: A Bit Slow Moving for Me - No Edge - But Well Written
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 05 22, 2013
Lovestruck in London is a well written book that just didn't have much spark for me. It is not a "wham bam" story - the author takes her time (maybe too much time) building the relationship between a rather dull Lizzie and nice guy Thomas.My primary issue with the story was Lizzie - I found her exceedingly dull and she only came to life and showed some color a few times throughout the book. Thomas was "nice" and only marginally more interesting than Lizzie. It was the secondary characters that were the bright spot for me. Their witty banter when they were together was reminiscent of the dinner scenes in the film Notting Hill. Their camaraderie was endearing and I really liked how the author was able to draw me in at these points in the story and make me feel like I was right there hanging out with them.The other film stars in the book, people Thomas worked with, were mostly irrelevant and the few catty scenes between Lizzie and movie star, Lola, felt contrived and inconsequential. Lola was not a driving force in the story but she did succeed in causing Lizzie some genuine discomfort especially where Thomas was concerned.There is no written intimacy and I think for a story like this that was a bit of a problem. I don't mean graphic sex scenes or anything like that - I just felt no connection between Lizzie and Thomas - the words and actions just weren't there to convey how they really felt and, for me, saying "I love you" was akin to saying "will you do the laundry." Lizzie is confused and scared and doesn't know how her relationship with Thomas could ever work in the real world and her insecurities got a bit tedious after a while. She has a very large and seemingly unsupportive family to contend with who only want to see her get a teaching job and settle down, get married, have babies...you know the drill.The author is a good writer - of that I have no doubt - but I personally needed more from this story, but it certainly wasn't awful and I liked many parts of it. I think people who enjoy a good realistic romance story that is very tame and clean as a whistle will appreciate these characters and their relationship struggles more than I did. Verified Amazon Purchase  on Amazon.ca.