YOU ME EVERYTHING

Jess finally calls it quits with her unfaithful boyfriend, Adam, when he fails to show up for the birth of their son. But 10 years later, she wonders. Maybe her son needs to know his father after all.

Working as a creative writing instructor at a local sixth-form college, Jess has been raising William on her own. Her parents adore William, who worships his grandfather, and Jess vehemently disavows any suggestion that William might need more than the occasional visit from Adam. After all, Adam always said he didn't want children, and his inappropriate presents—baby toys for a 5-year-old and an enormous bike for an 8-year-old—just underline how little he knows his son. But when Jess’ mother falls terminally ill and tells her it's her dying wish that William get to know his father, Jess relents and packs up their Citroën for the 825 mile road trip to Dordogne, France. Ensconced for the summer at Château de Roussignol, a grand castle that Adam has restored into a glamorous resort, Jess sets about orchestrating a relationship between Adam and William. Despite the glorious environment, her task is filled with obstacles, including Simone, the latest in Adam’s string of young girlfriends; death-defying day trips; and Adam’s own evasiveness. Isaac—a new pseudonym for author Jane Costello (The Time of Our Lives, 2017, etc.)—skillfully captures Jess’ oscillating emotions: Determined to make Adam love William, she’s also still angry at him for emotionally abandoning them, a bit wistful about being left out of their budding relationship, and on her guard against falling in love again with Adam herself. Yet behind her hopes that Adam will become a real father to his son, Jess has a much more important motive for finding Adam—one that may spell life or death.

A witty, light romance from a welcome new voice.