Here for the Drama by Kate Bromley: Heart-fluttering, laughter-packed romance- book review –

New Yorker Bromley, whose sizzling debut novel, Talk Bookish to Me, certainly turned up the heat with readers, is back to woo us with another crowd-pleasing romance starring an aspiring American playwright and her hot (but forbidden!) love for a dashing Englishman.

Playing on the eternally popular blend of flirtatious wit and the tensions of a couple sharing a fiery, secret passion, Here for the Drama is full of the razor-sharp repartee, simmering sexual chemistry and adorable characters that are fast becoming this clever writer’s trademark.

So meet Winnie who has a decade of drama studies to her name and dreams of becoming a famous playwright. With her own career plans on hold, she has had to settle for a job in New York as PA to the celebrated, sharp-witted feminist playwright Juliette Brassard.

It’s a full-on role, fetching and carrying behind the scenes, but Winnie has been working on her own play for a writing contest which she hopes to win and finally wipe away the painful memories of an incident in the past that sapped her confidence.

But only a few weeks before she must meet the deadline to submit her major opus, an experimental theatre company in London’s West End decides to stage Juliette’s most renowned play and Winnie has to join her boss for a hop across the pond.

However, the trip takes a wrong turn when Juliette, who is trying to break an eight-year writer’s block, stubbornly clashes with the play’s director and Winnie is left stage-managing their relationship.

Meanwhile, Winnie’s own work seems to have stalled, and although Juliette keeps promising to read the play-in-progress, she always has some vague reason why she can’t.

And by this point, Juliette’s nephew, Liam, has entered stage left. He’s tall, handsome, quick-witted and charmingly English… but when Juliette notices her assistant is distracted, she forbids Winnie from seeing Liam, making sneaking around backstage even more thrilling.

Balancing a production seemingly headed for disaster, a secret romance and her recently acquired rescue dog Ollie, can Winnie save the play, make her own playwriting dreams come true… and find her true love along the way?

This heart-fluttering, laughter-packed romance about friendship and chasing your dreams proves to be a five-star production as Bromley’s immaculate script includes the wittiest of love play, and all the on and off-stage drama and action that one would expect from a plot rooted in the wonderfully eclectic world of theatre.

But this is not just a straightforward, feel-good rom-com… there are some complex emotional insecurities and legacies to be worked through in the backstories of the vibrant lead players as past trials and tribulations are revealed.

And there are more stars in this story than winsome Winnie and the luscious Liam as Bromley surrounds the star-crossed lovers with a cast of super-seductive supporting characters, not least the needy but nice Juliette, and Winnie’s show-stealing spaniel puppy Ollie.

Smart, sassy, sultry, and with a sparkling dialogue that shines out from every page, Here for the Drama is an unmissable performance!

(Zaffre, paperback, £8.99)