Say You'll Love Me AgainSay You’ll Love Me Again by Kiki Archer is a second chance romance with enough one liners to keep you entertained through the entire book.

Sophie is a piano teacher. She always wears her hair in a tight braid and she tries to stay invisible. One night she accompanies her fellow music teachers to a stand up comedy show where she sees Jazz perform. The others leave during the explicit comedy routine and Sophie feels like she has to follow she doesn’t want to because there is something alluring about the woman from the stage.

Jazz is an out and proud lesbian. She talks about it on stage and has no problem with being exactly who she is. When she meets the woman who walked out of her set in the coffee shop across the road she takes the opportunity to chat to her. As it turns out her and Sophie have crazy chemistry but perhaps the sparks are too much and what causes crazy passion in the bedroom also causes strife in their relationship.

Will Jazz be able to unwind Sophie’s tight control or will the secret that she unlocks forever tear them apart?

Told backwards and forwards across time and perspective this is one unique, sweet, funny and emotional read.

The Characters

Jazz is funny, relatively chilled and fiercely feminist. In many ways she is Sophie’s exact opposite.

Sophie is shy, tightly wound and finds it difficult to let go of things. But when her and Jazz get together it’s like they bring out the best and worst in one another.

Laura is Sophie’s friend and this week she is becoming a life coach, last week it was some other job. So she hauls Sophie in to practice her life coaching on. While she is practicing her skills she unveils the story of Sophie and Jazz and why they broke up.

She is meddling, hilarious and an instigator for a lot of things including letting her mother share just way too much malt loaf with everyone.

The Writing Style

The best part of this book was the way Archer told the story. It read like a movie where a character is telling a story and then we cut back in time to see it unfold for ourselves. I loved the technique. It added flavour and anticipation.

The Pros

Archer pulled off a book that sees you through a range of emotions and then delivers a one liner or a joke that cracks you up. This is definitely a completely unique read.

The Cons

I wasn’t a fan of the bickering. There was a lot of it and I am a little conflict averse generally so that was difficult.

The Conclusion

Archer has announced that this will be her final novel. Even if there was no other reason to read it that would be enough for me. But it’s also a lovely romance with smoking hot sex scenes, funny moments and memorable characters.

Yes, you should definitely read it.

Excerpt from Say You’ll Love Me Again by Kiki Archer

Lost in the story, Sophie jumped as a painted nail tapped on the headline.

“It’s true you know,” said the familiar voice.

Looking up and feeling shock hit the hairs on the nape of her neck, Sophie morphed back into the daft pheasant, eyes wide and nothing else moving. It was Jazz, standing right there.

“Science says no women are straight.” The comedian’s funky blonde hair with new additional pink streak moved beguilingly as she nodded. “True.”

“I’m straight,” managed Sophie.

“That’s impossible.” Jazz reached out and curled back the front page of the paper. “The Sun says so. Why are you reading The Sun? I thought you’d be more of a Guardian-type girl?”

“I am.”

“Says the straight girl reading about lesbians in a tabloid. Do you remember me?”

“No.” Sophie cursed herself the second the word fell out of her mouth. Of course she remembered Jazz. She was here in the coffee shop opposite Montel’s in case she caught sight of Jazz. “Sorry, yes, I do,” she said, cross that her subconscious mind had betrayed her.

And, yes, while she always did something to wind down following her final student on a Wednesday evening – Billy Baxter, seven years old and only ever wanting to play Eye of the Tiger as he thrust his crotch forwards and backwards on the piano stool – a surveillance stint in a coffee shop wasn’t it. Usually she’d take a bottle of wine around to her friend Laura’s house, but for the past three weeks Laura had demanded she expel Billy Baxter as a solution to the Eye of the Tiger crotch-thrusting issue; hence why she’d told herself she needed to go somewhere alone to figure it out for herself. But if she was honest, Billy Baxter hadn’t crossed her mind once.

What had crossed her mind as she’d flicked through each page of the paper she wasn’t reading, was what time Jazz might arrive at Montel’s on the other side of the road. Well here she was, at just gone seven, standing right beside her. “Sorry,” said Sophie, composing herself, “of course I remember you. You’re Jazz, the lesbian comedian.”

“Just comedian’s fine.”

“Yes, sorry.” Sophie knew she had to be careful. ‘Lesbian comedian’ was definitely an online tagline but she didn’t want to appear too knowledgeable even though she’d watched every video this woman had ever appeared in and read every blog she’d ever written. “Are you compèring again tonight?” she asked, hoping her questioning eyebrows suggested she didn’t know.

“Yes, are you coming? What was your name again? Actually I don’t think you gave it to me. You rushed off after your grandparents didn’t you? Was that a week ago? I really am sorry about that. Can I sit down? I’ve got a few minutes.”

Sophie stared as Jazz turned a chair to face her, and that’s when it happened again: the calmness she’d experienced momentarily at the back of the bar, an aura that descended around them in the chaos. Jazz definitely talked a lot, and she definitely talked quickly, but when their eyes connected there was a tangible sense of peace and it was the most comforting thing Sophie had felt in a long time.

“You don’t talk much do you?” said Jazz, smiling.

“I haven’t had the chance.”

The laugh was loud. “Touché. I like that.”

“I’m Sophie.”

A hand was thrust out. “Hi Sophie, I’m Jasmine, stage name Jazz; everyone calls me Jazz though. You can call me Jasmine or Jazz, I don’t mind.”

Sophie connected with the fingers, so soft and welcoming. “Hi Jazz,” she said, squeezing slightly.

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