“Love by Chance” is another novelization that originated with a Hallmark movie, but in this instance, it was a movie that I have never seen (which is rare). As such, I went into the book with absolutely no preconceived notions of what to expect. I really enjoyed most of this book and I’ll be on the hunt to watch the movie when it re-airs on Hallmark Channel on January 12.
This is the condensed description for “Love by Chance,” courtesy of Amazon.com:
Claire, a pastry chef struggling to make her restaurant succeed, is too busy to pursue romance. That doesn’t stop her loving but meddling mother, Helen, from setting her up on dates. Even after Helen promises to stop her matchmaking efforts, she can’t help herself. She convinces Eric, a pediatrician, to meet Claire at a gallery event.
Eric and Claire feel an immediate connection, and their meeting becomes a magical first date. But the longer Eric and Claire see each other, the less comfortable Eric feels about hiding the fact that Claire’s mom set them up. Meanwhile, Claire loves to talk about how she trusts Eric, and how they met by chance. How will she react to the truth?
I imagine that author Kacy Cross has done a great job of converting the movie into a book. Since I’ve never seen the movie I can only provide an opinion on the book, which was enjoyable. I did have an issue with Helen, Claire’s overbearing mother. She came off as more of a caricature than a character. Whether that’s how how Helen was in the movie, or that’s how Cross considered the character to be, I do not know. I felt at times as though Sam (Helen’s husband) and Claire forgave Helen’s outrageous behavior a bit too easily. Family or no, I’d need more than a week or two to get over the gross invasion into my life if my mother pulled anything remotely similar to Helen.
But other than a few false notes with Helen, the book was entertaining to read. I imagine would be a good book to read during a quiet weekend getaway. I liked Eric and Claire a lot and was definitely rooting for them, which is why I look forward to seeing the movie next month.
“Love by Chance” is worth checking out if you run across it. I give it 3-1/2 lime tarts out of 5.
I received an advanced copy from Hallmark Publishing via BookFunnel in order to provide an honest review of the book. All opinions in this review are my own.
The plot sounds familiar so I must have seen the movie when it came out. Glad you haven’t been shunned after all!