The Blurb
Boy meets girl…
Alex Bradley can’t help but feel that life is rather passing him by. And not just life – promotions, invitations, romance; the girl he loves only has eyes for his flatmate and his 9-5 job as the Immigration department skivvy is slowly numbing his soul. Until he meets Nadia.
Girl meets boy…
Nadia Osipova is running out of time. With no money, no lawyer and a totally fictitious boyfriend, she’s got one last summer and one last appeal before the British government deport her back to Russia.
Girl gets deported?
It’s going to be a bumpy ride, one she’s dragging her new friend Alex along for. As Nadia races through a list of all her favourite London adventures, for what may be the last time, Alex can’t help but start to see the city, and his life, through Nadia’s eyes.
From hazy summer days on the Common and heady nights in Soho’s basement bars, to twilight walks along the Southbank, will Alex realise what he’s got before it’s too late?
Funny, addictive and always honest, this is a love letter to London, friendship and the unexpected from the author of the bestselling The Best Thing I Never Had.
The Review
First there was Bridget and Mark; then there was Em and Dex and now there is Nadia and Alex. Oh, my heart.
Somewhere Only We Know by Erin Lawless is a full on modern day romance centring on Home Office worker Alex – a man who is just being carried along by life rather than actually living it. His life consists of spending time with his flatmate Rory and Rory’s girlfriend Lila….who Alex is secretly in love with. When Nadia comes into his life everything is turned upon its head. She makes him start living rather than just existing. It seems that this project is her swan song as she is currently undergoing a trial that might extradite her from the country that she calls home.
Besides Somewhere Only We Know being a tradition love story between a boy and a girl it is actually a bit of a romance with the city of London. The London described is gorgeous; the best places – besides the obvious tourist spots – are shown perfectly. I wanted to go to those places; I wanted to spend time in the company of characters in those places too. It is this want to be in the story that I think makes Somewhere Only We Know a magical book.
You can’t help but fall in love with Alex and Nadia; you can’t help but yell at the book because you want them to realise that they love each other; you cannot help but swoon. This is the kind of book that makes you fall in love.
Somewhere Only We Know is the book I have wanted to read for a very long time; longer than it has been in existence. How is that possible you may be asking yourself? Well, let me tell you. It is a rare thing to be able to make the love between two fictional characters become so real that you actually champion their love from your very roots but this is exactly what I did for Nads and Alex. And I know you will too.
Somewhere Only We Know by Erin Lawless is available from June 11th 2015.
Follow Erin Lawless (@rinylou) on Twitter.
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