The First Time We Met

Croft (mainstream romance author Phillipa Ashley) kicks off her Oxford Blues new adult contemporary trilogy with an angsty yet appealing romance. Lauren Cusack, the daughter of a U.S. senator, leaves Washington, D.C., for a year abroad at Oxford, studying for a master’s degree in the history of art and visual culture. Alexander Hunt is a compellingly broken English aristocrat. The passion sparks hot between Lauren and Alexander, and the two soon start a torrid affair, but their different nationalities and backgrounds are barriers to love and lasting happiness. The author is an Oxford alum herself, and she writes with authority about what happens when an upper-crust Brit meets a fearless American. Her supporting characters range from endearing to obnoxious. The story ends with a frustrating cliffhanger, but Lauren and Alexander are engaging enough that readers will come back for the next installment, though they may be cursing the fact that the romance won’t be resolved until book three. Note to impatient readers in the U.S.: the second and third books, The Second Time I Saw You and Third Time Lucky, are already out in the U.K. (Apr.)