Right Person, Not Enough Time
the greatest thing you'll ever learn is to love and be loved in return
So this is a “trope” that I never would have thought was for me, but I eat it up every f****n’ time. Maybe growing up with A Walk to Remember and then Moulin Rouge! (spoiler alert?) as my favorite films should have been a hint, but call my Patrick Star, I’m content with my head in the sand, living under a rock!
I’ve gone back and forth on writing this recommendation list because I don’t want to “spoil” some of my favorite books, but then I also figure some readers don’t want to be surprised by this sort of turn. For most of these I went in blind and was caught off guard, which is equal parts heartbreaking and exhilarating.
To keep things vague, all I’ll say is these are love stories where the couple must face the mortality of at least one party. I’ll let you discover on your own if they make it to a happily ever after, or if their love affairs are cut short.
Want to know if anyone dies in these books? Don’t ask Jeeves, ask me!
![Me Before You: A Novel [Book]](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!4u8v!,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fe6baa7ea-7a78-49f8-b653-877b3e3e99e8_1669x2560.jpeg "Me Before You: A Novel [Book]")
Me Before You by Jojo Moyes
Okay I thought this would be a safe one to start with because the film was so popular. I’ll be honest, I read this book years ago (before I even considered myself a reader), so the details are fuzzy. I remember being shocked by how much I enjoyed it, and crying while finishing it on an airplane.
It was made into a 2016 iconic film with two of my loves Emilia Clarke and Sam Claflin (two careers rich with page to screen adaptions). There was a major change in the film adaptation that I did not appreciate. They removed the protagonist’s past sexual assault which in the book contributed heavily to her personality, but in the movie she’s “just quirky.” And I’m never one to advocate for more sexual violence on the screen or on the page, but this felt foolish.
This opened the door to Jojo Moyes for me, who I have since loved more and more with each heartbreaking book.
LAST CHANCE TO SCROLL AWAY BEFORE YOU FIND OUT A BOOK HAS TERMINAL ILLNESS REPRESENTATION
Lizzie & Dante by Mary Bly
I read this book because one of my favorite booktubers Noelle Gallagher kept talking about it on her channel. I went in relatively blind, and loved it! I remember listening to the audiobook at work in the Kaleidoscope office and the front of my nose burning. You know that sweet pain of feeling like you’re on the verge of tears? UGH!
If you’re looking for a sad girl summer book, this is my rec! It’s set on the beaches of Elba, Italy and we get to see a summer fling blossom between a New York woman and Italian, single-dad chef. There’re wonderful side characters and deep stories around friendship as well.
“Only a stupid man would mourn a moment when he was still living it.”
-Mary Bly, Lizzie & Dante
Mary Bly happens to be the government name for one of my favorite historical romance authors, Eloisa James. (Currently listening to her most recent novel Hardly a Gentleman and LOVING IT! thank you to Harper Collins for providing me an Audio Galley.)
I believe Lizzie & Dante is her only work of fiction published under her this name, but hopefully not her last contemporary novel. She is a tenured associate professor of English Literature at Fordham University and hails from a legendary literary family. Her parents are poet Robert Bly (named in Gracie Abrams & Taylor Swift’s duet “us.”) and short-story author Carol Bly.
You never read up on it
Shame, could've learned something
Robert Bly on my nightstand
Gifts from you, how ironic
-Gracie Abram’s “us.” ft. Taylor Swift
Comparison is the thief of joy, but if you know me, you know I hated One Italian Summer, well this is what that wanted to be. You want to be crying on the beach in the Mediterranean dealing with grief and interpersonal relationship drama? PICK UP THIS BOOK! (Or Call Me By Your Name of course! which again is right person not enough time but in a different vein than this list… okay I have a type.)
My Oxford Year by Julia Whelan
It's not a perfect Katrina book but it's pretty darn close. In fact, it was a little too close to home for my liking.
Julia Whelan has such a way with writing characters with depth who are imperfect, realistic, and endearing. Her men all have accents (which we love) especially when she reads them to us. Her plots also meander in unexpected ways but never feel too far fetched or wandering.
The friend group in this felt like the quirky British group of friends we've all craved since growing up watching Notting Hill and Bridget Jones. Just like in Thank You for Listening, I laughed and cried through this story.
The film adaptation starring Sofia Carson and Corey Mylchreest is currently in production at Netflix and I am cautiously optimistic. Elle got an exclusive first look.
These books pass the “right person not enough time” vibe check
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Hyper-fixation du jour: television shows
I’ve been bingin’. I’ve been bingin’. These are my recent watches that I HIGHLY recommend. Like Please go watch RIGHT NOW! Immediately!
If you want to purchase any of the books mentioned in this article, please consider using my affiliate link with my favorite independent book store, The Ripped Bodice, or using my referral link to libro.fm for an audiobook!