Book Title: The Flatshare
Author: Beth O’Leary
Purchase: Amazon
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Description from Goodreads:

Tiffy and Leon share a flat
Tiffy and Leon share a bed
Tiffy and Leon have never met…

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…

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars 

I wish I had a physical copy of this book so I could give it a hug. The Flatshare is so freaking cute. The slow burn romance! The British quaintness! The loyal friendships! The unpacking of emotional trauma and steady healing! Okay, one of these things is not like the others but they’re all in the story and make this such an amazing read.

Okay so Tiffy works at a small publishing house specializing in DIY craft books. Leon is a palliative care nurse who spends lots of time befriending patients in hospice and administering end of life care. Leon needs some extra cash to pay his wrongfully imprisoned baby brother’s legal fees. Tiffy needs a cheap place to live so she can move out of her abusive ex-boyfriend’s place. The two strike an agreement to share a flat—including the single bed in the single bedroom—while working opposite hours so they’re never in the apartment at the same time. Easy peasy, right?

Of course not, or we wouldn’t have our slow burn romance! Tiffy is bottled sunshine, I swear, and like her best friends Gerty and Mo would, I will protect her at all costs. Well, okay, not really because she doesn’t need anyone else’s protection, she more needs to take care of herself for a bit. I absolutely adore Tiffy’s personality—her loud clothes, eclectic taste in decor, and oversharing nature. I love that she takes up space and owns it. 

Leon, meanwhile, is the exact opposite. He’s quiet, speaks in clipped sentences, and spends most of his time inside his own head. But he also has a very caring nature and blooms with those he feels comfortable with, like his long-term patients. And while he’s a nice enough guy and all, what really makes him lovable is how he accepts and loves people just how they are. 

Both these characters have been through a lot. Tiffy is recovering from a rollercoaster relationship, unsure if she’ll ever be ready to date again. Leon spends his free time—and every extra euro—battling for his younger brother’s freedom. On top of that, he’s also coming to terms with scars from his childhood, while dealing with the stress that comes with long hours as a palliative care nurse, a job that takes a heavy emotional toll. 

At first, I didn’t love Leon’s narration style in his POV chapters. I initially thought the writing was trying too hard. But the more I got to know Leon, the more the narration completely fit. Switching POVs each chapter worked well in this novel thanks to both characters leading such rich, separate lives. I also LOVE the chapters written in notes—one might even call them modern-day love letters. So cute, so fun. As readers, we get to love these characters separately long before they ever meet and it is so, so satisfying when they finally do.

For contemporary romance lovers, this book hits all the marks. There are fantastic characters who are more than meet the eye; slow burn friends-to-lovers romance; sneaking around in castles; and of course, a misunderstanding right at the end that leads to near break-up but is patched up just in time for a happy ending. That said, nothing feels too contrived and I loved everything about it the whole time. And for this American reader, the Britishisms are the cherry on top.