Publication: 28th November 2019 (eBook); 30th April 2020 (paperback) – Simon & Schuster UK
LOVE IS FOR SUCKERS . . . ISN’T IT?
My brother’s getting married in a few weeks and asked for help picking a song for his first dance. I suggested Kiss’s ‘Love’s a Slap in the Face’.
It didn’t go down well.
When she was a teenager, Zoë Frixos fell in love with Simon Baxter, her best friend and the boy next door. But his family moved to America before she could tell him how she felt and, like a scratched record, she’s never quite moved on. Now, almost twenty years later, Simon is heading back to London, newly single and as charming as ever . . .
With Simon back in town, Zoë is determined to finally pluck up the courage to tell him how she feels, but as obstacles continue to get in her way – Jess, Simon’s perfect ex-girlfriend, Nick, an obnoxious publicist determined to ruin Zoe’s career, and family pressure around her brother’s big(ish) fat(ish) Greek wedding – Zoe begins to wonder whether, after all these years, she and Simon just aren’t meant to be.
What if, instead, they’re forever destined to shuffle around their feelings for each other, never quite mastering the steps. Is Zoë right to be sceptical about romance, or is it time she changed her tune?
With a smart, relatable central character and razor-sharp wit, Love Songs for Sceptics is perfect for fans of Mhairi McFarlane, Lucy Vine and Sophie Kinsella.
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Zoe Frixos, music journalist, wants two things: finally getting together with Simon, her first love, and getting to interview elusive singer Marcie Tyler for her magazine. Zoe had been in love with Simon since she was thirteen. Now, he’s single and back for good in London so this may be their chance to be together, at last. If only his ex-girlfriend wasn’t so much present in his life…
Marcie Taylor is Zoe’s idol, but she’s been away from the music scene for the last ten years and she hasn’t given any interview. An article about her may be her chance to save her magazine, Re-sound, from being closed, even if that means having to spend much of her time with her annoying PR, Nick.
To say that I enjoyed this novel it’s saying too little. I loved it and I devoured in one day (luckily it was a Sunday or I would have had to take the day off!). Love Songs for Sceptics is funny, refreshing, and captivating and I really liked the characters. Zoe is a brilliant and well-developed heroine: she is determined, stubborn, witty, and very likable. I admired the strengths she would go to save her magazine and to help the people she loves and she made me laugh a lot. I also liked her colleagues Mike, Lucy, and Gavin, her brother Pete and her future sister-in-law Alice, and the sometime-irritating Nick.
Zoe is not the only protagonist of the story. The author’s deep knowledge of music is impressive and I loved how she weaves it through the story making it at the centre of the plot.
Love Songs for Sceptics is definitely a must-read for 2019 (the eBook is out next week) and 2020 (paperback is published in April) and I highly recommend it to all music and romance readers out there!
A huge thank you to Sara-Jade and Simon & Schuster for providing me with an early copy of the novel.
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Christina Pishiris was born in London to Greek Cypriot parents, who used to bribe her to go to family weddings by promising that George Michael might be there. To deal with the inevitable disappointment, she began scribbling stories on napkins and has been writing ever since. She started her career as a journalist, specialising in the TV industry, before going freelance. Since meeting her film-maker husband she’s also moved into production, working on music documentaries. Her hobbies include compiling cheesy 80s playlists, coveting the neighbour’s cat and writing protest letters to Guerlain after they discontinued her favourite perfume.
Book After Book 
Fab review love the sound of this one!
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Thank you! It’s a really good story!!!
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