Is She Really Going Out with Him?

In this appealing enemies-to-lovers romance, bestseller Cousens (The Good Part) pairs a stressed-out, recently divorced mother of two with her hot new coworker. The new owner of Bath Living magazine wants to reach a younger audience, so writer Anna Appleby needs to up her game. Otherwise, the annoying (and distractingly attractive) Will Havers will get her column and perhaps her job, too. Anna reluctantly agrees to write about the dating scene in Bath, England, and accepts her boss’s proposed hook: her preteen children will get to choose who she dates. The results are both awkward and amusing, sending Anna out with the morose father of one of their classmates, their waiter at a hip restaurant, and the forbidding next-door neighbor, among others. Will, with whom Anna grows closer the more they work together, begins to seem very appealing in contrast, especially as he proves himself to be unexpectedly kind. While the happily ever after is never in doubt, Cousens fills the path there with laughter and surprises, and strikes a good balance between romance and family life. This is a charmer. (Nov.)