This is a story about love but it’s much more than that.

Willa, a thirty-six-year-old woman with a series of relationships behind her is a romantic. Her great love is her work as a romance publisher where the movie, Much Ado about Nothing rules her decisions about the choice of book to publish as well as her own life.

The movie, watched when she was a sixteen-year-old made such an impact on her, that it unknowingly confined her actions and thoughts within her own limited expectations. On top of this she works for a publishing company whose CEO is the father of four other employees, brothers Dougal, Ewen, and twins Angus and Alistair. Besides the romance novels, they publish pamphlets but have the lifestyle of wealth and privilege. The only other employee is Willa’s cousin, Imogen who falls for Alistair and as we all know office relationships can either work or not.

The novel is full of humorous lines, particularly the dialogue and amusing scenes as the first half sets up the setting in Sydney and the characters particularly, Willa. Not a lot happens until half way through though. The story takes a turn I’d not expected and Willa is forced to make decisions and take charge in a toxic situation with unexpected consequences which begin to mirror the very revered Much Ado about Nothing.

Don’t worry too much if you don’t know this play because the plot is well and truly explained, probably a little more than needed for my liking, as it became a little bit repetitive.

While the second half of the novel was more interesting for me, there was too much internal dialogue of overthinking by Willa which began to become a little tedious and in part repetitive, slowing the story down. I found myself quite disinterested in Willa as she lamented her woes over and over.

Apart from that, I didn’t mind this light-hearted novel by a writer I’d not read before. It’s an easy read and would be perfect for a holiday or travel.