It’s a real pleasure today to be helping launch the blog tour for Love at First Site by Phoebe MacLeod, and sharing my publication day review: published today (25th July) by Boldwood Books, it’s now available as an e-book (free via Kindle Unlimited), in paperback and as an audiobook. Many thanks, as always, to Rachel at Rachel’s Random Resources for the invitation and support, and to the publishers for my advance reading e-copy (provided via netgalley).
I haven’t read anything from Phoebe before, but I’m always particularly interested when I see that a new-to-me author has a backlist that Boldwood have picked up along with their new titles, and think of it as a bit of a recommendation. I’ve already added one book I’d missed to my kindle – do take a look for yourself, but I was rather intrigued by An (Un)Romantic Comedy when I read the trailer at the end of my kindle copy of this one! But enough – let’s take a closer look at her latest…
It’s a relationship under construction, and there are no warning signs…
Project Manager Ella Mackenzie thought she had her whole life perfectly mapped out – just like one of her colour-coded spreadsheets. She is the last person to do anything reckless or impulsive.
But when her and her terrible boyfriend split, she is left single, homeless and without a backup plan.
Suddenly, her whole worldly belongings are crammed into the back of her little Fiat, and she’s driving two-hundred-and-fifty miles across the country to start a new job that she should never have accepted in an industry she knows nothing about. What could possibly go wrong?
Ella doesn’t know the first thing about building sites, but thankfully Noah Harris is an expert in construction and is there to show her the ropes (and the ladders).
And, as Ella is about to find out, he’s an expert in a few other things too…
I’ll admit I’m not always the world’s biggest fan of books set in the workplace – I’ve been retired for quite a few years now, and it’s not somewhere I generally feel particularly comfortable. But this one – well, it couldn’t have been more perfect, because a large chunk of my working life was spent as a project manager. And I could really identify with Ella’s sense of pride and achievement as she put the finishing touches to her project plan, with its dependencies perfectly defined and the costs pinned down to the nearest penny. Things only go badly wrong when she hands it over to her partner Lee – a relationship they’ve kept hidden from their employers – and it turns out that he has an agenda all of his own. When he loses a lucrative contract, she becomes implicated in his actions – first suspended, then selected for redundancy when a series of cuts is implemented (and her relationship with Lee has rather reached the end of the road too).
Licking her wounds while staying with her family near Harrogate, she finds that project management jobs are thin on the ground in her home town of Leeds – but her sister Ava (she’s a great minor character – who makes some particularly timely and astute interventions too!) pushes her to apply for a project management job in Kent, working for a construction company building a new estate. Transferable skills, right? And Ava’s husband teaches her some of the terms she’ll come across, help her fit in a bit. But when she arrives, she discovers why the job fell into her lap so easily – it turns out there’s a bit of a scam going on, and one she’s unlikely to spot – as well as facing the everyday sexism of the builders who don’t feel a building site is somewhere “a bird” should be. But with the support and friendship of site manager Noah, the mutual respect starts to build – and she learns a whole new skill set helping him do up a house at the weekends, while their friendship begins to build into something rather more.
I really took Ella to my heart – her determination to do the right thing despite the personal consequences, the edge of steel she developed dealing with the complications of management and suppliers. And I loved the way she won over the workforce on the building site – her fiercest opponent John (who heads up the chippies) turning into a total teddy bear. The romance might come late in the story, with the initial focus on Ella’s need to decide her future path, but I must say it was everything I wanted it to be – Noah’s just the loveliest man (especially when compared to Lee…), and I really wanted them to get their happy ending. There’s plenty of humour, and the whole story is beautifully written and really hooked me in – and there are plenty of nicely-handled emotional moments too.
I really enjoyed this one – something a little different, and I’ll look forward to reading more from this talented author. A definite recommendation from me!
About the author
Phoebe MacLeod is the author of several popular romantic comedies. She lives in Kent with her partner, grown up children and disobedient dog. Her love for her home county is apparent in her books, which have either been set in Kent or have a Kentish connection. She currently works as an IT consultant and writes in her spare time. She has always had a passion for learning new skills, including cookery courses, learning to drive an HGV and, most recently, qualifying to instruct on a Boeing 737 flight simulator.
Phoebe loves watching people and observing social interaction. In fact she nearly got into trouble once when a man in a shopping mall thought she was staring at him! As well as curling up with a book, she loves good food, good wine and good friends – especially when all three come together!
Her first new title for Boldwood was published in November 2022, and they are also republishing her existing titles.
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