Zora Books Her Happy Ever After

LoveReading Says

I usually like my romcoms to be plotty and pacey, but here that didn't matter so much as I still got so invested in Zora’s life and the women close to her — like when they’re all analysing the detail of her choices and emotions. It felt so tender and compassionate. I think sometimes romcom tropes like a love triangle or grumpy/sunshine can end up feeling hard to suspend your disbelief but this felt very grounded — the tone is a nice blend of escapist, heightened wish-fulfilment romance, but also feminist and realistic. There’s a lot of attention given to the detailed pleasures of everyday life, like the food they eat, the outfits they wear, the way they feel when looking at their crush — you really get to know the characters lives and feel like you’re there in her shoes. 

The momentum then lifts when Zora’s two love interests appear for an event in her shop — the sexy author who she admires and seems perfect on paper (but sets off her spidey senses when he doesn’t seem as feminist in real life as Zora sees in his characters) and his grumpy teacher friend who doesn’t set a good first impression but who piques Zora’s interest… I predicted the twist from very early on but that didn’t necessarily stop me enjoying seeing how all their emotions played out. 

It’s also very heartwarming in the way McCoy writes Zora’s life in Northeast DC, like when she speaks to kids at Reid’s school about her bookshop and all the children are so excited and ambitious to be writers. And I enjoyed the running joke of Granny’s insistence on wanting good-looking grand-babies from Zora — ASAP.

Lily Lindon

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