I have no idea why this is only my second book by Clare Ashton. No idea. I know everyone has their favourite of hers, and I’ve been told numerous times that they can all be very different from one another, but I can’t imagine not loving them all. I mean, two books are enough to know if a writer’s style works for me or not, right? Instalove for a writer’s writing style is a thing. Otherwise, how could I explain why I was so excited to learn that a book I hadn’t read was coming to audio? And then, a few months later, couldn’t wait to listen to that audiobook?
While trying to steal incriminating pictures of a very nasty politician, Pia falls from a tree and almost directly into the arms of a beautiful woman. One thing leads to another and after a wonderful evening, they spend the night together. When Pia wakes up the next morning, Cate is gone. Pia’s new job as a photographer for a new magazine should help distract her from her broken heart but that plan falls apart when the woman who gave her the most extraordinary night of her life turns out to be her new colleague… and her boss’s wife.
That Certain Something is a much lighter read than Finding Jessica Lambert, which was my only Ashton experience until now, and one of my favouritest favourite books in 2020. It’s angsty because angst is exciting but it’s also funny in just the way I like (I’ve said it before, I smile often but making me laugh, really laugh, isn’t easy). And it’s probably why, besides Pia and Cate, my favourite character was Pia’s delightfully hilarious mother.
Jessica Jeffries isn’t a narrator I listen to very often, but her narration is stellar each time. The voices are easy to identify, the pace is perfect, the accents make my ears happy. I’m sure I would have loved Pia and Cate if I had read the book, but Jessica Jeffries’ voices for them felt so right they couldn’t have sounded better in my head.
This book is everything a rom-com should be. It’s sweet, funny, sexy and all-around lovely.
Jude in the Stars 