Welcome to my first issue of ‘rom com reviews’ where I review current films, TV shows, and books I’m consuming, generally featuring love and romance.

I’ll warn you now that I’m the sort of person who (maybe annoyingly?) errs on the side of liking things. As an aspiring author on submission with my manuscript, THE BROKEN ENGAGEMENT CLUB, to the Big 5 (thanks to my agent), I know how hard it is to create something – even something not to everyone’s tastes. Not everything has universal appeal. Not everything will be something I love, but if I know anything from reading Goodreads reviews, it’s that even something I adored and was entertained by (surely the goal of things?) other people will give some brutal takedown.

I feel like people who give bad energy into the world sometimes have sadness in their own lives, and they exert control by hating things. I’ve been there in my teens and early 20s, but middle-aged ‘elder’ millennial me at 39 is in a completely different energy field. But, hey, you do you as the young people say.

Office Romance by Brett Goldstein (on Netflix)

I loved Brett Goldstein as the grumpy footballer with the heart of gold in Ted Lasso. I’ve yet to watch the last season. Was it any good? I had no idea he could write films, and I feel like what’s been missing from cinema lately (even if it’s direct to streaming) is the classic 90-minute rom com.

So, even though some moments of this film were a little unhinged (the birth bit) and the ‘unrealistic’ ending bit – always the crazy dramatic scene – imagine if real corporate lives were like that? Hah! I’m inclined to think this was overall cute.

I think it may be due to lack of rom-com options, and I also liked the Devil Wears Prada reboot as well. (But I do wish Hollywood actresses didn’t have so much pressure to mess with their beautiful faces.)

I do, however, think that it’s a little creepy that Goldstein admitted in interviews he wouldn’t actually do the film with anyone other than J-Lo. Like I can imagine he had a poster of her as a teenager (11-year age gap) and he wanted to live out his fantasies. Maybe a tad creepy?

They seemed to have great chemistry in the film and interviews, to be fair.

Also, I suppose it’s no creepier than me hoping one day to cast James Norton (of Grantchester and other things) in the TV adaptation of my book as the lovely character of Ben. But equally, I don’t have a poster of him, and I’m not gunning to play his love interest (which in my novel is a Lebanese British influencer).

I made my husband watch Office Romance with me, and I think he was okay with it. We did both agree, though, that it was Betty Gilpin who stole the show.

I’d not seen her before, but she has cropped up in Widows Bay, which I have only agreed to watch with my husband if I can hide my eyes at the scary bits because I hate scary things.

Everything I Know About Love by Dolly Alderton (the TV version)

I read Dolly Alderton’s debut in November 2023, so I was definitely late to the Dolly party (I think it was published around 2018), and I just discovered the TV series was on Netflix. I didn’t even know they had made the TV series. I don’t often make the time to watch tele but apparently it came out in 2022, so that’s probably why it wasn’t on my radar as I hadn’t yet read the book. I don’t recall enough about the book – except that I LOVED it and then devoured every book Dolly had written after that – to know if the TV series is close to it, but two episodes in, it feels nostalgic for a lost time in my 20s.

I was the elder millennial going to uni from 2005 to 2012 (I was also doing my master’s and teaching undergrad as an adjunct prof, so don’t judge!), so even though the girls in the TV show are a tad younger than me, some of the scenarios definitely reminded me of me in that era. Girls are just so fun and feral. The Facebook stalking. The star-sigh compatibility. The love of cinema and drinking. First jobs and messing them up. I’m enjoying it for the nostalgia, and it’ll tie nicely into my new series on Millennial Dating.

Dolly just seems like a cool and chic person IRL. I’m sure I’d not be her cup of tea, but I’d like to imagine I was. Her life experience is very different to mine, having grown up in London and lived her 20s (and presumably her late 30s) there. And I grew up in Oldham and then Florida and then south Georgia. I’m two years older than her. But there is still something universal about that time.

What did you think of it?

Heart the Lover by Lily King

I devoured this in December 2025 in three days. This time I was only a few months late to the party as it was published in September 2025, but it was everywhere. I hadn’t heard of Lily King before this point but omg I think I still think about this story.

It destroyed me. So good. Worth all the hype.

The writing is gorgeous and it’s the kind of book I love as a reader and just would love to write like as a writer.

My whole Why We Met portion of my Substack is about all the people I dated and it made me nostalgic for the misses; however, I’m in my best place in life now with an amazing husband and her character had that too. It’s the nostalgia and sadness for the past but thankfulness for what led you to where you are now, even if it’s built on broken pieces of your heart.

It’s a deeply human book in that we aren’t all very good at telling people who we feel, what they mean to us, and that can have a domino effect on our lives.

Up next

I’m eagerly awaiting Kirsty Greenwood’s Romantic Hero. The Love of My Afterlife was epic, and she very much deserves all her newfound success as she was an indie author before she became so famous in the space. She’s a fellow Oldhamer, but I don’t personally know her (although I’m sure I wish I did).

I’m also looking forward to the next season of Margot’s Got Money Troubles. The book is always best (and my goodness, did I love this book – so unique), but Elle Fanning is just far too lovable. The TV show was great. I’ll talk about the TV show next (season one).

Anything else that should be on my radar?

Current reads and watches

Kindle: Lily King’s Writers & Lovers

Audible: David Nicholls’ Sweet Sorrow

Watching: Everything I Know About Love on Netflix (I generally watch TV shows very slowly as I prioritise reading and writing over that) and Widows Bay (with my husband)

If you love stories of romance, you might enjoy reading the story of how I met my husband – my very own rom com in reverse. Here is a great place to start. I have also written a book, THE BROKEN ENGAGEMENT CLUB, longlisted for the 2025 Mslexia Novel Competition, currently on submission with the Big Five, hoping to find its home. You can read about that journey, here.

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