Audiobook Review: Just Haven’t Met You Yet

Author: Sophie Cousens

Narrator: Charlotte Beaumont

Audiobook Length: 10 hours 3 minutes

Hopeless romantic and lifestyle reporter Laura’s business trip to the Channel Islands isn’t off to a great start. After an embarrassing encounter with the most attractive man she’s ever seen in real life, she arrives at her hotel and realizes she’s grabbed the wrong suitcase from the airport. Her only consolation is its irresistible contents, each of which intrigues her more and more. The owner of this suitcase is clearly Laura’s dream man. Now, all she has to do is find him.

Besides, what are the odds that she’d find The One on the same island where her parents first met and fell in love, especially as she sets out to write an article about their romance? Commissioning surly cab driver Ted to ferry her around seems like her best bet in both tracking down the mystery suitcase owner and retracing her parents’ footsteps. But as Laura’s mystery man proves difficult to find – and as she uncovers family secrets – she may have to reimagine the life, and love, she always thought she wanted.

Just Haven’t Met You Yet follows hopeless romantic and journalist, Laura, who travels to Jersey to research and tell the story of her parents’ love story. After a suitcase mix-up at the airport, she ends up with another man’s bag. The contents suggest that he is her ideal match, so she is determined to reunite the bag with its owner, a man named Jasper. Along the way, she discovers more about her family’s past and possibly finds her own love story along the way. She is aided by a grumpy taxi driver, Ted, who consistently runs hot and cold, who eventually grows on Laura. She lost her father when she was younger and, more recently, lost her mother, which means that her grief was explored in this story weaved together with romance.

The story balances some heavier topics with some light-hearted moments. Laura’s excitement over the idea of love took a bit to get used to, but she grew a lot by the end and was enjoyable throughout. Her parents had an amazing love story and she interviews many happy couples, so her frustration in not finding it for herself was apparent as she was disappointed that she had not found it yet, but she still remained hopeful. The setting of Jersey was lovely as the reader experiences the magic of the island through Laura’s eyes. The romance does feel a little too insta-love as everything takes place in the course of a few days. While the story does slowly build up the reveal of the romance, the feelings themselves seem to happen very quickly.

Overall, this was a very enjoyable story. Laura has pressure at work from her boss, Suki, that she is dealing with, trying to complete her assignment for her parents’ past, grief from her parents, and her desire for love. As she travels along with Ted, who she hired to help her, the reader also gets to explore his family, including his dad, Gerry, who has Parkinson’s. The people Laura meets on her journey along with her friends from home were all enjoyable secondary characters that nicely balanced Laura and her story. While I wanted more time for the romance to make it a little more plausible, it was still very sweet. The story itself was a fun concept of taking the contents of a suitcase and thinking this person could be your match as it makes me think how my suitcase would come across to someone else. Laura’s parents’ story was full of romance and secrets and it was interesting seeing Laura discover more about them. This novel was heart-warming and fun and I would gladly read more from the author!