Genre: Romance

Tags: #dualpov #british #romcom #chicklit #sweetromance #cozyromance

Blurb:

"Tiffy and Leon share an apartment. Tiffy and Leon have never met.

After a bad breakup, Tiffy Moore needs a place to live. Fast. And cheap. But the apartments in her budget have her wondering if astonishingly colored mold on the walls counts as art.

Desperation makes her open minded, so she answers an ad for a flatshare. Leon, a night shift worker, will take the apartment during the day, and Tiffy can have it nights and weekends. He’ll only ever be there when she’s at the office. In fact, they’ll never even have to meet.

Tiffy and Leon start writing each other notes – first about what day is garbage day, and politely establishing what leftovers are up for grabs, and the evergreen question of whether the toilet seat should stay up or down. Even though they are opposites, they soon become friends. And then maybe more.

But falling in love with your roommate is probably a terrible idea…especially if you've never met."

Rae's review:

I'm at a cabin in northern Saskatchewan, drowsy with sun and clear freshwater and the smell of massive fir trees. Of course I have to give you a beach read this week ♡

The Flatshare has all the laugh-out-loud moments and quirky characters you want in a romantic comedy, but there's unexpected depth to the story too. Tiffy is recovering from a previous relationship that she hasn't quite admitted to herself was horribly toxic. Her journey of waking up to her own voice and finally shedding the sticky ties of that relationship is an unexpected treat.

Dual pov is my favourite kind for romance novel and here in her debut novel O'Leary creates a unique voice and style for each character--a little extra attention to detail that I appreciated. You pick up on Leon's introversion and how unaccustomed he is to meeting new people just from the unadorned, self-deprecating way he narrates his side of the story. Very endearing.

The best romance novel I read in 2019. I'm currently into 'The Switch' another Beth O'Leary book I saved for my lake time and am very happy with my life choices right now lol.

The audio book is excellent! Also available free on Libby (and Overdrive) library app.