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From the publisher:
A rom-com-obsessed romantic waiting for her perfect leading man learns that life doesn’t always go according to a script in this delightfully charming and funny novel.
Annie Cassidy dreams of being the next Nora Ephron. She spends her days writing screenplays, rewatching Sleepless in Seattle, and waiting for her movie-perfect meet-cute. If she could just find her own Tom Hanks—a man who’s sweet, sensitive, and possibly owns a houseboat—her problems would disappear and her life would be perfect. But Tom Hanks is nowhere in sight.
When a movie starts filming in her neighborhood and Annie gets a job on set, it seems like a sign. Then Annie meets the lead actor, Drew Danforth, a cocky prankster who couldn’t be less like Tom Hanks if he tried. Their meet-cute is more of a meet-fail, but soon Annie finds herself sharing some classic rom-com moments with Drew. Her Tom Hanks can’t be an actor who’s leaving town in a matter of days…can he?
I love rom-coms. I was devastated when Nora Ephron died because I knew there would never be another Sleepless in Seattle, or You’ve Got Mail, or When Harry Met Sally, movies that I have watched countless times and love. So I totally get the inspiration for this book, and the author tells a great story. But even I have to admit, sometimes it felt like she went a little overboard on the rom-com, waiting for Tom Hanks, references.
If you are not intimately familiar with these movies, some of the comedy will just whiz by you but then again, if you’re not, why are you even reading this book? So watch the movies then read the book, all the references will make much more sense.
The meet-cute is a coffee spill, followed by a hated nickname, “Coffee Girl”. There is a sort of love triangle that never really gets developed but doesn’t need to, we all can see what is happening even if Coffee Girl cannot. The secondary characters are essential and the backstory of the main characters helps the story along. The tension builds up nicely, and the denouement satisfies. Even with my minor quibbles, I thoroughly enjoyed this read!
8/19 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch
WAITING FOR TOM HANKS by Kerry Winfrey. Berkley (June 11, 2019). ISBN 978-1984804020. 288p.
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