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quippeThe Blurb On The Back:
Ever wondered about the probability of falling in love at first sight? Two people are about to find out …
Meet Hadley. She’s feisty and romantic, yet vulnerable. She’s also about to miss the flight from New York to London for her father’s wedding to a woman Hadley’s never met.
Meet Oliver. He’s sensitive, witty and charming. He has his own reasons for not wanting to fly home to London.
They’re about to embark on the flight of their lives.
17 year-old Hadley is due in London for her dad’s marriage to a woman she’s never met. When circumstances make her miss her flight, she finds herself stuck in the airport until the next flight leaves in 3 hours. Fortunately she meets Oliver, a good-looking, witty English Yale student who’s happy to keep her company and who coincidentally has the seat next to her when the plane finally takes off. The more Hadley and Oliver talk, the more they find that they have in common and maybe, just maybe, they’ll arrive in London more than friends …
Jennifer E. Smith’s debut novel is a slim, sweet-natured contemporary romance that wears its heart on its sleeve.
I’m not normally a romance fan, mainly because I find the set-ups too contrived and the romance itself too forced. However, while the missed flight scenario did have me rolling my eyes, the romance that develops between Hadley and Oliver had more to it than a she’s hot/he’s hot superficiality. I particularly liked the fact that the two of them talk to each other about things that mattered to them.
I’m not convinced that Hadley has the feistiness promised by the cover blurb. To me she was someone who tried too hard to hide what she thought or felt, only revealing her feelings by mistake. This particularly bothered me in her interactions with her father, where Smith never really addresses the resentment and hurt that Hadley went through when he left her and her mother a year earlier. However the breakdown of her relationship with her father is a nice counterpoint to her burgeoning relationship with Oliver and I enjoyed the flashbacks to a holiday Hadley and her dad took in Aspen.
There’s only one really bum moment when Hadley’s behaviour at her dad’s wedding really felt contrived. I also wasn’t quite convinced by Hadley’s flashbacks to conversations with Oliver, mainly because I would have rather seen them unfold naturally on the flight, but they do provide context to the later scenes.
This is a slim book and there isn’t a lot of story there beyond the developing love affair, but it is sweetly told and kept me turning the pages. Billed as a crossover novel, I’m not sure there’s enough here to appeal to adult romance readers but I do look forward to reading what Jennifer E. Smith does next.
The Verdict:
Jennifer E. Smith’s debut novel is a slim, sweet-natured contemporary YA romance that wears its heart on its sleeve. Billed as a crossover romance, I’m not convinced that there’s enough here for adult readers but the story did keep my turning the pages and it’s refreshing to read a YA romance where the characters have a conversation about things that matter to them so that the attraction goes beyond hawtness. I look forward to reading what Smith produces next.
THE STATISTICAL PROBABILITY OF LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT was released in the UK on 5th January 2012. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the ARC of this book.
Meet Hadley. She’s feisty and romantic, yet vulnerable. She’s also about to miss the flight from New York to London for her father’s wedding to a woman Hadley’s never met.
Meet Oliver. He’s sensitive, witty and charming. He has his own reasons for not wanting to fly home to London.
They’re about to embark on the flight of their lives.
17 year-old Hadley is due in London for her dad’s marriage to a woman she’s never met. When circumstances make her miss her flight, she finds herself stuck in the airport until the next flight leaves in 3 hours. Fortunately she meets Oliver, a good-looking, witty English Yale student who’s happy to keep her company and who coincidentally has the seat next to her when the plane finally takes off. The more Hadley and Oliver talk, the more they find that they have in common and maybe, just maybe, they’ll arrive in London more than friends …
Jennifer E. Smith’s debut novel is a slim, sweet-natured contemporary romance that wears its heart on its sleeve.
I’m not normally a romance fan, mainly because I find the set-ups too contrived and the romance itself too forced. However, while the missed flight scenario did have me rolling my eyes, the romance that develops between Hadley and Oliver had more to it than a she’s hot/he’s hot superficiality. I particularly liked the fact that the two of them talk to each other about things that mattered to them.
I’m not convinced that Hadley has the feistiness promised by the cover blurb. To me she was someone who tried too hard to hide what she thought or felt, only revealing her feelings by mistake. This particularly bothered me in her interactions with her father, where Smith never really addresses the resentment and hurt that Hadley went through when he left her and her mother a year earlier. However the breakdown of her relationship with her father is a nice counterpoint to her burgeoning relationship with Oliver and I enjoyed the flashbacks to a holiday Hadley and her dad took in Aspen.
There’s only one really bum moment when Hadley’s behaviour at her dad’s wedding really felt contrived. I also wasn’t quite convinced by Hadley’s flashbacks to conversations with Oliver, mainly because I would have rather seen them unfold naturally on the flight, but they do provide context to the later scenes.
This is a slim book and there isn’t a lot of story there beyond the developing love affair, but it is sweetly told and kept me turning the pages. Billed as a crossover novel, I’m not sure there’s enough here to appeal to adult romance readers but I do look forward to reading what Jennifer E. Smith does next.
The Verdict:
Jennifer E. Smith’s debut novel is a slim, sweet-natured contemporary YA romance that wears its heart on its sleeve. Billed as a crossover romance, I’m not convinced that there’s enough here for adult readers but the story did keep my turning the pages and it’s refreshing to read a YA romance where the characters have a conversation about things that matter to them so that the attraction goes beyond hawtness. I look forward to reading what Smith produces next.
THE STATISTICAL PROBABILITY OF LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT was released in the UK on 5th January 2012. Thanks to the Amazon Vine Programme for the ARC of this book.
