Love can be funny business…

Synopsis

Dumped by Instagram post. Not a whiff of a social life. Can it get any worse?

After a string of failed relationships – romantic and platonic – Lea’s had enough of watching life happen without her. When she bumps into Shep, a comedian at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in need of accommodation, it feels like destiny. And voilá – Lea now has a lodger and some company.

The two get on like a flat on fire, and Lea can’t resist falling for outgoing Shep. But she knows it’s a mistake that will cost her heart – he’s just another guy passing through, after all. And with Shep’s stand-up routine edging him closer to his big break, there’s no way he’ll stick around.

Love is no laughing matter as the Fringe draws to a close. Can Lea find the confidence to step up and confess her feelings to Shep? Will he want to stay?

A feel-good, heartwarming romance for anyone desperate to break out of their shell and find their true self.

My review

After discover that the man she has been dating is moving to Australia and didn’t even bother to tell her, Lea had had enough of any kind of relationship. Not that her world is filled with men… or even friends if we are being honest. With the friends she has being all in a different stage in their lives, Lea feels rather lonely and alone in the world.
So when she meets comedian Shep at the Edinburgh festival and she learns that he is looking for accommodation, she decides to offer him her spare bedroom. Not only now does she have a lodger, but also the company!
While initially it may seem a terrible idea – doesn’t every horror story start with a wrong choice – Lea and Shep become very quickly real friends. And even if Lea knows that Shep is only staying for a short time in Edinburgh, she cannot stop falling for the man that brought her so much life, light and love. But is it right to ask him to stay, for her, at the verge of his big break? Because even if it feels like they have known each other for ages, the fact is that they have just met and Lea doesn’t know if Shep would actually want to stay with her… 

I have to admit, at the start of this book, I didn’t know what to actually think of Lea. When we meet her, she is dating this man, Paul. And it seemed like they were in a steady relationship, so just like her I was a bit flabbergasted discovering that Paul was ready to head of to Australia and didn’t bother to tell his girlfriend. That is until I realized that the steady relationship wasn’t a that steady one, and Palu was just in fact looking for some distraction and not for the love of his life… 

The next moment that I didn’t know what to think about Lea was when she meets Shep. Of course it all starts with a complete misunderstanding and a serious case of clashing. Don’t the best stories start like that?
But I found it very strange how easily Lea offers Shep to come and stay at her place. Perhaps I am way too wary of strangers, but who would ever make that kind of offer?  

Luckily, Lea shows that yes, perhaps she is rather impulsive, but that she also has a brain. She knows that what she did doesn’t make any sense, as who knows what kind of person is staying at her place? Because not everyone has good intentions in this world, unfortunately. 

Nevertheless, even with the strange offer Lea made, it’s clear that this unlikely pair is a match made in heaven. They just click so well together, they understand each other and it seems like they have known each other for years and not just a short time.
Especially Lea finds it easy and comforting in confiding all her worries with this new man in her life. A new man that is able to put a smile on her face by just being there for her, or cracking up a joke or a funny anecdote. 

Shep shows his real character in many different occasions, proving that he is in fact a lovely guy, he is one of the good ones.
Of course he is grateful for Lea’s help, and despite his feelings he doesn’t want to cross that line, until he knows that his feelings are reciprocated.
And he doesn’t belittle Lea’s feelings, he understand how alone and lonely she feels and he doesn’t hesitate to help her out also in this matter. I loved it to see how he knew which kind of friends Lea needed and in which group she would feel at ease. 

Shep also has a big dream, and him staying in Edinburgh is his attempt to succeed. He for sure know how to make his audience laugh, but he also shows that it isn’t that easy to make it actual happen. It’s easy to crack a joke here and there, but to captivate your audience and make them laugh for your entire show isn’t easy-peasy! We see Shep succeed several times, but we also see him fail. And with that we see also how scary it can be, and how one bad show can turn you once again in that self-doubting person, not believing in your own talents.   

It may seem banal how Lea feels. But her story felt so close and relatable. It’s something I have felt in my past too, feeling alone and lonely. And the friends I had back then (or at least the people I thought were friends…) were not in my same situation, not understanding how I felt. And it took me to make some changes in my life to understand who would be truly there for me no matter what, and who was to be brutally honest, a waste of time.
And it took me some time and trust to create a new group of friends where I could be 100% myself, where both my funny bits but also my awkward bits were accepted. 

I think the way Lea feels through great part of the book, is how many people feel in the world. But unfortunately, despite all the ways of contact we have now, it’s not something we throw in the open, our feelings of loneliness… and that is something that should change… 

Seeing Lea making new friends was truly sweet. We see her trying to find her spot, being initially shy, not wanting to be overeager. But it was lovely to see how she was accepted and how she was liked by most of the threesome.
Most, because once again we see how ugly people can be when they think we want to ‘steal’ something that they believe belongs to them and them alone… 

I found this a lovely story to read, to see how one act of kindness can turn into something more important. But it’s also about facing your fears. And those fears can go from standing in front of an audience, to fear of admitting the depth of your feelings and what you truly want. But it’s when those fears are faced and overcome, that the best outcome is made possible!