The Perfect Find by Tia Williams was my 27th read this year, this one was on my tbr because I read Seven Days in June by this author and really enjoyed it.
A summary attempt
Jenna Jones is starting over again, after a very public meltdown and breakup, she’s rebuilding her life again at 40. After working in the biggest publications in fashion, she now finds herself working in an online fashion magazine, in a totally different world where what she shares on Instagram is critical to her job (this is set in 2012). Worse, the 20 year old she kissed drunkenly at a party is the new videographer for the magazine. Oh, and he’s also the son of her arch nemesis – now turned boss – who was the only person who’d hire her after the meltdown.
Eric is an aspiring director and filmmaker, stuck taking a job working with his mum until he can get someone to take his work seriously. Eric and Jenna find each other ridiculously attractive, infuriating and distracting, but both of them have a lot riding on this job working out so they eventually come together to create a web series that turns into a surprising hit. No one on the other side of the camera can tell that this creation by a pair with a twenty year age gap is built on outrageous flirting and unsatisfied lust… Until one day when they decide to give in.
Except, it’s more than lust. It’s heady, all consuming love. But Eric is twenty and in a different place to Jenna, who wants to settle down and have a family. The more time they spend together the more the elephant in the room becomes harder and harder to ignore.
My review
This book took a second for me to really get into, the start is a little slow building but about a third of the way the pace really starts to pick up. I really enjoyed all the call-backs to some very millennial things that I would’ve been the right age for when this book was set and Jenna is a funny mix of contradictions, really liking bougie stuff but no longer on a bougie budget, having very specific co-ordinated outfits for every occasion but is otherwise a little chaotic.
Her and Eric’s relationship feels really natural, although there are some cases where we’re relied on to believe that this twenty year old guy is very emotionally mature, despite his age and upbringing. The fashion world felt very real and alive, from the little I know about it, and I liked Jenna’s general confusion about all things marketing in a social media era.
I liked how this book ended, it felt realistic but a great way to ensure we got the best of both worlds and a happy ending (no spoilers, I’m keeping it that vague).
This author has that kind of writing style that feels really fluid and easy to fall into, I’m glad I picked up another book written by them.
Antonia Bernardin 