Would Like to Meet

By: Rachel Winters

Narrated by: Laura Hobson

Length: 10 hrs and 14 mins

Publisher's Summary

Can you fall in love like they do in the movies?

It's Evie Summers' job to find out. Because if she can't convince her film agency's biggest client, Ezra Chester, to write the romantic-comedy screenplay he owes producers, her career will be over. The catch? He thinks rom-coms are unrealistic - and he'll only put pen to paper if Evie shows him that it's possible to meet a man in real life the way it happens on the big screen.

Cynical Evie might not believe in happily ever after, but she'll do what it takes to save the job that's been her lifeline...even if it means reenacting iconic rom-com scenes in public. Spilling orange juice on a cute stranger? No problem. Leaving her number in books all over London to see who calls? Done. With a little help from her well-meaning friends - and Ben and Anette, the adorable father-daughter duo who keep witnessing her humiliations - Evie is determined to prove she can meet a man the way Sally met Harry. But can a workaholic who's given up on love find a meet-cute of her very own?

©2019 Rachel Winters (P)2019 Penguin Audio

Critic Reviews

"Evie is a scrappy, winning heroine.... The references to classic films of the genre will delight rom-com fans, as will the sweet romance. The best scenes, though, are with Evie and her three best friends, who have the warmly mocking dynamic of friends in a Richard Curtis film. A lovely, humorous ode to romantic comedies." (Kirkus Reviews)

"Winters’s charming debut combines tropes from classic romantic comedy films to hilarious effect.... Winters employs self-aware, genre-savvy characters to expertly balance humor and heart. This adorable romance is a love letter to cinephiles." (Publishers Weekly starred review)

"Winters offers a relatable take on modern dating, writing, and working. Movie aficionados, in particular, will enjoy references to iconic rom-com moments as lovable, overworked Evie navigates her own series of meet-cute mishaps." (Library Journal)

"A lively, laugh-out-loud story.... Debut author Rachel Winters hits all the right notes in Would Like to Meet, a fun and lively millennial rom-com with a heartfelt message that cleverly plays off tropes from a host of contemporary romance movies." (Shelf Awareness)

Slow to begin and understand, but overall...cute story!

It took me awhile to catch on to what was happening. It would have made more sense if I saw the words written. The beginning of every chapter is told like the visual of the scene being described but I didn’t know this is what the narrator was saying. This had me really confused in the beginning because I couldn’t tell where the story started. But 1/3 of the way through when I started to catch on and wasn’t confused by the many, many characters introduced all in the beginning at once, then I really liked it! Towards the end, I couldn’t stop listening...I really enjoyed it and wanted to see how it ended. Cute story, really liked it! The narration was excellent.

Cringey, dnf despite being a rom com fan

Unlistenable. I will let you see others who have done a thorough review. I’ll just say that I would have returned it, but I returned a bunch in a row and felt guilty. Maybe I still will.

Struggled to finish, painful to read

I had high hopes for the premises of the book, however I was met with a rather painful read. I liked the idea of a woman recreating situations to meet people as they do in movies. You know she's going to fail and maybe it would be light and funny. No, they are cringe worthy. The main character is very unlikeable and her friends are also unlikeable. I ended up skipping the last 4 or 5 chapters of dates before skipping to the the end to hear how it played out.

Rambling, painfully slow- DNF

The narration was fine. The story not so much. I never really liked anyone besides Annette. I wanted to keep going but I just could not force myself! It was boring and honestly felt like I was wasting time I could spend on another, better book. Thank goodness for the exchange feature. I would have been SO sad if I’d wasted a credit on this!

Enjoyable - but predictable

I was really enjoying this story, but then a few details dropped. I thought, “Oh no, please don’t be this predictable.” But I was already on the ride, so I kept going and hoping it didn’t end up where I thought. But dang if it didn’t do exactly that. If you can overlook that two major plot elements are completely trite and cliche then you’ll be fine with this book.

Referring to yourself in third person

Referring to yourself in third person is annoying and felt not as personal. I loved the characters except how much the friends accused Evie of wrongs. Otherwise the story was really great. Still worth reading.

Lacking ROM and COM

I had a difficult time getting into the story and liking the characters. The characters acted unlikely and were odd. The meet cutes lacked creativity.

Tough Read, but Worth It?

This was a tough read- I choked through it. That being said, the story was amazing. Ended up being exactly what I look for in a rom com where there is a good amount of predictable but still exciting and surprising where i had some good laughs and cries. However it was so tough to get through! The writer was constantly changing how she wrote each chapter and it was so hard to keep up with that to keep moving along with the story. Constantly changing from first person to third person and wondering why the whole book then realizing some parts were written like a script and some written like a book should be. Then having entire segments written like an email or a group text- the different contexts were just too much and so confusing. It might have been less confusing having the book in front of me, but as an audiobook it just didn’t work. The whole book I was constantly thinking- why does she keep saying interior, exterior? Why is she all of a sudden back to third person? The book is about a script writer, so I think the author was trying to make a play on that, but it just didn’t work. I think maybe if I expected these odd writing changes before getting into the book I might have enjoyed it more because the story really was good, but I truly felt like I choked through getting it finished because it was so confusing! The end is cute and I really did love Ben and his daughter Annette- they’re the ones that made me read til the end.

couldn't get past the 3rd chapter.

Tried, but couldn't find anything interesting about the main character. She's a little pitiful.

Predictable but lovely

I could guess most of the places this book was going, and I loved the journey anyway. My only annoyance was the friend getting married and the obviously conditional friendship going on there that the character never confronted.