I finally understand all the hype and praise that The Flatshare by Beth O’Leary was given. As two roommates who never meet face-to-face fall in love through notes, the reader can’t help but join them. As romantic comedy novels go, this one was top-notch.

Tiffy who works as a publisher of DIY books, and is going through a difficult break-up from her nasty ex-boyfriend, discovers a flat that is within her budget. Leon, a palliative care nurse, works nights so the arrangement is easy, Tiffy has the use of the bed at night, while Leon sleeps in the day. But as they exchange notes on day-to-day things their lives start to entwine and slowly they discover what the reader already senses, these roommates could soulmates. Of course there are a number of things to sort through before these two can live happily ever after and it’s a fun ride with these two lovable characters.

The Flatshare is a clever, slightly quirky story. The two main characters are fun to follow and the author gives us some interesting secondary characters who help move the story along. I liked how the characters developed a friendship before getting romantic and that they both had issues to deal with. I was surprised that this is the author’s debut novel but happy that I can now search out more of her stories. ( )

Ordinarily, I leave romances on the shelf where they belong. Two of my favorite people recommended this, though, and I was pleasantly surprised. It is one of the best romances I've ever read, and uniquely told from both perspectives. I loved it! ( )

This is a lovely modern story with believable, mature characters. At times the story flows over situational humor even as the plot directs the cast through believable challenges. In the end, you’re rooting for everyone—main and supporting characters alike. ( )

Simply the cutest.

Read it in just about one sitting (stayed up absurdly late and finished at lunch the next day) and I don’t know why it was such a page turner for me.

It’s a romance, and a predictable one at that, but I really wanted them to be happy. ( )

An epistolary novel of sorts, via post-it notes, written in a very accomplished narrative voice that gave distinctive personalities to the two main characters, Tiffy and Leon. It worked surprisingly well, interspersed with descriptive action. A pretty solid read that engages the reader, assuming that the genre is appealing.

The realistic relationship situation with Tiffy and her ex-boy friend was pretty edgy for me, and felt very real. The flatshare set-up with Leon on nightshift while Tiffy is on a daytime job is realistic, since people in the UK have to go to extraordinary lengths to afford living in London. Altogether, there was very little aspect of worn-out tropes showing up, which is a big plus.

The layering with Leon's brother, Ritchie, was a nice fleshing out of how life can be so fraught with other issues. O'leary wrote well in terms of building Leon's psychological background from childhood. I wanted to learn more about Tiffany's, other than her recent hassles with the ex-BF.

The plot did become rather long-drawn out, a phase about two-thirds of the way through. Creating a misstep in the narrative's trajectory pulled me out of the story from time to time. The ending was okay, though quite abrupt in cutting off the action. Readers are left with too much of a sense that there is unfinished business ~ not conducive to satisfying dénouement. ( )