Be The Plot Twist

Ey up humans! What a week! But let’s dive in. 

So, the other day, I went out to Asda for some flavoured water (get me and my healthy options) and found myself wandering down the book aisle. Now, I’m a reader. Always have been, as I’m sure I’ve mentioned in one of my previous posts. And the reason I read, is to lose myself in someone else’s world. To forget my own problems and just fall down a rabbit hole and observe someone else’s fictional life for a while.  

In a book, you get the beginning, the middle, and most importantly, the end. You don’t have to wait around for years to find out how their story concludes. And that’s what I love most about romance novels.  

In romance novels, you have the unlucky in love at the beginning, followed by the middle bit where they meet and/or spend time together, get to know one another, and then you have the conclusion to the epic romance, and it just fills you with hope and joy and gives you those fluttery feelings in your tummy. Question though, am I the only person who smiles a big toothy smile to myself when they start falling for each other? Or repeatedly slaps the arm of my reading chair excitedly when the love interest says some heart stopping quote?  

Anyway, as I was saying… I’m in Asda, down aisle 2, and there’s a whole load of books in front of me. But I know exactly what I’m looking for. I’m looking for a blurb that catches my eye, a character I can relate to, a story I can get lost in. And suddenly, there it is, staring me right in the face. An author I’ve not had the pleasure of reading before. A book that ticks all my boxes.  

Truly Madly Deeply by LJ Shen.  

(Prepare your asses for spoilers in case I get carried away, but I’ll do my best not to ruin it all!) 

I took the book home, and got started, and let me tell you, I was not disappointed. It’s got small town romance, enemies-to-lovers, grumpy x sunshine and best friends’ brother.  

LJ Shen has created a character that I can only describe as sheer genius – Calla Litvin. Cal is a quirky, clumsy, awkward woman with horrendous verbal diarrhoea, who lives to people please and puts on a show to hide her true self. Why do I love this so much? Because she’s me. Like, if you were to describe me to someone, and get them to write about me, that’s exactly who they would write. Shes always saying the wrong things at the wrong time, she’s full of seemingly useless knowledge about the nineties, and you could wrap her in bubble wrap, and she would still come out covered in bruises. Cal has a love of true crime and dreams of creating her own podcast. Shes anxious, scared of men (or social interactions in general really) and she’s terrified of running. But most of all, she’s completely raw. Her story is heartbreaking and inspiring at the same time. By far, my favourite character from any story I’ve read to date, and I just know that you’re all going to feel the same love toward her.   

Then, we have the love interest – Ambrose Casablancas – Or Row for short. On the surface, he’s a sexy as sin, Michelin starred chef, he’s moody, he’s cold and he’s closed off to everyone but his family… and Cal. Row is ruthless in business and life in general and doesn’t care about hurting people around him to get where he wants. BUT… then we hear the whys, we see the walls starting to crack, we see him getting up at stupid o clock in the morning just to help Cal run… and we fall. This man is topping my BBL (Book Boyfriend List) right now (Sorry Rhysand, you’re still up there). 

The two are yin and yang, but it just works.  Their banter is just perfect, you can feel the condescension from Row in their interactions, but he doesn’t hate her, far from it. Cal unintentionally broke his heart as a young adult, and he is doing everything he can to keep her at arm’s length, to convince himself and her that he doesn’t need or want her in his life. And Cal, the ball of sunshine that she is, barrels into his life, unapologetically herself, and knocks down that wall of crankiness. 

The story captures the intense romance between them both, starting with a secret crush, and progressing into heartbreak, but can the broken hearts be mended? It’s filled with playful banter, past traumas, a bit of mystery and a simmering sexual tension that builds as old feelings resurface. It explores themes of love, self-discovery, and the struggles of rekindling a lost connection. All in all, it’s incredible. Hands down, one of my top 10 favourites. LJ Shen, take a bow. Standing ovation for you queen. 

Oh, and before I forget and go off on another tangent, this book has given me 2 new absolute favourite quotes, that I’m about to go and get engraved onto bookmarks, might even get them as a tattoo, they’re that good. Both said by Row (more evidence as to why he’s at the top of the BBL) … 

1. “You’re not broken, Dot.” He stuck the cigarette in his mouth, patting my thigh offhandedly. “A little cut, sure. All diamonds are.” – I mean, COME ON. She thinks she’s broken and he just… pow… hits it out of the park.  

2. “Your broken is still the most whole thing I’ve seen.” – And AGAIN! Freaking swooning over here! Only a man that worships the ground his woman walks on, could come out with the most comforting, life altering, heart stealing line I’ve ever heard. (Male readers – Take note. Step up. Do better.) 

Now, as per usual for me, upon finishing this book (in 6 hours I might add, that’s how good it was, literally couldn’t put it down), I found myself thinking…  

Cal has a conversation where she describes Row as her childhood ‘Brain Boyfriend’. What is a brain boyfriend I hear you ask. Well, to quote Cal herself, ‘A Brain Boyfriend is the guy that you make movies about in your head. You play-staged dates and vacations and romantic getaways. Like, daydreaming.’ It’s the perfect way to imagine what a life, or relationship would be like with a person, without making a move or actually being in it. This whole thing got me thinking about my own childhood and teenage years. 

As a kid, I used to do this all the time. I’d sit in my room, thinking about a boy from school who had said something nice to me or done something nice, and id imagine what it might be like to date them. Usually, id build up this image in my head that they’d be the perfect boyfriend, and then they’d end up being a total arse a few days later.  

But then there was one, that ended up actually being my boyfriend. Yeah, I was 15, hormonal and clueless about relationships, but he was actually lovely. It was me that couldn’t hold it together. I met him at a family business barbecue where I was serving the meat, and our eyes met over the grill. (Perfect meet-cute right?) We did the typical awkward teenage flirting, danced a bit, he took the piss out of the facepainting I was doing for the little kids and swapped phone numbers. Then I went to my cousins for a sleepover afterwards and spent the whole night talking to her about it. She had a thing for his brother, and it was just such a typical teenage girl thing. Imagining ourselves with their last name, imagining going on double dates together, even discussing the colour of our dream wedding dresses!  

Then when he became my actual real-life boyfriend, I had no idea what I was doing. I only knew the romances I’d read about in books, and this didn’t fully mirror those. The girls in those books didn’t face the same challenges as me, and the boys did more. He called me on Valentine’s Day while I was out with my grandparents and I shouted at him for interrupting my day, that’s how clueless I was. Jesus, if someone called me now to say happy Valentine’s Day, I’d be booking a church.  

My point is, I’d built up this idea in my head of what it would be like, and at the time, id felt so disappointed that it wasn’t a perfect representation of what I thought it would be, and I’d been annoyed at him for that. But alas, we’re still friends, and he regularly gives me advice on smart things that I don’t know anything about. So, all’s well that ends well. (If you’re reading this, once again, sorry for being a moody bitch, but it all worked out for the best.)  

But my question for you to ponder this week is this… Are there people out there, who can 100% live up to the ideologies that we build up? Are there people out there, like Ambrose Casablancas, who can sweep us off our feet with a 10-word sentence? Are there people out there, who are the perfect balance of sweet and sexy? Of safe and thrilling? Or are we just setting ourselves up for eternal disappointment?  

I’m going to ask the same question on socials, so jump over there and join in the debate. And if the answer to the above is yes, give me stories and examples! I want to hear them! I need some hope people! 

But for now, I’ve got some washing to put in the dryer before I forget and have to redo it tomorrow (Damn you ADHD brain). So, as always, let’s switch up the narrative, rewrite the script and maybe we could actually be the plot twist. 

Love ya. X