Love at First Sight by Laura Jane Williams @penguinrandom #bookreview #loveatfirstsight

 Love At First Sight by Laura Jane Williams

Published by Penguin Random House

Publication Date:19th June 2025

My thanks to Aoifke McGuire-France at Penguin Random House for the invitation to read an early copy of this book in exchange for my thoughts

Book Description:

She’s found the one. He’s just not the one for her.

Jessie doesn’t believe in love at first sight. Until one sunny Saturday in London, a fire alarm in Whole Foods throws her into a stranger's arms. Cal is charming and funny: their chemistry is instant.

Quick-fire flirting turns into the most romantic day of Jessie’s life. But that evening they're forced apart before swapping numbers. Jessie is devastated – has she just lost the one?

After weeks of searching, Cal turns up on her doorstop holding two dozen red roses. It feels like fate.

The only thing is, they’re not for her…

My Thoughts:

Despite having a few of Laura Jane's books on my physical TBR, I have yet to dive into one - the mood reader that I am.  Fortunately the email offer from Aoifke at Penguin Random House came just at the right moment as I was wanting a palette cleansing lighter read in between my darker thriller reads. And what a refreshing read it was too!

Jessie is nanny to Henry, the son of a TV actress Ali. Despite Ali's demanding and slightly diva-ish attitude towards Jessie they get on very well and Jessie loves her job. Looking after Henry barely feels like a job at all as they love each other to bits, spending as much time as they can in each other's company when Ali's work schedule means she can't be around. The unpredictability of Ali's work means that Jessie needs to be pretty much on-call, often changing her own plans to meet Ali's demands. But it's on one of her Henry-free days that Ali has a life-changing moment in her local Whole Foods supermarket. She locks eyes across the aisles with a guy who makes her weak at the knees - a proper Love At First Sight moment, and when the fire alarm sounds it seems that her feelings are reciprocated as the two end up spending the rest of the day together, all thoughts of grocery shopping dismissed. But Fate steps in, meaning that Cal is swept off in a black cab before they can exchange contact details.

The story could be so predictable from here on in, and I suppose to a point it could be considered so. But Jessie and Cal's story is not the only thread to the tale. There are some fabulous characters woven into the story of whether the two ever find each other again. Henry is an absolute delight and I loved hearing him regale his experiences of school days and how Jessie helps him process his feelings about his parents' divorce and other significant events in his young life. The school gate mums figure quite strongly in Jessie's professional life as she decides to bite the bullet and follow her dreams - ones which shouldn't involve Cal but somehow he manages to gatecrash those too!

My favourite character overall though is cheeky chappy local butcher and renowned lothario Leo. He's always there with a compliment and a wink to brighten Jessie's day - and is willing to go above and beyond to help her realise her dreams. Best friend India, and Jessie's dad also add plenty of interest to this book, which proved to be so much more than just a meet cute novel. Family and friendship vibes are strong throughout the book and help Jessie work her way through some challenging feelings and thought processes - she frustrated me greatly at some stages in the book, and could have done with taking some of the advice she regularly gave Henry to help deal with situations which throw multiple emotions into the melting pot of life.

I very much enjoyed this book but felt it just lacked detail in places and could have delved deeper into  the lives of a few characters to make it feel that little bit more satisfying.

About the Author:

Known as the queen of the meet-cute, Laura Jane Williams is the author of fourteen books. Her romantic comedies for adults include Our Stop, The Lucky Escape and Enemies to Lovers, and she has written several non-fiction and teen titles. Laura's work has been translated into multiple languages all over the world.