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Many of us grew up on romantic comedies, watching fluffy teen romances and classic chick flicks at slumber parties. In Would Like to Meet by author Rachel Winters, one chick flick fan sets out to prove that there’s a little bit of reality in her beloved rom-coms.
The story struggles to keep a film agency afloat with Evie Summers, an assistant who’s been held back at the agency for far too long. But with the agency’s biggest client, Oscar-winning screenwriter Ezra Chester, dragging his feet on a rom-com script that was promised ages ago, she could soon be unemployed. When her boss, Monty, assigns her the task of getting Ezra to agree to finish his script, she ends up making a deal with him, trying out actual rom-com meet-cutes to show that they can actually work in real life.
As this lovably frazzled character arranges and executes a series of rom-com-worthy meet-cutes—all with the group-text support of her three closest friends—she finds herself in all kinds of awkward situations with all kinds of eccentric characters. She attempts to spill her drink on a guy in a café. She tries to find love on a disastrous road trip. She joins a book group. And, in the process, she also juggles her friend’s wedding plans, her boss’s outrageous expectations, and the demands of an egotistical (an aggravatingly handsome) client, who requires more and more of her stories to fuel the screenplay that her agency so desperately needs. If you’ve watched at least a couple of chick flicks, the situations are familiar—and it won’t take long for you to figure out where it’s going. But while it can, at times, be maddening that you can see what Evie can’t, that’s also what makes for a fun read.
Best of all, though—on top of the usual romance and laughter—this is a story about a character who finds her own way. This whole ridiculous project brings Evie back to her dream of writing. She meets some new people along the way. And she finds strength and confidence that she never realized that she had. While you may sometimes find yourself yelling at the page, trying to guide her in the obvious direction, you’ll also cheer her on as she finally starts to stand up for herself and for what she wants.
For those of us who have grown up on rom-coms and chick lit, Would Like to Meet may be familiar, but it’s also warm and cozy. It’s sometimes laugh-out-loud funny. It’s inspiring, too. And after you finish it (or maybe even while you’re still reading it), it will make you want to dig out your old chick flick favorites and rewatch them.
Listen to the review on Shelf Discovery:
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