Publication: 27th May 2021 – Zaffre
Millie is a perfectionist. She’s happy, she’s successful and, with a great support network of friends and family (and a very grumpy cat), she’s never lonely. She loves working at a big tech firm and is on track be promoted to her dream role. The last thing she needs is romance messing up her perfectly organised world.
Besides, normal people just don’t have romantic relationships. Everyone knows that being in a couple is a bit . . . well, odd. You know, like having a pet snake or referring to yourself in the third person. Why rely on another person for your own happiness? Why risk the humiliation of unrequited love or the agony of a break-up? No, Millie is more than happy with her conventional single life.
So, when Millie lands a new project at work, launching a pill that prevents you falling in love, it seems like the opportunity of a lifetime. That is, until she starts working with Ben. He’s charming and funny, and Millie feels an instant connection to him.
Will Millie sacrifice everything she believes in for love?
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Happy Sunday everyone!!! I am really thrilled to welcome you on my stop for the blog tour of The Couple, the fantastic new novel by Helly Acton.
This novel wasn’t at all what I expected, it was much better. In The Couple, the author depicts a cynic world where being single is conventional and ordinary, where couples are not well-welcomed nor accepted, where love is rejected and leads only to heartache and unhappiness.
The protagonist of the story is Millie. She doesn’t believe in love and being in a relationship. All her life is based on a strict schedule that she follows diligently, and she has one goal: to become chief creative officer of the company she works for, Slide.
Ben is Millie’s opposite. He is impulsive, he is the “King of Chaos”, he is also funny, sweet, and Millie can’t stay away from him, especially when they start to work together to promote a pill that prevents from falling in love and that erases heartbreak.
The Couple is such a fun read! Ben and Millie’s chemistry, the witty and flirty dialogues, the stories of love and friendship, and the likable and relatable characters kept me completely engrossed in The Couple. I enjoyed Ben and Millie’s relationship, their easy friendship that developed in something more, the amusing text messages they exchanged, their banter, and their differences made for an entertaining and addictive read.
The Couple is a superb rom-com with dystopian elements that exceeded my expectations and that I keep thinking about it. I enjoyed the author’s writing style and I look forward to reading more of her novels.
A huge thank you to Tracy and Zaffre Books for inviting me to join the blog tour and providing me with a proof of this incredible novel.
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Helly Acton is a copywriter from London with past lives in Zimbabwe, the Middle East and Australia. She studied Law at King’s College London before following a more creative path into advertising. At 26, Helly took a career break to travel in Africa and Asia, before landing in Sydney. Six years and one life-affirming break up later, she returned home and threw herself into online dating in the city. Helly uses this experience as a single woman in her early thirties – torn between settling down and savouring her independence – as a source of inspiration.
Helly currently lives in Berkshire with her husband, Chris, their little boy, Arlo, and their little dog, Milo. Sometimes, she gets their names mixed up.
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