The Reunion

Content warnings: extramarital affair, breast cancer, classism, loss of a parent at a young age

Posy and Lucas reconnect at their high school reunion.

In high school, Posy Edwins is the popular, rich head girl who is interested in using her position to make memories through social events. Lucas O'Rourke is the head boy at the private school on scholarship who has spreadsheets of how to make the students more college-ready. The other students call Lucas "Helpboy" because his parents are "the help" -- his father is in charge of school security and his mother is the chef.

Ten years later, Lucas is in wealth management and his once profitable business is struggling. His best friend and coworker convinces him to go to the reunion to drum up new business for their firm. Posy is an adrift party girl whose rich father cuts her off right before a photography event in Hawaii that she needs to attend for her big break.

In a last-ditch effort to make it to Hawaii, Posy approaches Lucas to invoke a centuries-old school bylaw that says the school will pay for the nuptials if the head boy and head girl ever marry. The headmaster is suspicious and sends a school employee to all of the wedding appointments in order to catch the couple in a lie.

I pictured Nathan from Ted Lasso every time I read Lucas' chapters. When the author physically described dark-haired, white Lucas my mental image revolted. He's your typical sweet but driven guy who hasn't quite made his huge success, but he's on the path.

Posy is also what you'd expect -- a spoiled rich girl who's grossly out of touch with what things cost for humble peasants. She considers her photography hobby to be a viable career option after a long string of other hobbies that didn't work out. Despite her upbringing, the way society treats Lucas makes Posy realize how shallow and reprehensible their behavior is.

While the story is interesting and the characters are likable, there's nothing in the novel to make it stand out from a plethora of other contemporary romances. Recommended only for voracious romance readers who are running out of titles to consume.

Elizabeth Drummond is a Yorkshire native living in Essex. She works in the film industry.

Publisher: One More Chapter

Length: 359 pages

Release Date: June 10, 2022

Representation: Indian side character

I received an electronic galley copy of this title from the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.