The details…
- Title: Meeting Millie (Oxford Romance Book 1)
- Author: Clare Ashton
- Publication date: March 1, 2023
- Publisher: independent author & publisher
- Available formats: ebook, paperback
- File size: 2578 KB
- Print length: 421 pages
- Genre: romance
- Themes: friendship, love, family, unrequited love, women loving women, sapphic romance
- Tropes: friends to lovers
The blurb from the publisher…
Oxford – celebrated city of dreaming spires and class warfare – is an ambition come true for lesbian, geeky, upper-middle-class Charlotte and straight, charismatic, working-class Millie.
Against the odds, theirs is an instant, best friendship. Forever.
Exuberant Millie is a breath of fresh air for polite Charlotte and a force of nature within the university’s hallowed walls. And they are going to be the best lawyers of their year and change the world.
But their world changes instead when things go queerly sideways, and they haven’t seen each other since.
Ten years on and Charlotte returns to where it all began. She has a new job at a prestigious law firm and Oxford is as beautiful as ever. She’s a safe distance from her overbearing barrister mother Nicola and three office floors from her snappy college mentor, Olivia.
Then Millie bounds around the corner wanting to be friends again and it’s as if the last decade never happened. Will it be different the second time around? Can they be friends again? Or will love and attraction change things?
Meeting Millie is a sapphic romance about the nature of friendship, how two people change over the years, and how they see themselves and each other.
My thoughts…
Meeting Millie is overflowing with well-scripted, gorgeous storytelling. I was immediately caught up in the lives of Charlotte and Millie, two beautifully drawn characters. Their journey is captivating as well as engrossing. I found that I couldn’t walk away from them. Their story of friendship and love is too rich, complex and emotionally charged to put down. As I neared the end, I wanted to prolong the tale. I was notprepared to say goodbye to these lovely women. I should have known though; that’s how it always goes with Ashton’s books. The stories always leave you with a watermark on your heart; the longing for more time with the characters is sure and insistent.
Ashton’s latest book is ultimately a love story, but it is carried along by a rich and remarkable friendship, one that makes the heart ache with the beauty and wonder of it. Ashton draws readers into Charlotte and Millie’s world by diving deep into the fabric and foundation of their relationship. She uses touching and emotional landmarks from their past to give readers a sense of who these women are and why they’re important to one another. Every scene pushes emotions and reveals critical layers. It’s an honest approach, one that helps readers appreciate Charlotte and Millie’s friendship as well as their romance. Ashton furthers all of this along with her sharp perspective, one that cements a bond between her readers and her characters. There is no escaping the exquisite charm of these dynamic ladies. The dizzying appeal is too great.
Even though Ashton does a praiseworthy job of crafting Meeting Millie’s story arc and character development, I would be remiss if I did not mention her shrewd and agile way with words. She builds and structures her sentences with graceful charm. It makes the story flow smoothly across the page, producing a seductive readability that’s rich and decadent. Sometimes I just have to stop and soak in her keen and thoughtful use of language. She’s a clever and witty writer; there’s no doubt about it. Her word choices make the narrative pop, giving readers an opulent reading experience, especially for a linguaphile like me.
Final remarks…
I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: Clare Ashton knows how to tell a story. Her plot lines are as fresh as they are compelling. She’s not a cookie-cutter storyteller; she gives readers something new each time. However, she never loses sight of what makes her stories a success. She builds them around relatable, flawed characters that are worthy of empathy and investment. She sets them out on a journey that’s truthful and impactful. Readers not only care about these characters, they remember them. What’s more, they turn right around and revisit the story a second or third time. Meeting Millie is no different; it’s luxuriously good. Be prepared to savor it—and then reread it.
Strengths…
- Fluid storytelling
- Engaging plot line
- Enchanting characters
- Rich language
- A must-read romance
This book is available from…
A bit about Clare Ashton…
Clare Ashton is an award-winning author of sapphic romances and mysteries with German translations of her work published by Ylva Publishing and Verlag Krug und Schadenberg.
Clare grew up in Mid-Wales, one of her favourite settings for novels, with sunny romance Poppy Jenkins and fiery family drama The Goodmans set on the Welsh-English borders. The darker mystery The Tell Tale is also set in the Welsh hills.
Setting is like another character in her novels, and her new romance series is based in the beautiful city of Oxford where she adored living for more than a decade. Book 1 kicks the series off with a friends-to-lovers romance between straight, charismatic, exuberant Millie and lovely, nerdy, lesbian Charlotte.
Her books have won several awards. After Mrs Hamilton, Finding Jessica Lambert and The Tell Tale are Golden Crown Literary Society (Goldie) award winners. That Certain Something and Finding Jessica Lambert were Lambda finalists. And her most popular novel, Poppy Jenkins, won the Rainbow Award for Best Lesbian Contemporary Romance.
Clare now lives in the Midlands, slowly working her way back towards Wales, with her wife and son and daughter who are a lovely distraction from writing.
Want to know more about Clare? Check her out on her social media.
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