One of my books of 2023 was Maybe Next Time by Cesca Major, and so when I heard she had a new book out, I was delighted to be granted an advance review copy by Net Galley – here’s the blurb:
“How do you know when you’ve found The One?
Amy loves Flynn
Flynn loves Amy
But she can’t read his mind, and he can’t read hers. Heading away to her sister’s wedding weekend, little do they know it’s make or break.
When a bolt of lightning gives them the ultimate change in perspective, they have to get through the weekend walking in each other’s shoes… Literally.
Will this crazy experience split them up – or make them fall in love all over again?”
Early in the book a bolt of lightning cause Flynn and Amy to change bodies. Now, I’ve seen this happen in films – but wondered how it would be dealt with in a book – and I have to say that it was a bit of a headf*ck to start with. I kept having to stop and think ‘so who is this? Is this Flynn in Amy’s body – or Amy in Flynn’s body?’ But I did get into the swing of it.
Whilst Amy’s sister’s wedding is the back drop – lots of history is covered and uncovered in a really clever way for numerous members of the wedding party. It also addresses some fundamental issues and differences that men and women feel – but may not necessarily have considered. For example Flynn feels much more vulnerable when he’s Amy – and Amy is expected to be more aggressive when she’s Flynn.
There are some slight inconsistencies – where skills each of them possess when themselves are sometimes exchanged to the other person – and sometimes most definitely not. But you’re massively suspending your belief because they’ve body swapped – so whether someone can or can not then sing or play tennis is a bit irrelevant I guess!
I was interested to see if they ever swapped back into their own bodies, and if so how that could happen – because lightning doesn’t often strike twice (yes, I went there, yes, I am a d*ck) – and there are no spoilers from me here.
Overall I thoroughly enjoyed the book and was desperate to keep reading.
It’s out on 4th July – which is a big day for lots of new releases, and I think something else might be happening that day too?!?
A big thank you to the publishers and Net Galley for my ARC.