‘I Thought It Was You’ by Kirsty McManus – Book Review

A Fast-paced, heartwarming romance

I Thought It Was You is a romantic comedy by Kirsty McManus. Olivia Turner just had a bad break-up but thankfully, her brother is part of the crew on a cruise to Jamaica, so he helps his little sister out by getting her a ticket for a single cruise on his ship.

Grateful, Olivia takes the opportunity to get away from everything that is happening and figure things out before she returns home to Australia. Things are even looking up when Olivia meets Wells, a cute charity worker on his way to Cozumel. Maybe things won’t be so bad. That is until Olivia runs into celebrity star Jamila Castro, and things turn a bit tricky.

Jamila, a TV Celebrity, is meant to be in rehab but was spotted getting on the cruise by her ex-co-star and friend turned enemy Zara. Jamila begs Olivia to pretend to be her rehab nurse in order to throw Zara off about why she is on the ship when she should rightfully be in rehab. 

Zara is more than determined to destroy Jamila’s career. And if she finds out, TMZ will be the last of Jamila’s worries. Now, Olivia’s dream cruise has turned into a nightmare. Olivia needs to pretend to be a rehab nurse named Nina. This means lying to everyone, including that nice cute guy, Wells, who she is just starting to get to know. 

This is a pretty typical romantic comedy with a straightforward story. Most of the conflict comes from Olivia and Jamila’s lie being uncovered by Zara. However, there is a secondary plot in the form of the growing relationship between Wells and Olivia. This also showcases how the lie could affect their growing relationship.

While this might come under the miscommunication trope, it’s done in a way that isn’t irritating. There is a reason why Olivia doesn’t tell Wells. She wants to be truthful, but Jamila’s public standing as a celebrity, and Zara’s vendetta against her, makes it difficult to do so.

The writing is pretty fast-paced and the book is easy to read and get into. The romance between Olivia and Wells is nicely paced and has some cute moments that have you cheering on the couple to get together. Zara is a delightful villainess and Jamila is such a down-to-earth character that you quickly warm to her.

The only flaw found in this story is in how everything wraps up at the end. The pacing tanks a little bit towards the end. It goes over Olivia’s return to Australia, and it really wants to hammer in that life in her home country is not worth returning to.

This is where things get a little heavy, with many unlikeable characters popping up, especially when you’ve never really heard about them before. 

Nevertheless, this is an entertaining read if you are looking for a nice easy romance to enjoy, with cute moments and main characters who are very likeable – give it a try. 

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