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From the publisher:
Of all the taxis in all of Cape Town, Sophia Roux had to stumble into his.
She should be at her “perfect” sister’s bedside, awaiting the arrival of the newest member of her family. But the thought of spending hours at the hospital with her suffocating relatives has Sophia hailing the first taxi she sees. Only to realise too late that the man at the wheel of her getaway car is the most unpleasant one she’s ever had the misfortune to meet.
Parker Jones, the handsome yet surly driver in question, is used to dealing with baggage of the family variety. And it just so happens he’s in need of temporary escape from his own. Witty banter with a beautiful—if exasperating—woman while chauffeuring her around the city on a gorgeous spring day makes for an ideal break from reality.
But a lot can happen in twenty-four hours: babies can be born, family can reconnect. And maybe the most unlikely pair can fall in love.
Review:
One Day to Fall is the second novel about the Roux sisters set in South Africa, though in the interest of full disclosure, I did not read the first novel. This is an oversight I hope to rectify, as this novel was a pleasure to read.
Beharrie’s romance takes place in the course of an intense and emotional day. There aren’t many circadian novels, and the ones that come to mind are not romances, such as Michael Cunningham’s The Hours, Saturday by Ian McEwan and Christopher Irshwood’s A Single Man, so I was particularly excited to see her take on this particular structure and execute it so well. The emotional intensity is heightened but it is punctuated with moments of humor that keep the narrative from being claustrophobic.
A further variation that I truly enjoyed in this novel is the Sophie, a heroine who is prickly, bad-tempered and not in a particularly good place, emotionally. Parker, the driver for the car service who picks her up and with whom she falls in love, is also suffering from his own personal complications. They essentially use each other to distract themselves from the distressing facts of their lives but in doing so, discover that they have stumbled on the one person who might understand them better than anyone else in their lives.
I also enjoyed the way the author used the premise to treat readers to a tour of Cape Town, the setting of the romance. I’ve never visited so my natural wanderlust was stimulated by the descriptions of the places they visit.
A well-written, thoroughly satisfying romance.
ARC provided by Netgalley.