Delightful friends to lovers, forced proximity romance between two thirty-somethings, one a famous musician and the other a recently furloughed college professor and daughter of a rock legend suffering from Peter Pan Syndrome. Set in the England countryside, it’s all about the downside of fame and the loved ones who get figuratively trampled in the frenzy of paparazzi and rabid fans.
Thirty-three years ago, rockstar Ripp Harris managed to impregnate three women (only one of whom, Dee, the narrator’s mother, was his wife). When the truth came out, Dee bought a farm with the divorce proceedings and invited the other two soon-to-be moms to live with her, where they raised three beautiful daughters together. As the girls grew, they dubbed themselves The Weird Sisters and fancied themselves witches. When Clementine (Clemmie) experienced a devastating heartbreak at age 17, the breakup spell came to be. Fast forward fifteen years, and Clemmie, after losing her latest adjunct faculty post, has just been dumped by her long-time, live-in boyfriend who took all the furniture, stole her cat, and moved in with his pregnant girlfriend. What better excuse to cast another spell, cursing the ex, and then making three wishes to heal Clemmie’s broken heart: Serena, the record producer, wishes for hot sex, Clemmie wishes for a job doing what she loves, and Lil, the folk singer, wishes for a big, soulmate kind of love.
Within days, at the funeral of a close family friend, Clemmie can’t help but notice the handsome pallbearer, and is thrilled to fulfill Serena’s wish for her with the gorgeous man, Edward/Teddy. So, imagine her surprise when Serena convinces her to “babysit” megastar and rumored womanizer Theo Elliott (long overdue with his next album) for six weeks in a secluded home far from London, and she discovers he’s the same man she snuck out on but can’t get out of her mind. But after being rejected by her father and her teen love (also a musician), the last thing she’s going to do is make the mistake of loving a musician a third time.
I thoroughly enjoyed this delightful, steamy romance set in England and the honesty, care, and vulnerability that Clemmie and Theo share. Author Wood does a fantastic job of fleshing out her characters and giving readers a solid depiction of female support and empowerment between the three “sisters” and their mothers. I am thankful that Theo isn’t the stereotypical musician (as is Clemmie, as it turns out), and really enjoy his snarky, Type A assistant David who reminds me of Joel Kim Booster’s character in the show Loot. I’m not usually a fan of a single female character POV, but, in this case, readers get a good sense of who Theo is and how a highly-successful music career, that began as a boy band member in his teens, has negatively impacted his life.
The only minor issue I had was that her sisters, who obviously knew who Theo was, never clued her in. In her total rejection of all things musical, she avoided social media and current music, so being ignorant of who he was made sense, but Serena should have made the connection before offering her the job. Of course, there would have been no story in that case, so I let it slide. If you’re a fan of Christina Lauren, Emily Henry, and Abby Jimenez, you’ll love this book. Highly recommended!
I received a complimentary ARC of this book from Atria Books through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.
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