Review of ‘Made in London’ by Clare Lydon

This is book 6 of Ms. Lydon’s ‘London Romance’ series, which I’ve read completely. Even though characters from other books in the series sometimes make an appearance, these are all standalone and you can start anywhere you wish.  In this novel, Cleo and Becca from book 5, and Kate and Meg from book 2 have secondary roles. Having read and later listened to the audiobook version of ‘London, actually‘ in which Heidi was an important secondary character, I was excited to see that she was featured here as a main.

Heidi Hughes is a wedding photographer and single mother of a toddler. She’s ready to date someone but with her busy professional and family life, it’s a tall order. Eden Price is a workaholic marketing and PR guru who is used to running her life with precision and organisation, she’s single and with no interest in kids. When they meet at a music festival there is undeniable chemistry but will their very different worlds come together or collide?

Clare Lydon is undeniably a very talented writer who is dubbed as the “the queen of British contemporary romance”. What I like about all her books is the British feel, language, and setting. Having lived in London for more than 7 years, I particularly love this series as it portrays the highs and lows of the big capital. This book is no exception as it shows us again a glimpse of this beautiful city and its diversity of inhabitants.

The peculiarity of this book is that a child character plays an important role in the story. I’m happy to see that Maya, Heidi’s daughter, was portrayed with authenticity as a 20 month-old-toddler. Additionally, the description of Heidi’s as a full-time working single-parent struggling to balance parenting, work, and dating, is realistic and highlights how difficult finding that balance is. I like that the author didn’t try to give us a sugarcoated version of this reality and even made it work as a good plot device.

Having said all this, I have to admit that this wasn’t my favourite book in the series. There is no doubt that Ms. Lydon can write and this novel, as any of her other works, is finely written and well researched. Even though I liked both main characters and understood their struggles, for me personally, the chemistry was ok but didn’t feel off-the-charts compared to other books in the series.

Additionally, I felt that the tension build-up wasn’t strong enough and the conflict was very mild too, not enough for me to be cheering for them to get together. However, the story was entertaining to keep me interested and some of the scenes were absolutely hilarious and resonated with some of my own parenting experiences. If you like romance, London and cute toddlers, this might be up your street.

Overall, another good installment in this lesbian romance book series with the beautiful set of London and a cute toddler. 4 stars.

ARC provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.