Book Lovers meets Notting Hill with a slice of You’ve Got Mail in Wish You Were Her, the brand new rivals-to-lovers romance from bestselling, award-winning Elle McNicoll.
18-year-old Allegra Brooks has skyrocketed to fame after starring in a hit television show, and she’s the overnight success that everyone’s talking about. They just don’t know she’s autistic. Now, all she wants is a normal teenage summer.
Her destination for escape is the remote Lake Pristine and its annual Book Festival, organized by the dedicated but unfriendly senior bookseller, Jonah Thorne.
In small towns like Lake Pristine, misunderstandings abound, and before long the two are drawn into high-profile hostility that’s a far cry from the drama-free holiday Allegra was craving. Thank goodness for her saving the increasingly personal emails she’s been sharing with a charming and anonymous bookseller who is definitely not Jonah Thorne . . .

The first book I read by Elle McNicoll was Show Us Who You Are. I read it in one sitting and I was absolutely hooked.

I read A Kind of Spark soon after, again in one sitting. I have read everything else she has written in the years since, and I’ve loved them all.

Wish You Were Her is no different. Set in the same world as Some Like it Cold with the same small town setting of Lake Pristine and some overlapping characters, we follow a new protagonist and her struggles with fame and how her neurodiversity interacts with this world.

I loved the setting and it was great to be back in Lake Pristine – which cleverly could be the kind of small town in either the UK or elsewhere. The fact we’re following a book festival and spend a lot of time in a bookshop is obviously appealing, and made for the perfect background to this romance.

Allegra made for a likeable protagonist and I feel her strength and conviction will provide an amazing role model for young teens. The romance definitely had You’ve Got Mail vibes and I enjoyed seeing Allegra and Jonah navigate all obstacles thrown their way. Their budding romance is heartfelt and charming.

A delightful rom-com that kept me turning the pages and sucked me into Allegra and Jonah’s world. Heartfelt, emotional and tender, but punchy and extremely enjoyable at the same time!

Thank you to the publisher for an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

★★★★
4 out of 5 stars

-Beth

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