My enormous thanks to Aoifke at Penguin Random House for sending me a surprise copy of Love At First Sight by Laura Jane Williams. It’s my absolute pleasure to share my review today.
I have previously reviewed Laura Jane Williams’s Enemies to Lovers here.
Published by Penguin on 19th June 2025, Love At First Sight is available for purchase through the publisher links here.
Love At First Sight
She’s found the one. He’s just not the one for her.
Jessie doesn’t believe in love at first sight. Until one sunny Saturday in London, a fire alarm in Whole Foods throws her into a stranger’s arms. Cal is charming and funny: their chemistry is instant.
Quick-fire flirting turns into the most romantic day of Jessie’s life. But that evening they’re forced apart before swapping numbers. Jessie is devastated – has she just lost the one?
After weeks of searching, Cal turns up on her doorstop holding two dozen red roses. It feels like fate.
The only thing is, they’re not for her…
My Review of Love At First Sight
Jessie meets Cal, the man of her dreams.
Oh yes! This is what romantic fiction is all about. Love At First Sight is brilliant and I thoroughly, thoroughly, enjoyed it because it is written with wit, warmth and realism.
Of course there’s all the expected elements of romantic fiction, with gorgeous men like Cal and Leo and a path to true love that doesn’t run smoothly, so that Love At First Sight is huge fun, highly entertaining and wonderfully escapist. If it’s read on this level alone, it is a perfectly diverting narrative.
However, it’s a whole lot more too. Other than seven year old Henry who is a wonderful and consistent lynchpin to enable much of the action, every character develops throughout, so that these feel like real people and not mere works of fiction. I loved the way their reactions and interactions with Henry help the reader understand them, making him a kind of moral touchstone. I confess that I really don’t like children in real life, never mind in fiction, but here Henry feels perfect.
Jessie herself is so well drawn. We have very little about her physical attributes so that there’s no superficiality, but far more about her feelings, emotions and reactions, making her fully rounded and relatable. Her insecurities, her relationships and her hopes and dreams engage the reader completely. She’s the kind of character that you think about long after the book is read, wondering how she’s getting on.
I thought the themes in the story were explored with sensitivity and accuracy. Self-deception, over-diffidence, trust, the nature of family and marriage as well as loyalty and consistency are just a few aspects. As a result, Love At First Sight is incredibly interesting as well as a fabulous read. There’s also wise guidance for those who do have young children in their lives through Jessie’s interaction with Henry.
Love At First Sight is the perfect summer read. Romantic certainly, but so much more besides. It deserves a wide audience – particularly one that normally denigrates romantic fiction – because it has depth and emotion far beyond what those readers might expect. I loved it.
About Laura Jane Williams
Laura Jane Williams (she/her) is known as the queen of the meet-cute. As well as the author of rom-coms, she is also the author of three works of non-fiction.
The rights to Laura’s international bestseller Our Stop have been sold for television, and her books have been translated into languages all over the world. She loves romance, being a parent, and lifting very heavy weights.
Find out more about Laura Jane Williams on her website, and http://www.laurajaneauthor.com. And find her on Instagram.
English (US) · 