The Flatshare by Beth O’Leary

The Flatshare by Beth O’Leary

I often lament that romance novels have started to feel the same to me after reading as many as I’ve read over the years. It’s hard for me to distinguish the many novels I read unless they are utterly unique. I’m happy to say, that Beth O’Learly did what I wish many other authors would do, she wrote a debut novel that was quirky, unique and had a most engaging plot.

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Synopsis:

Tiffy and Leon share a flat
Tiffy and Leon share a bed
Tiffy and Leon have never met…

Tiffy Moore needs a cheap flat, and fast. Leon Twomey works nights and needs cash. Their friends think they’re crazy, but it’s the perfect solution: Leon occupies the one-bed flat while Tiffy’s at work in the day, and she has the run of the place the rest of the time.

But with obsessive ex-boyfriends, demanding clients at work, wrongly imprisoned brothers and, of course, the fact that they still haven’t met yet, they’re about to discover that if you want the perfect home you need to throw the rulebook out the window…

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The Flatshare by Beth O’Leary

My thoughts

The Flatshare was a feel-good novel that was hard to forget. Memorable from begging to end, thanks to fabulously vibrant and distinctive characters and an overall storyline that was heart-touching and beautiful. And this book needs to be read by every romance novel enthusiast out there.

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Fact is, that just the idea of sharing a flat with someone, but never catching sight of the other person, even though they are sharing a bed was absolutely intriguing to me.

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I think for me the heart and soul of the story was the way Tiffy and Leon communicated with each other. Their post-it notes conversations were heart-warming, funny, touching, and just all around wonderful. A truly refreshing take on a romantic comedy. I actually was looking forward to those notes – maybe even more so than Leon himself.

Besides their post-it chats, there were three major plots that wove beautifully through the entire story. These plots were connected by a cast of wonderful characters. Every single cast member was distinctively different in personality and voice. And I LOVED them all.

Both Leon and Tiffy were genuine and nice. Easy to be liked. And a wonderful addition to anyone’s circle of friends. I’m not surprised that they drew me in from almost the very beginning.

“Almost” because I needed a tiny bit of an adjustment period until I was truly comfortable with the author’s writing style. Not only had the book a distinctive British voice (which I’m a HUGE fan of) but Leon’s POV was quite peculiar. Moreover the author managed to capture the uniqueness of Leon’s personality in an incredibly compelling way.

Honestly, I have only great things to say about this debut novel.

It might even be one of the most unique novels I read this year. And it definitely goes on my ‘new to me author list of 2019.

UPDATE: I just recently listened to the audiobook, a year after publication, and I loved the book as much the second time around as I did the first time, in 2019. The audiobook beautifully showcased the Britishness of the novel in the BEST way, and managed to make the narration an entertaining experience.

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The Flatshare by Beth O’Leary