The Falling in Love Montage

 The Falling in Love Montage by Ciara Smyth, 368 pages.

Saoirse has just finished her final exams before going off to college and is still reeling after her long-term girlfriend left her. So now she only kisses straight girls, because she's not looking for a relationship. Saoirse doesn't believe in love, especially not for her. She's believes she only has so much time before early onset dementia strikes and leaves her unable to remember anything she worked for or anyone she loves, just like her mother. 

Then she meets Ruby at a party and starts bending her own rules. After all, not every relationship has to be serious. What if she got into a relationship with a set end date, like a few months later when Ruby goes back to England? She and Ruby decide to do only the fun montage parts of a rom-coms that Ruby loves, with none of the feelings or commitment. Naturally they fall in love instead.

I absolutely loved this book. It managed to be simultaneously extremely fun and very sincere. The chemistry between Saoirse and Ruby was very good, and there were a lot of scenes that were unbelievably sweet. But more than that, I liked that, despite being a romance, this book wasn't only about them. This book starts with Saoirse desperately lonely, having pushed away her only friends after her break-up, grieving the loss of her mother (even though she is still alive), and isolated from her father since she feels he abandoned her mother to an assisted living facility and is now "cheating on her" with a new girlfriend. Over the course of the novel Saoirse doesn't only build a relationship with Ruby, she also slowly allows both new and old friends to come back into her life, and allows herself to rebuild a (new, much more emotionally open) relationship with her father and new stepmother. There are small moments throughout where she, ever so slowly, begins to learn lessons and heal. Ultimately it is extremely gratifying to see Saoirse mature and be surrounded by people who care about her. Broadly speaking, as she learns how to make herself believe that life is worth living, no matter what may happen in the future. Definitely worth a quick read.