Beginner's Greek

Beginner's Greek by James Collins

I adore well written romantic comedies and was delighted when this little concoction showed up at the shop recently.  It reminds me a bit of The Calligrapher by the English writer Edward Doux because the writer is male, even though  our hero in Beginner's Greek is  American and generally a more likeable fellow.  Peter Russell, a thirty-something, up and coming New York executive and self professed romantic, is on a flight to Los Angeles daydreaming about the prospect of the love of his life sitting next to him during the boarding process (haven't we ALL had those sorts of dreams??).  His dream comes true when a beautiful young woman named Holly takes her seat next to him clutching a tattered copy of The Magic Mountain which she is reading for pleasure and which happens to be one of his all time favorite novels. 
Naturally, they hit it off and she jots down her phone number on the cover of the book which he places in his shirt pocket and which, of course, he loses between the airport and his hotel room.  The trip to realizing true love is turbulent indeed, full of surprises, coincidences, miscommunication, an evil boss, temptresses and a bolt of lightning!  A dinner party scene in a flash New York City home is one of the funniest insights into the male ego I have ever read.  Highly recommended!