Love Your Life

Can a whirlwind Italian romance survive when you return to the real world in London?

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Ava meets the man of her dreams at a retreat in Italy. When they return to London, she starts to realize her dream vacation man is different than the London version.

I went through a phase when I discovered the Shopaholic series and read almost everything Sophie Kinsella AKA Madeleine Wickham ever wrote. Her latest, Love Your Life, follows dreamer Ava as she goes to Italy for a writing retreat. The neighboring martial arts retreat loses its instructor, and hunky, perfect Dutch joins the retreat.

The retreat's goal is to remove all the external things that distract from your writing -- choosing outfits, small talk, even your own name. Ava takes on the name Aria and falls hard for perfection-made-flesh "Dutch." Throughout their weeklong Italian romance, they make guesses about what each other's real names are, what they do for a living, where they might live, etc. Ava falls in love with her made-up carpenter Jean-Luc who loves dogs and is a vegetarian like her.

At Heathrow, the vacation bubble suddenly bursts. Ava's ill-behaved dog attacks Dutch's chauffeur -- wait, he has a chauffeur? -- and her friends reveal her real name before she has the chance. She finds out that Dutch is Matt, the CEO of a dollhouse empire. Matt loves dogs, just not her dog. And upon returning from their vegetarian retreat, the first thing he did was scarf a hamburger. Ava doesn't see these red flags for what they are and continues living in her fantasy world where they end up getting married and having babies. Ava and Matt's relationship seems doomed, but can they make it work despite their differences?

Ava follows the model of Kinsella's other leading ladies, who are flawed yet charming. She's a bit awkward, a dreamer, and has a big heart. Ava rescues everything -- furniture, books, even her dog. She's an endearing character and the reader wants her to succeed despite her ridiculous friends, dog, and life that would make a normal person squeamish.

This is a cute novel with a more unconventional story arc than your typical romance, but it's definitely not my favorite of Kinsella's books. Recommended for Kinsella's many fans and readers of romance and contemporary women's fiction.

Sophie Kinsella lives in the UK. She is best known for the Shopaholic series and has also written novels as Madeleine Wickham. Her novels have been published in more than 40 languages and over 60 countries.

Publisher: The Dial Press

Length: 432 pages

Release Date: October 27, 2020

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Note: This post is tagged "disability" because one of Ava's friends suffers many ailments due to lupus. It's not mentioned in the review, but I like to let you know when underrepresented populations are represented in literature.

I received an electronic galley copy of this title from the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.