The Flatshare

Oh my god, this was such a fun book and reading it made me so happy. It's more of a rom-com than a straight-up romance, though I need to qualify that with some content notes that are possible spoilers, so Tiffy's prior relationship was at least emotionally abusive, and her ex shows up several times, occasionally violently (though she's not assaulted). Her recovery/processing of all that is a pretty major plot point, and she has occasional flashbacks. So the book doesn't entirely avoid heavy topics, but there's a general tone of optimism that makes especially Tiffy's chapters really enjoyable to read. The chapters are alternating first-person POV and Leon's style is very different from Tiffy's - short sentences, very few pronouns, no quotation marks. It's a little bit of an adjustment but I didn't find it too hard to get used to after the first couple of chapters. Everything came together in this book in such a satisfying way and I can't recommend it highly enough.

(2020 summer romance bingo: “there was only one bed,” could also work for “I'm on a boat” or “set on island,” defining both of those generously. Would also work for healthcare professional, debut novel, and “protagonist smells uniquely like themselves.”)