Just Haven't Met You Yet

Trite, sappy, but not wholly unenjoyable. This explores the many roads down which grief can take a person, and did some of that well. If Laura, the main character, had behaved more like a woman of almost 30 (which she was) and less like a girl of almost 13 that would have made a huge difference. Another help would have been to make her love just about any recording artist other than Phil Collins. When two characters discovered they share the same favorite song and it was Sussudio I almost immediately cut bait. Luckily I liked the male lead, Ben, and his father so that counterbalanced the Laura problem. The descriptions of Jersey (the real one, not the "New" one) were delightful, and notched this from a 2 to a 2.5-star. Also, I listened show more to this one, and the delightful narrator helped a ton. show less

Laura's business trip to the Channel Islands isn't exactly off to a great start. After unceremoniously dumping everything in her bag in front of the most attractive man she's ever seen in real life, she arrives at her hotel only to realize she's grabbed the wrong suitcase from the airport. Her only consolation? The irresistibly appealing contents of the case: a copy of her favorite book; piano music; and a rugged, heavy knit fisherman sweater only a Ryan Gosling lookalike could pull off. The owner of this suitcase is Laura's dream man--she's sure of it. Now, all she has to do is find him.

The mix-up seems written in the stars. After all, what are the odds that she'd find The One on the same remote island where her mom and dad had first show more fallen in love, especially as she sets out to write an article about their epic romance? Commissioning surly cab driver Ted to ferry her around seems like her best bet in both tracking down the mystery suitcase owner and retracing her parents' footsteps. And if beneath Ted's gruffness lies a wit that makes their cab rides strangely entertaining, so much the better. But as Laura's long-lost luggage soulmate proves difficult to find--and as she realizes that the love story she's held on a pedestal all her life might not have been that perfect--she'll have to rethink her whole outlook on love to discover what she really wants. show less

This was a great romance read. The only reason why I didn't give it 5 stars though was that I thought at times Laura was being a bit of a lunatic. Her deciding that the man of her dreams was out there based on the contents of his suitcase had me going on geez. But the fact that the character of Ted is included pretty much as the reader surrogate to make fun of her about it helped the book in my opinion. I also thought that Laura should have been younger. She's way too old to go around acting/feeling like this I thought. But I notice that Cousens tries to link it back to Laura's mother and the story of her parents.

Laura is off to the islands where her parents met and fell in love due to her job. She's being forced to write about her show more parents life, and is tracking their steps in order to show her boss that her article is what the company needs to get some "clicks." However, as soon as Laura arrives at her hotel, she realizes that she's in trouble when she notices the suitcase she has is not her own. Going through it (and reading stuff!) she realizes that this guy may be her soulmate. He has a copy of "To Kill a Mockingbird", Phil Collins music, and it seems like he has a cabin in the woods. Laura refuses to return the suitcase to the airlines and has her cab driver Ted along for the ride as she tries to track down "the one" as well as retraces her parents footsteps.

Laura is a lot initially. But at the halfway point I warmed up to her. I think it helped that the character of Ted was there to make fun of her and also to show her what the Channel Islands has to offer. I think the funniest part is when Ted points out that everyone likes Atticus Finch (well some of us did until that terrible sequel).

The two of them together are funny, but you realize Ted has a lot going on with him fairly soon. And then of course you have Laura's soul mate floating around out there who she keeps getting closer to finding.

The setting of the island seems very small at times, but pretty cool. I don't know if all of the locations really exist and the food, but it sounds fantastic.

The romance side of things takes a while to get going. I would say the romance was a secondary plot in this one. The main one really is Laura finding herself and finding out about her parents.

The ending was great and made me smile. Sophie Cousens is becoming a favorite author of mine to read. show less

Another lovely Cousens book, with a great setting, the Channel Islands, specifically, Jersey. Beautiful love for the area and the local, highly specific cuisine, stuff like black butter, bean pot, apple layer cake. Like all of her books, people are fundamentally loving and good, usually a wise person somewhere and always a wonderful person to love and to love you.

Laura is a hopeless romantic and believes that she will "just know" her true love. When she goes to the island where her parents met and fell in love, she thinks that it is her time to fall in love. She picks up the wrong suitcase at the airport, and when she opens it, she realizes that the man it belongs to has the same likes as her - To Kill a Mockingbird, Phil Collins as an artist, and the cologne he wears. She mentions all of this to her cab driver, Ted. Ted is skeptical, but offers to show her around the island. He is sad due to his dad being ill and trouble in her marriage.
Laura meets the suitcase man, who is into kitchens, and thinks this is it, but is it -- or has she been missing what is right in front of her?
Funny and sweet, show more an enjoyable light romance. show less

Laura has been raised on a fairy tale version of her parent's relationship and an idealized view of her deceased father. So when her suitcase is mixed up with someone else's and she does a little snooping, she is convinced that her perfect man is waiting with her suitcase. The journey to exchange cases and the friendships Laura discovers when she visits her father's hometown turns her view of her past and identity a bit on it's head - but ultimately in a good way.

A predictable romance novel. When Laura picked up the wrong suitcase at the baggage carousel she discovered the contents belonged to her ideal mate. She had hoped that her trip would find a partner who would bring about a repeat of her parent's perfect life together but along the way found out that it was not as perfect as she thought. Not much else in the story apart from romantic dreaming which meant a lot of "Am I in love with this guy or that one?" kind of thoughts.