So it's nearly Valentine's Day. Cue a great 'yay!' for some
at the idea of hearts and chocolate. As for me, I won't be enjoying it. Not
because I'm single - am all coupled-up and happy, in actual fact! - but because
I've never been a lovey-dovey kind of girl who's into the OTT romance charade.
That said, I do like to indulge in a good romantic novel now and again, so I was
pleased to pick up Calling Romeo by Alexandra Potter.
This is a re-release of the original book, which was first released in 2002. The latest edition has a cute cover that matches those of Alexandra's other novels (including Be Careful What You Wish For, Who's That Girl and Me and Mr Darcy). I've enjoyed Alexandra's novels in the past, having only discovered her work when her later novels were released, especially her previous book You're The One That I Don't Want. So far her tales have been wonderfully written hard to put down, so I was looking forward to Calling Romeo.
As it happens, I found it all a bit bland.
The book focuses on Juliet who, after a long relationship with landscaper Will, is mentally debating over whether to call the relationship quits. To Juliet, Will is selfish and too absorbed in his work to care about Juliet, not taking her out, leaving a mess in the flat and not being the romantic hero that constantly sweeps her off her feet. The relationship is even more damaged when Will simply forgets about an important, long-planned Valentine dinner, choosing instead to fall asleep on the sofa when Juliet is alone in the restaurant. When Juliet is having the evening from hell, being soaked in the rain by a passing car is not the best way to end it. Except, of course, when the man in that car could be what you're looking for all along...
Soon, Juliet is transported into the world of what could be. With a new love on the horizon, Juliet's enjoying time with the gorgeous Sykes, who also happens to be her business rival. But is it right? Could Sykes be the Romeo that Juliet's been looking for all along?
I enjoyed this book, which is basically a modern re-telling of Romeo and Juliet, up until about a quarter of the way through, but after that, I found that it started to drag. Plus it was all a bit too predictable for my liking, with little things that irked me - even with the company names in the novel being far too obvious. Calling Romeo mainly focuses on the idea of love; that your very own Romeo doesn't have to be the rich, handsome high-flyer that you picture - that maybe he can be even closer than you think.
Even though I enjoy Alexandra Potter's writing, this book was nothing special. Though like I said, I'm not an overly-romantic person, so maybe this wouldn't have appealed to me anyway in the same way that it would to other readers who generally like this sort of thing. I just prefer more to happen in my choice of fiction than merely a love story. Admittedly I wanted to give up on this book, but I hate doing this. One, I'm a determined person and secondly, there could be some major twist, or the book could pick up again and become more exciting. In all honesty? It was a struggle with this one.
That said, I have loved most of Alexandra's previous novels and will definitely read her next offerings, even though I didn't enjoy this one, as she's a fantastic writer. She has great potential, wit and the ability to create wonderful, characters, and I couldn't put down You're The One That I Don't Want. It's just the story of Calling Romeo itself that didn't pull me in like the author's other, more original, books have.
Rating: 3/5
Like this? Try Molly's Millions by Victoria Connelly
