Much Ado About You

Content warnings: alcoholism, past death of a parent, emotional abuse, ghosting, trust issues in relationships

Evie leaves her life in Chicago to run a bookstore in a small English village.

Evangeline "Evie" Starling is done with dating. She's just been ghosted during her first face-to-face meeting with someone she met online and had already started to care for. When she starts to have issues with her editing job, she takes it as a sign and moves from Chicago to a small town in northern England.

The apartment Evie rents is above a bookstore, and running the bookstore comes with her rental. Evie runs the bookstore while doing freelance editing and she begins to fall in love with the small village feel of Alnster. The people accept her as one of their own, and she feels contentment she doesn't have in Chicago.

Even though she's sworn off dating, Evie can't help but be drawn to local farmer Rowan. He's nice to look at and very friendly, so they begin a friendship that feels like it should be something more. Evie and Rowan's romance is the main tale in the story, but the richness of the side characters' narratives is what really makes the book shine.

Recommended for contemporary romance readers, especially if they're anglophiles.

Samatha Young is a bestselling adult and YA author. She lives in Scotland.

Publisher: Berkley (print); Penguin Audio

Narrator: Imani Jade Powers

Running Time: 11 hours, 26 minutes

Length: 384 pages

Release Date: February 2, 2021

Representation: Black side character, mixed-race side character, interracial romance

I received an electronic galley copy of this title from the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I received a digital audio recording of this title from Penguin Random House Audio as a librarian review copy. I read the latter edition.