Review: Crossed Wires by Rosy Thornton

Book Blurb from Amazon:
This is the story of Mina, a girl at a Sheffield call centre whose next customer in the queue is Peter, a Cambridge geography don who has crashed his car into a tree stump when swerving to avoid a cat.

Despite their obvious differences, they’ve got a lot in common – both single, both parents, both looking for love. Could it be that they’ve just found it?

CROSSED WIRES is an old-fashioned fairy tale. It is about the small joys and tribulations of parenthood; about one-ness and two-ness; about symmetry and coincidence; about the things that separate us and the things that bring us together.
 
I picked it up thinking it was a romantic book. 2 single parents meet each other, fall in love and everything falls into place again.  I love romantic books, books with a lot of mush and the works, so I am actually surprised that I liked this book. I expected the guy and the girl to meet and fall in love or at least fall in love because of incessant online chatting. That didn’t happen and not once did I feel like abandoning the book because nothing was happening where their love life was concerned. They are busy with their own lives, they have friends and family to turn to during difficult times, but you can easily see why they are so perfect for each other even though they don’t meet for more than half of the book.
 
Peter, a college professor and Mina, a call center worker are the lead characters in this story. But more than that they are normal human beings, who make mistakes, who react the way you and I would. Peter has 9 year old twin girls Cassie and Kim and Mina has a 10 year old girl Sal. Not to forget the friends and family that comprise of Mina’s straight forward mother and Peters friends Jeremy and Trish. They are all interesting in their own way.
 
Mina’s character reminded me so much of myself. I like to skirt around situations that are difficult to handle, I avoid confrontation unless absolutely necessary and I too worked in a call center once. So I could, in a way, understand Mina really well, although I did feel like shaking her at times and asking her to do something. That’s exactly what my boyfriend does, shakes me up when required 🙂
 
This book has some of the best character descriptions I have read in a while. Very non-dramatic and real.
 
If you are looking for a typical, stereotype love story, this book is not for you. If you are looking for a plot driven story, again this book is not for you. Don’t be fooled by the pink cover, this book isn’t all mush. Read it with absolutely no prejudice or strict expectations and you will be pleasantly surprised.

Thank you Rosy for the book.

About the author:
Rosy Thornton grew up in Ipswich and studied law at Cambridge University. She stayed on to do a Ph.D. and has been a lecturer there ever since. Rosy lives in a village near Cambridge with her husband, their two daughters and a Springer spaniel called Treacle.