Review of ‘Waiting for You’ by Elle Spencer

I’m not a fan of romance stories based on people who had met in previous lives. I don’t know why but it’s a trope that makes me cringe. However, Elle Spencer is among my favourite lesfic authors so I decided to give it a go. I’m happy that I did because I really enjoyed ‘Waiting for You’.

All her adult life artist Lindsay Hall has been obsessed with a woman of her past life. Recently divorced from her husband and with a teenage daughter, the mysterious woman is in her dreams and her paintings. But when Ren Christopher appears in her small town on a short vacation before moving to Paris, Lindsay realises that the woman of her dreams might be very real…

I thought that I had a grasp on Elle Spencer’s writing style: she can produce great rom-coms such in ‘30 Dates in 30 Days‘, good dramas like in ‘The Road to Madison‘ or a mix of both like in her debut ‘Casting Lacey‘. But ‘Waiting for You’ doesn’t fit into those types of stories. In certain moments I thought I was reading a book by Ann Mac Man because of the witty, nerdy, intelligent humour and clever dialogues. Some other times, it sounded like the ridiculous situations out of Robin Alexander’s stories. A very interesting combination.

From my point of view, the problem with the reincarnation romance trope is that it’s got the potential to quickly become a melodrama and I’m not a fan. Ms. Spencer avoids this by not taking anything too seriously and with a heavy dose of humour. The flashbacks to the past are a great excuse to explore life as a lesbian decades ago when homophobia was more commonplace than nowadays. Some of those flashbacks were heartbreaking.

The main characters have amazing chemistry which Ms. Spencer exploits in and out of the bedroom. Every single character was written with such knowledge of the writing craft that they all seem to come alive out of the page. They are complex and endearing, very easy to relate to. My favourite was Mrs. Stokely, who is a colleague of Lindsay’s, an old lady with a beautiful story to tell.

Overall, a very good reincarnation romance book, another enjoyable story by Elle Spencer. 4.5 stars.

ARC provided by the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.