We Met in December by Rosie Curtis

Publisher: William Morrow
Published: November 2019
Genre: women’s fiction
ISBN: 9780062964564
Rating: ★★★★

Two people. One house. A year that changes everything. 

Twenty-nine-year-old Jess is following her dream and moving to London. It’s December, and she’s taking a room in a crumbling, but grand, Notting Hill house-share with four virtual strangers. On her first night, Jess meets Alex, the guy sharing her floor, at a Christmas dinner hosted by her landlord. They don’t kiss, but as far as Jess is concerned the connection is clear. She starts planning how they will knock down the wall between them to spend more time together.

But when Jess returns from a two-week Christmas holiday, she finds Alex has started dating someone else—beautiful Emma, who lives on the floor above them. Now Jess faces a year of bumping into (hell, sharing a bathroom with) the man of her dreams…and the woman of his.

Another book I read in the end of 2019 that I didn’t find time to review, but thoroughly enjoyed! It’s just what I needed—something light, fun, rated G, candy for the heart and soul.

We are a part of the lives of two individuals, Jess and Alex, in their first year of starting blank slates in life. Jess has taken a demanding job in publishing in London, leaving her loving grandmother’s home by the sea; Alex has shifted career paths from lawyer to nurse, much to the dismay of his ex-fiancée. Attraction is immediate and timing is poor. Jess spends two weeks away and comes back to hear of a friends-with-benefits situation with Alex and another roommate; and Alex keeps swearing he’s not looking for a relationship of any kind. As the year progresses, Jess and Alex must come to terms with their hearts and find a way to one another.

Do not be deceived by the cover! This is not a Christmas/winter book despite starting and ending in December. And that’s okay — I’m all for stories set in/around London, and Jess’s weekly walks with Alex exploring the city was just as magical as Christmastime. I loved the dynamics of the house and the variety of characters in here! It reminded me of my senior year of college, and I knew someone in my life who was exactly like Jess’s friends or their roommates. I also related to Jess on such a deep level it was almost comically painful — her worries and concerns for her family, her future, her finances, her social life, of feeling stuck, of life moving too quickly, all of it.

This story is for all the Good Girls out there, all the readers who want a sweet friendship-turned-HEA with low low heat, all those who struggled to catch a break in a career they love—this one’s for you, lovelies!