TAKE A CHANCE ON ME

After a relationship disaster, a 17-year-old American escapes to London, where she finds the one thing she’s trying to avoid.

Evie’s had a strained relationship with her father ever since her parents’ divorce a decade earlier and his return home to England. Swearing off relationships after discovering her boyfriend was hooking up with her close friend, Evie decides that London’s the perfect place to run away to for the summer. While walking off her jet lag, Evie is drawn to a busker who’s performing a sorrowful song. The next day, in a different part of the city, she runs into him again—and this time, she asks him out for a coffee. She fights her feelings, but she’s drawn to Aiden, who’s deeply wounded himself. As their tension and chemistry build, Evie also struggles with her father: They push each other’s buttons, and he’s very controlling, especially when it comes to food, which affects how he interacts with Evie. Over the summer, they attempt to create a healthy relationship, although her dad struggles to meet her halfway. While Evie’s relationship with Aiden is full of bubbly banter and romantic beats, the novel is deepened by the storyline in which Evie strives to be true to herself in the face of her father’s disordered eating. Central characters present white; there’s some ethnic diversity in the supporting cast.

A winsome romance tempered by an astute exploration of family issues.