The First Time I Saw You book review

I received this book for free from in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

The First Time I Saw You by Emma Cooper
on July 1, 2019
Goodreads

From the author of The Songs of Us. Fans of Jojo Moyes and Lucy Dillon will love The First Time I Saw You by Emma Cooper.

Six-foot-two Irish man who answers to the name Samuel McLaughlin.

Has weak shins and enjoys show tunes.

If found, please return to Sophie Williams.

Before Sophie met Samuel she saw the world in grey. Before Samuel met Sophie, he never believed in love at first sight.
When they first meet, something tells them they are meant to be. But fate has other ideas.
Now they have lost each other and can't see a way back. But they've already changed each other's lives in more ways than they could have predicted...

This was an E-ARC that took me completely by surprise I had already read The Day We Meet Again and I wasn’t very impressed. I thought that The First Time I Saw You was going to be along the same thread of thought and I wasn’t sure that I was going to be able to enjoy it. But this book was completely different, I did think there was definitely some overcooked drama that I could have done without. Some of the arguments and reactions to things that happened seemed a little unrealistic but overall I really enjoyed the story and the relationships that were created all the way through.

I think the two main characters are what pulls The First Time I Saw You along I definitely love the idea of two people who fall into each other’s lives and back out again. It’s definitely the best part of this book, I love watching the two lives intwine and fall apart again. They both have admirable qualities and their lives are full without them ever meeting again. I loved the way that Sophie dealt with her life falling apart around her and how she picked up the pieces the only way she knew how. She was a great asset to the story and not the usual damsel in distress, and I loved the fact that she gone on with it and dealt with things as they went. Samuel was a breath of fresh air especially with everything that ends up happening in his storyline and the fact that there is no over the top emotion or angst which I really appreciated.

I loved the ending of The First Time I Saw You and how everything ended up. I think it was the best way that the story could have ended. There was a lot of cheese but I definitely appreciated it after all the drama of the book. I loved the way that although the story was definitely not over but I had no questions and felt a certain sense of closure once it was all over, which was such a lovely feeling. I did have a sense of where it was going to end up but I was happy that it happened the way it did all the same.

I think that the worst bits of The First Time I Saw You was the lack of communication between Samuel and Sophie, I wish there had been more of dialogue between the two of them, purely because I think it could have cut down the length of the book by quite a lot. Not that I think it was too long but there was a definite scope for it being a little shorter.

I would recommend The First Time We Met, it was such a cutesy read and one that I thoroughly enjoyed. I think it is definitely one that I would quite like to read again when I’m feeling down or in the middle of a reading slump.

What are your favourite romance books? Are there any that are particularly well written?