I adored Fiona so much in An Academic Affair that I knew her book would HIT.
Fiona is in the process of finalizing her divorce. Her husband of X amount of years dropped the bombs of all bombs on her life: He’s had a second family in Melbourne and he’s leaving her to be with them. Now, Fiona is managing children the best she can, taking on copy editing jobs she tolerates to make ends meet, and dealing with the judgement of her family who warned her not to get married in the first place. The one place she finds solace: her favorite wine bar that’s ran by the handsome Sommelier 8 years her junior.
Satoshi can tell you the exact moment he fell in love with Fiona. All Satoshi wants is for people to believe in abilities, and Fiona has shown that she does. So what does he do when she offers to be something to him - even if it’s not the way he wants her?
Fiona is the perfect example of what happens when being a mother is your whole life. Once her life is upended, she’s stuck finding who she really is. Her growth in this story is amazing and watching her fall in love with herself is so charming. I was rooting for her the entire time, especially when it came to finding boundaries with her ex-husband. In the same breath, she made me so sad for how she saw herself and how that affects this budding relationship with Satoshi. There’s a lot of miscommunication between the two of them which was frustrating at times, but as the story progressed you can see the light glowing in the two of them. Satoshi!! MY sweet, sweet Satoshi, I want the world for you. I empathize a lot with the younger sibling who just wants to be enough. My heart broke multiple times for this man, and I’m so happy with how his character arc ended.
Thank you so much to Netgalley for an eARC. All thoughts are my own.