A Jersey Affair by Georgina Troy

 

 

Shoe designer Paige Bingham is devastated when she is jilted by fiancé Jeremy, so she decides to take some time away from everything and go on their honeymoon to Italy alone. While there, she meets handsome businessman Sebastian Fielding. She spends the rest of her holiday sightseeing and getting to know Sebastian and they agree to meet up once the holiday is over.

 

But upon her return to Jersey, Paige discovers that Sebastian is taking over the store where her shoe concession is based and that some of the concessions are going to be closing. Paige fears her business will go under and doesn't think she will be able to forgive Sebastian if it does.

 

I enjoyed Georgina Troy's previous novel, A Jersey Kiss, last year so I was looking forward to reading A Jersey Affair. I thought the book really brought to life both Jersey and Italy with its vivid descriptions, so much so that I was ready to hop on a plane as soon as I'd finished reading it! I loved the story of Paige and Sebastian who meet and start to fall in love before they realise how their businesses are connected, and it reminded me very much of Kathleen and Joe's relationship in You've Got Mail (which is my favourite film) as they struggle with their feelings. Paige is attracted to Sebastian and has already started to develop real feelings for him, but she holds back because Sebastian's business is threatening her own so it's a real battle for her whether she can be with Sebastian or not.

 

One of my favourite parts of the book was Paige's friendship with her neighbour and work colleague, Olly. They're so close and really care about each other, but their friendship is a lot of fun too. I thought Olly was a fantastic supporting character and I thought his love of a good gossip was brilliant. I also liked the fact that we got an insight into Sebastian's thoughts too, so we could see his full character, even if Paige couldn't see it at times.

 

For me, A Jersey Affair is the perfect book to read in the sun and imagine you are in the beautiful settings within the book.