The Flip Side

October 15, 2020
Josh planned the perfect proposal. He just didn't plan on his longtime girlfriend, Jade, saying "No." Now Josh has no girlfriend, no place to live (Jade's father owns the flat in which the couple currently resides), and no job (Jade's father owns the hotel in which Josh used to work). Obviously, Josh is currently not making the best decisions for himself, so why not let someone or something else decide what Josh should do? After finding a 50-pence coin, he decides to flip it each time he needs to make a decision and let the outcome determine the choice he makes. At first, Josh figures he doesn't have anything to lose, but then he meets someone new. Now Josh's romantic future rests on the flip of a coin. Romcom fans will fall in love with the cheeky charm and wry wit of Bailey's infectiously fun debut, which offers readers a delightfully bloke-centered counterpart to Bridget Jones and her diary.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)

October 26, 2020
Bailey’s gimmicky but entertaining debut follows the misadventures of a 28-year-old who proves aimless in both life and love. Josh abruptly finds himself homeless and single after his live-in girlfriend of four years turns down his proposal. Near-broke and thoroughly discouraged by life, Josh moves from London to his parents’ house in Cadbury and decides to entrust his fate to the flip of a coin: for the next year, every decision he makes will be determined by heads or tails. While subjecting himself to the fickleness of random luck, he suffers through several embarrassing attempts to get his romantic life back on track before happening upon the woman of his dreams. He spends a glorious few hours with her in London’s National Gallery, only to lose her in the crowd before he can get her name. With few clues to go on, Josh spends the remainder of the book searching for the woman he knows only as Sunflower Girl, all the while hoping he’ll finally get lucky. Josh’s meet-cute with his love interest doesn’t occur until a third of the way in, and their reunion happens much later, leaving little room for the romance to develop. The result is breezy reading that won’t linger long in readers’ minds. Agent: Hannah Ferguson, Hardman & Swainson Literary.

October 23, 2020

[DEBUT] After four years of dating, Josh is shattered when girlfriend Jade turns down his romantic New Year's Eve marriage proposal on the famous London Eye. Compounding his heartbreak, she tells him she has been seeing someone else. Josh and Jade work at a hotel and live in a flat owned by her father, thus Josh finds himself jobless, homeless, and single. Returning to the tiny village of his childhood and life with his zany mother and frugal dad, Josh attempts to start over. Following a chance conversation with his Pap, Josh decides to let every major decision he makes be decided by the flip of a coin. Things start getting back on track and Josh credits the talisman, but will he trust the coin to decide his future when it comes to career and romance? VERDICT British author Bailey presents a heartwarming, laugh-out-loud hilarious debut rom-com. Complete with fabulous sidekicks, quirky neighbors, and an eccentric but lovable family, it features an authentic and refreshing hero. Fans of Beth O'Leary and Nick Hornby will relish every delightful moment.--Maureen Roberts, Baltimore Cty. P.L.

Copyright 2020 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.