Book info

• Title The Spare Bedroom
• Author Elizabeth Neep
• Year 2020
• Genres Romance, Contemporary

Armed with a super-sized backpack full of optimism, Jess sets off in search of sun, sea and a much-needed new beginning. Things don’t get off to a good start. Instead of sunshine, she’s met with torrential rain. Her job prospects are as dismal as the weather and that friend-of-a-friend she was meant to stay with has fallen through. Just as Jess is homeless, jobless and wishing she’d gone for the waterproof mascara, she runs into the last person she expected to see. Sam. The ex she never got over. Jess always believed that one day fate would bring them back together. Now he’s here, more gorgeous than ever. Before she knows it, Jess is accepting Sam’s offer to stay in his spare room. But while she may have been less than truthful about the mess she’s in, there is also one rather important thing Sam has neglected to mention. Suddenly Jess isn’t just living with her ex, but with his new girlfriend too. All of that baggage she thought she left behind may have caught up with her...

Thoughts

Interesting story this one, in which our protagonist is at rock bottom after moving to Australia and things not working out. A series of coincidences see her end up staying in the spare room of her ex-boyfriend’s apartment, the one he now shares with his fiancée. And that’s the thing, the coincidences here were just a bit much for me. That they found each other to start with. That the ex-boss and potential new boss happened to be sisters. That there was a job at an art gallery going for an artist. That Alice found her on the beach. I don’t know.

I think I’m just a bit too sceptical of it all, and that coupled with the fact that I wouldn’t have done any of the things the people in this book did, made it a bit of a fairy story to me.

That’s not to say it wasn’t enjoyable though - and I really loved that by the end she found confidence and independence and was ready to step out on her own. That’s a happy ending right there.

Rating: 3 / 5