Title: The Certainty of Chance
Author: Jacquelyn Middleton
Genre: Romance, Holiday
Published On: October 14, 2021
Publisher: Kirkwall Books
Source: ebook
Pages: 313
Synopsis:
THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT DECEMBER…
Madeleine Joy is feeling more meh than merry. When an Icelandic volcano erupts six days before Christmas, hazardous ash congests European airspace, canceling flights indefinitely—including the thirtysomething’s connection to Paris. Stranded alone in London, separated from her sister, and with the devastating one-year anniversary of her best friend’s tragic death just days away, Madeleine has never felt less festive. And as if things couldn’t get worse, the cute guy driving the cab to her hotel won’t shut up about carolers and tinsel…
Julian Halliwell is one of life’s sunny optimists. A former music journalist, he’s embraced his love for London by starting his own black cab business, enthusiastically ferrying passengers from one historic landmark to another. But life hasn’t always been easy for Julian. Having navigated several life-changing setbacks including a cruel betrayal by his former fiancée, Julian remains hopeful that he’ll meet somebody kind, who shares his love of music, his corgi named Winnie, and of course, the magic of Christmas time in London.
Despite being an unlikely match, fate seems determined to throw them together. But can the grieving American find joy again in a world where the lights have all but dimmed?
From Jacquelyn Middleton, the award-winning author of UNTIL THE LAST STAR FADES, comes a heartwarming Christmas story of love, loss, serendipity, and the belief that what’s meant for you won’t pass you by.
Content/trigger warnings can be found here on the author’s website.
My thoughts
(Spoiler free)
The best books are those that also teach you something new. It could be something little or something big, but I always enjoy having my eyes opened by a book. And the author of The Certainty of Chance had me thinking about several things I’d never thought about before. I not only learned new things, but I laughed and cried along with this one. It had almost everything I love in a romance novel: a fun meet-cute, an amazing destination (London), characters who leap off the page, lots and lots of music, mouth-watering food descriptions, a deeper plot, and so much Christmas!
“Grief shifts and changes, but it never goes away, not completely. Like love, grief lasts forever. You will find new ways to cope with it, to live with it, but it won’t magically disappear. Grief will always be in your heart, just like love.”
Jacquelyn Middleton, The Certainty of Chance
Since this wasn’t a planned book on my TBR, but one I couldn’t resist picking up, I’ll be sharing my somewhat random and scatter-brained review of what I enjoyed most about this book—instead of a more polished review.
I’d never heard of the term ‘disenfranchised grief’. (The author has a handy glossary at the back of the book for people, places, and things that might not be familiar to the reader and I’m thankful I read it before I read the book.) It’s one of the new things I learned, and it opened my eyes to the fact that there are different kinds of grief. But no one’s grief should be considered less important than someone else’s, because people all grieve in different ways. I think reading about Maddie’s grief will help me have more empathy towards others who are grieving.
In this book we have a character who creates music playlists AS A JOB?! Wait, is that a real thing? Because I am here for it. If you’re a follower of my blog, you know I LOVE to make playlists to accompany books. And The Certainty of Chance is PACKED with music. (I wasn’t surprised to discover the author has created not one, but TWO Spotify playlists for this book. I’ll be sharing them below!)
I also loved that Julian, our leading man, is a black cab driver in London (something else I learned—they have to study for years and pass several tests to become one!), and it’s a job he chooses to do because he loves London so much. But it’s also a very clever way for the author to share so much of London with the reader.
Normally when I read a book set somewhere I’ve never been—but would love to visit—I’m constantly googling the locations in the book. I had to resist that this time though, because there were SO many places. It would be so much fun to read this book while staying in London at Christmas time!
The dialogue!! There is so much dialogue. Since this is my first book by this author I don’t know if it’s typical of her style, but several times I thought to myself, how does she manage to make so much dialogue interesting? Our two main characters loved to talk. And while I expected it to get tedious, it ended up being charming. I think it accurately captured new love—that happy time when two people meet and they never seem to get tired of talking and learning about each other.
I was surprised this was a mostly closed-door romance. I say ‘mostly’ because there were a few instances when the characters discussed or thought about things related to sex, but the actual experiences were fade-to-black. Which was fine for me, BUT I wouldn’t have minded a little more.
My only real complaint: Julian might be too perfect. Trust me, he’s swoon-worthy, but give the man a crooked tooth or something. Ha!
This was such a heartwarming book, and a lovely surprise since it was no where on my radar! I’ve definitely found a new author, and I can’t wait to give some of her other books a try.
Thank you to the publisher, Kirkwall Books, and Netgalley for providing me with an advance copy.
(All quotes are taken from the advance copy and are subject to change in final print.)
Rating:
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Levels inspired by The Well-Read Librarian from Sourcebooks
About the Author
A Song For A Book
As a book that’s about someone who creates playlists for a living—as well as featuring someone who’s a former music journalist—this romance is packed full of music. The author has created two Spotify playlists, which I’ll share below. My instinct is to highlight Christina Perri’s “There’s Something About December”. However, I used that song in another recent review, so I’ve chosen to highlight “London Lights” by Tom Chaplin instead. Much like the book, it takes the listener on a tour of London.
We walk along the river
Under the London Eye
It’s seen a million lovers
It’s watching us tonight
Angels in their realm of glory
Never saw a night like this
They’re witness to our story
On Albert Bridge for our first kiss
Up to Trafalgar Square
Bright lights upon the tree
Shining on the smiling faces
Shine down on you and me
Whispered on the wind we hear
The choir of St. Martin sing
It came upon a midnight clear
Songs of old that draw us in
I don’t need star-studded skies
I don’t need those glitzy nights
When I see the London lights
Yeah, when I see the London lights, oh-oh-oh
Reflected in your eyes…
Have you read The Certainty of Chance? Or did you add it to your tbr? Let me know in the comments!
Happy Wandering!
This sounds like a cute (but not shallow) holiday book. Glad you enjoyed it!
Yes! That’s a perfect way to describe it. 🙂
Oh my goodness, I really like the sound of this one. It seems to check a lot of my boxes. The mixture of serous subject matter (grief) with a swoony romance is right up my alley. And sometimes I don’t even mind if a hero is too good to be true… I just bask in the perfection. LOL Great review, Dedra!
Haha! Right?! It’s a problem I can live with. 😉 I hope you get to pick it up over the holidays! I think you’d enjoy it, as well. And I would love to hear your thoughts!