A few months ago I was recommended the book The Switch by Beth O’Leary (Amazon) (AbeBooks) and I absolutely fell in love with the audiobook version. (You can read my review here). The writing was so good, and I enjoy a good English novel, so I went back to listen to O’Leary’s first work called The Flatshare (Amazon) (AbeBooks)

From the Publisher: “Tiffy Moore needs a cheap flat, and fast.
Leon Twomey works nights and needs cash.

Their friends think they’re crazy, but it’s the perfect solution: Leon occupies the one-bed flat while Tiffy’s at work in the day, and she has the run of the place the rest of the time.

But with obsessive ex-boyfriends, demanding clients at work, wrongly-imprisoned brothers and, of course, the fact that they still haven’t met yet, they’re about to discover that if you want the perfect home you need to throw the rulebook out the window”

Trigger warnings: there’s emotional abuse, gaslighting and stalking in this book. At times, I couldn’t really feel strongly about Tiff’s emotional abuse, because it was subtle, but that’s the point. Tiff didn’t even realize she was being emotionally abused for the longest time.

But besides all that, there’s just a heartwarming love story to be had. The story also had great British humor. But because of all the triggers, it’s not exactly a light-hearted read. Still, most of the characters are charming. I loved the fact that Leon and Tiff don’t meet each other for the longest time and just exchanged notes. It reminded me of the movie You’ve Got Mail (Amazon) (AbeBooks). They really get to know each other just by living together, even though they don’t meet.

I listened to the audiobook narrated by Carrie Hope Fletcher and Kwaku Fortune and thought they did an excellent job. Sometimes, even the best books are stuck with subpar narrators. That’s not the case here. Fortune really makes Leon come to life, I could imagine a guy just like him living in England, always trying to do his best. And Fletcher’s performance of Tiff was great, too. She’s positive, even though she’s just left a horrible relationship and living situation, and a success at her job, which I think is important, otherwise Tiff would come off as pathetic.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Flatshare (Amazon) (AbeBooks) and look forward to Beth O’Leary’s next book, The Road Trip, which is supposed to come out in April 2021.

For more reviews, visit www.bargain-sleuth.com

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