I loved the first in this series so was eagerly anticipating falling in love again with the characters and settings in this one - and I wasn't disappointed! The perfect romance read, full of lots of lovely bookish references and hope for all of those who believe in love finding a way, no matter what obstacles you may put in the way!!

This is the story of Verity Love who knows runs the Happy Ever After bookshop, and it's still nice to catch up with the other old characters from the previous story who became like friends after reading the first in the series! Although this still can be read and enjoyed as a standalone!

Verity is the epitomy of an introvert, preferring the company of books and her rather fabulous but needy cat, Strumpet, and just a few close friends. She likes having routines and one of those is dining along in a nearby restaurant where even the owner knows her needs as a diner!

The problem she has is convincing her friends that she's happy this way, and has pretended to have the most fabulous boyfriend, who exists only in her dreams. So when she meets a fellow single diner in the restaurant one day, Johnny, who helps her out of a sticky situation, they soon find that they both could use each other as their 'fake other halves' to keep their friends and families from sticking their beaks in!

I loved how their friendship evolves, and how they open up to each other about issues they both have. Johnny is a dreamboat of a 'boyfriend' although I did find him a little bit of a wet weekend at times when he kept going on about the woman he loved and lost - but still wanted! But they were still always there for each other when needed for social occasions and they brought out some interesting events to enjoy!

Verity and her family and friends were all fabulous characters, her sisters particularly were so funny, and i loved all the Pride and Prejudice references - so much so that I'm going to have to read it once more to enjoy it again for myself!

It also gave great insight into how being an introvert affected her on a day to day basis, and how she needed calm and peace to reset herself every now and then - very difficult to do in this fast paced, noisy world we know we live in. It gave you great empathy as a reader with her as a character

A really fabulous read and I am hoping there will be more in the series as I love the characters and the bookshop setting!

I was so pleased to see this book to request as I really enjoyed the first in the series. Annie Darling is very clever with the settings I particularly liked the use of Kimpton and Lambton in the book. Very and Johnny meet in unusual circumstances and can they be pretend boyfriend and girlfriend over the summer to avoid awkward questions. With the awful Marissa stringing poor Johnny along can the scales fall from his eyes long enough for him to see Verity. Love the comparisons to Caroline Bingley and Mr Collins also love What would Elizabeth Bennet do? I may be using that to be a bit more brave.

Verity Love is an introvert who prefers to spend an evening with a book than out socialising and talking to people. She doesn’t like to interact with anyone she doesn’t know, she doesn’t like to be hugged or to hold hands, and, contrarily to what her friends think, she enjoys being single. But since her friends seem to want to couple her with every single man they know, Verity creates an imaginary boyfriend who actually turns real when she meets handsome Johnny who needs a fake girlfriend to get his own friends off his back. Verity and Johnny agree to pretend to be together to go to parties and weddings and show their friends that they are happy. Their fake relationship soon turns into a good friendship (and something more) as they share their darkest secrets and meet each other's family.
What I enjoyed most in this novel is Verity’s family. With four chatty, hilarious and very loud sisters, her family is a modern version of the Bennet family in Pride and Prejudice (a book that Verity has read many, many times and that she can quote by heart). Verity seems reserved and lacking social skills (she doesn’t like to speak to people on the phone) but I found her engaging and honest, not afraid to speak her mind and stand up for herself and I love that when she is in a difficult situation she thinks of her heroine and asks herself “What would Elizabeth Bennet do?”. Full of colourful characters and witty dialogues that made me laugh out loud, this is a refreshing and vibrant novel about love, friendship and family.