‘The clock is ticking, don't let love run out . . .
When the love of her life falls for someone else, Rena finds herself desperately scrolling for a solution. That's when an ad for a new dating app pops up:
24 hours to fall in love ❤️ A guaranteed love match by the end of the day or your money back.
Fueled by heartbreak and tequila, Rena signs up and prepares for her life to change. What she doesn't know is that she is bound to repeat this day over and over again, until she finds her perfect match. One day they said, but there was no mention of how many times that day would play out . . .’ (Synopsis courtesy of Waterstones.)
I have been through a phase of reading lately where I’ve been gravitating to thrillers and crime novels and I was starting to worry and wonder whether I would ever feel the pull back to ‘romantic fiction’ that I’ve historically loved. Well, occasionally you come across a book (or one is sent to you, thank you!) that just makes you fall back in love with a genre, and this for me has been One Day to Fall in Love by Molly James. I adored this book from start to finish!
I should say I was a quick YES to reviewing this novel as I was aware Molly James is a pen name for Belinda Jones whose work I have previously loved (Winter Wonderland; The Travelling Tea Shop). Belinda has always had the knack for making a reader feel they’ve visited somewhere they’ve never been and as ‘Molly’ she has done this again in this Groundhog Day style time-loop story set in beautiful Torquay. (Again, I’ve never been but feel like I have now!)
Rena is a wonderful main character, in love with her friend Dylan but he’s seemingly ready to settle down with someone else. Rena needs distraction and quick. Cue signing up to a dating app that promises true love within 24 hours or your money back; Rena doesn’t just sign herself up but her best friend Natalie too, as Rena needs her to see there is someone more deserving of her friend than her current cheating boyfriend. The friends are then, unbeknownst to them, set to live through the same Sunday ad infinitum until they find their ‘true loves’.
I wondered how the day could repeat without becoming a bit samey and wondered if it would all just seem a bit far-fetched for me – I needn’t have worried the whole book is so refreshing and funny! Needless to say Rena meets a few new faces in the path of finding true love and there are questionable characters as well as adorable ones.
A stand-out for me was the development of Rena’s relationship with her father through reliving the same 24 hours after this man she barely has a relationship with turns up at the theatre where she works out of the blue. A beautiful element to the story that other important characters had an equally beautiful part in.
The backdrop of Torquay is a huge part of the novel. So many places play their part in the novel and as someone who grew up in a seaside town I loved being transported. I also loved Rena’s passion for her work at the theatre and her hopes to play her part in the restoration of the nearby pavilion. It worked perfectly how this element of the story built and linked to the characters introduced along the way.
I don’t want to give anything away about the true love side to the story but just to say this book is incredibly satisfying to read; one you want to hug at the end and I will miss it greatly! Highly recommended.
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